Created To Do Good Works In Christ Jesus!

Under the former covenant via Moses and instituted with the Law, there were works that God required for his people to be righteous.  Jesus’ audience during his ministry was the Jews. Jews were brought up learning these “Old Testament” Mosaic laws. Therefore, they had the understanding that God required works in order for them to be righteous and to be considered his people.  Jesus miraculously fed five thousand Jews with five loaves and two fish in John 6:5-13. The Jewish understanding of righteousness by works is exemplified when they ask him “What must we do to do the works God requires?” (John 6:28) Therefore, Jews were very keen on their works being the determining factor regarding their righteousness.

Work Of God? Believe In The One He Has Sent!

Jesus explained to them that “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29) Therefore we can infer from this exchange that “believing in the one [God] has sent” is a “work.”  However, when it comes to defining work completely in the scriptures, there is naturally more to it.  Likewise, if we desire a true understanding of “works” as defined by the scriptures we must pay “more careful attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away.”  (Hebrews 2:1) For example, the scriptures teach us that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:10) Certainly, if we are to claim to be “created in Christ,” our very first “work” must be “believing in the one [God] has sent!”

Paul’s Writings About Faith & Works Were Scripture!

In ~60AD, Paul the apostle wrote the letter to the church in Ephesus.  It is important to note that the writings of Paul were considered scripture by the first-century church.  This is clearly denoted in 2 Peter 3:15-16:  “[Paul’s] letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

Interestingly, in Ephesians Paul boldly declares “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Jesus said the work of God is to “believe in the one he has sent” and this fulfills the “works that God desires.” (John 6:28-29) Paul says that we are saved by “grace…through faith,” and we are not saved by our works, so no one can boast.  Without faith, we cannot have the grace that comes through it.  Thus, we cannot have salvation without faith because salvation is by grace – which is brought through faith.

Faith & Belief Have Are Used Interchangeably

There are a few more insights we can glean from the Greek in these passages.  The word Jesus uses for “believe” in John 6:29 is “pisteuō,” meaning “to place confidence in, to trust” The word Paul uses in Ephesians 2:8 for “grace…through faith” is “pistis,” meaning “an assurance or guarantee.”  “Pistis” is the root word that “Pisteuo” is derived from.  Both words are translated interchangeably as “faith” and “believe/belief” in different passages in modern translations.  The point is that the words for faith and belief are conceptually interchangeable. Therefore, faith/belief is, in fact, a work. It is “the work that God desires.” (John 6:28-29) If you don’t have faith, you cannot have grace.  You are not saved by faith, you are saved “through” it – “by grace.”  Grace in Ephesians 2:8-9 is “the gift of God.”  Grace is received “through faith.”  You must have faith, but it is not “by faith” you are saved, but “by grace.” “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23) Grace is a gift. Eternal life in Christ Jesus is a gift.  Without grace, we will not have righteousness and thus we’ll never be God’s people.  It’s by God’s grace we are righteous and therefore no amount of our works will justify us.  Therefore, boasting in our works is excluded and is rendered an errand of pointless arrogance.

Works Were Required By Mosaic Law

The Mosaic Law of the former covenant demanded observance of the law and physical circumcision to be righteous and considered God’s people. (see Genesis 17, Deuteronomy 29:9-ff) The Jews were tempted to brag about their works and their obedience to God’s [Mosaic] law. For example, Paul wrote “Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God” in Romans 2:17.  In response to this boasting, Paul (through the Holy Spirit) gave us the theology of not being justified by works.  Paul explains in Romans 4:2, “If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about — but not before God.” Furthermore, Paul teaches in Romans 4:3 “What does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’” The point Paul underscores here is that when a man works his wages are an obligation.  Clearly, our works can never obligate God to grant us grace.

God Prepares Good Works For Us To Do

“Good works” are something someone actively does.  A disciple of Jesus is “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for [them] to do.”  What does it mean to be “created in Christ Jesus?” (Ephesians 2:10) Later in Ephesians, Paul wrote “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds;  and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24) When we are “created in Christ Jesus” we put on a “new self,” which is “created to be like God!”  This created “new self” has the purpose of doing the “good works” God prepared in advance for us to do.

