Doing Good
"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." (from Peter's sermon Acts 10:38) What a beautiful summary picture of Jesus in His earthly ministry - "Who went about doing good....for God was with Him." I want my life to be similarly pictured. Obviously I am not the Eternal Son of God and able to perform the amazing miracles Jesus regularly practiced. I am enabled by the Holy Spirit however and "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that [I] we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) Those of us who make much of the sovereignty of God in salvation are often heard emphasizing that we are not redeemed from our sin through any works of our own. We love to glory in the grace of God. This, however, should not be jumbled and confused to imply that "good works" have nothing to do with the Christian walk.
Good works are deeds that reflect God's character and confrorm to His law. They are to be done with a view to His glory. "He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, dnd to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8) In the book of James we learn that God wants more than assent from us. He also wants our hearty obedience. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a
forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he
does." (James 1:22-25) We are given specific examples as well so we aren't left to come up with our own ideas. "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself
unspotted from the world." "Visiting orphans and widows in their affliction" is an example of pure religion. This merciful ministry refelects the merciful character of God and fulfills the "greatest commandments" as Jesus said. “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-38) Believing the right things is vitally important and doing the right things is equally important. While it is true that all true believers will "bear fruit" we are unlike trees in that we are personally responsible for our fruit. It is not a purely automatic process. It involves our willing participation as agents of our sanctification. "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14) Biblical exhortations to do good would be silly if it was just an automatic process. And like anything else there are habits to break (in this case sinful ones) and new habits we are to cultivate. See Paul's admonition in Ephesians 4:25-32 "Therefore, putting away lying, “ Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to
one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave
you." So we are to stop lying and tell the truth, stop stealing and start working, stop using foul language and begin to edify. In all of this we are to look to God for strength and wisdom - seek Him in prayer and the Word of God. May we know the blessed realization of Paul's prayer for the Phillipians: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you
all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."(Philippians 1:3-11) ♥ ~ Laurie
Good works are deeds that reflect God's character and confrorm to His law. They are to be done with a view to His glory. "He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, dnd to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8) In the book of James we learn that God wants more than assent from us. He also wants our hearty obedience. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a
forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he
does." (James 1:22-25) We are given specific examples as well so we aren't left to come up with our own ideas. "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself
unspotted from the world." "Visiting orphans and widows in their affliction" is an example of pure religion. This merciful ministry refelects the merciful character of God and fulfills the "greatest commandments" as Jesus said. “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-38) Believing the right things is vitally important and doing the right things is equally important. While it is true that all true believers will "bear fruit" we are unlike trees in that we are personally responsible for our fruit. It is not a purely automatic process. It involves our willing participation as agents of our sanctification. "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14) Biblical exhortations to do good would be silly if it was just an automatic process. And like anything else there are habits to break (in this case sinful ones) and new habits we are to cultivate. See Paul's admonition in Ephesians 4:25-32 "Therefore, putting away lying, “ Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to
one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave
you." So we are to stop lying and tell the truth, stop stealing and start working, stop using foul language and begin to edify. In all of this we are to look to God for strength and wisdom - seek Him in prayer and the Word of God. May we know the blessed realization of Paul's prayer for the Phillipians: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you
all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."(Philippians 1:3-11) ♥ ~ Laurie