As I’ve stated before, what sets Christian good works apart from all other good works is that Christian good works are done “under contract.” That is, Christians are in a covenant relationship with God and that covenant dictates what kind of good works we do.
Our covenant is called the “New Covenant.” This covenant, or agreement, has two stipulations: 1) that we believe on the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, as the one who paid the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross and rising again and, 2) that we love one another (1 John 3:23).
The first part of this covenant involves no good works on our part. That is, we are saved and reconciled to God through faith apart from our good works. But the second part of the covenant does involve good works on our part. As a result of being reconciled to God, he expects us to love each other and this love is to be expressed practically by doing good works.
These two aspects of our covenant with God–salvation apart from good works and salvation that results in good works–are beautifully expressed by the Apostle Paul in his famous passage in Ephesians 2:8-10:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For you are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God created beforehand that you should walk in them.”
In other words, God didn’t save us to sit on our butt in endless meetings. God saved us to, quite literally, work. We have walked through Cain’s door into the light. We have been set free from our lust, guilt and shame. We have a new relationship with the God of this universe through faith in his Son. He has filled us with his Spirit. We now have the ability to do God’s amazing good.
And that amazing good that we men are to do is what I am going to talk about in future blogs.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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