When does someone get “created in Christ Jesus?” When does someone put on the “new self?”  Colossians 3:9-10 teaches us “Do not lie to each other since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”  This reiterates that we took off our “old self” and put on the “new self.”  The questions are when and how?  Earlier in Colossians 2:12-14 they are answered clearly: “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.”

We Put Off Our Old Self – (Re)Created At Baptism

We put off our old self, our “sinful nature,” (aka “flesh”) at our baptism.  This is done by Christ, not by us. However, the necessary ingredient in this process is faith.  We are “raised with him” to a new life “through [our] faith.” We receive grace through faith. Without putting off our sinful nature, we are still “dead in [our] sins and in the uncircumcision of [our] sinful nature…”. (Colossians 2:13) Our self is crucified with Jesus at baptism and through our faith, we participate in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  (Romans 6:2-7) Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection is the core of the gospel. Furthermore, baptism is foreshadowed as being “born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:3-7, Acts 2:38) The person being born does no work.  Therefore, all the labor of birth resides with the mother.

The Mother Does The Work During Birth (Not The Child)

During birth, the mother is the one in “labor.”  She is working.  She is giving birth.  She is the one suffering for the good of the coming child.  Her child is simply benefiting from the sacrifice, suffering, and intense labor of its mother.  Every child is graciously ushered into the world physically by this process. In the same way, when someone is baptized into Christ, they are “born again of water and the Spirit.”  They are being born, and those involved in making them into a disciple and laboring in Christ until He is formed in them are doing all the “work.”

The church is the bride of Christ. (Rev 19:7, 21:2,9,17) This is a profound mystery, as expressed in Eph 5:25-27,32: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless….This is a profound mystery — but I am talking about Christ and the church.”

God’s People Are Created To Bear Much Fruit

If we as God’s people are close to Jesus and in the vine, then we will “bear much fruit.”  If we are not in the vine, we do not bear fruit. If we do not bear fruit, we are destined to be picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned!  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:5-8)

If we are Jesus’ disciples, we “walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6) and are thus “fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17) We strive to do all the good works we were created to do.  However, by these good works and labor, we are not saved. We will “make disciples of all nations” and baptize them (Matthew 28:19) and teach them to obey Jesus’ commands – but this will not make us entitled to grace, nor earn us eternity, nor obligate to us our eternal salvation.  We are nothing. God is everything. “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:7)

We Do Works Because Of Grace

Finally, it is because of this grace through faith we labor.  It is this gift we’ve gotten that motivates us in our labor and our love for Christ.  Because it is written, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (1 Cor 15:10-11) And it is also written, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) The disciples who are baptizing are doing good works, and those being baptized are being saved by grace through their faith.  (Col 2:12, 1 Peter 3:21) The “baptized” are being “born again” of water and the Spirit. (Acts 2:38) The baptizers are “bearing fruit, showing [themselves] to be Jesus’ disciples.” (John 15:8)

I’m so thankful to our brothers and sisters in Phoenix who have answered the call to do good works for their God! God granted us the largest Special Missions Contribution in our history as a church, ~$113,000!  God answered our fasting and prayers and gave us a record-breaking bring your neighbor day attendance of 231 souls! God then added to our number three new wonderful disciples at our July 15th Harvest Sunday! It was so inspiring to witness disciples pouring themselves out in love for Kaylee, Jake, Ned, Rachel, and Mandy!

Salvation Is Never Earned By Works, Only By Grace

May we in Phoenix and in our movement hold fast to the truth that we are saved by God’s grace through faith! May we never be driven by the thought that we must earn or obligate our salvation by works! May we never cheapen the grace of God by mistaking our God-given good works for wages! I pray our gratitude for God’s grace moves us to work “harder”, love deeper, and dream bigger for God’s impact through us.  Let’s never forget that when we ask our God “How much do you love me,” he stretches his arms all the way out and tenderly tells us, “this much” and dies.

To Him be all the glory,