Do good works to attract non-Christians

This is the fifth week we look at the question of why we do good works if Christ has paid for our sins. So far we have seen that we do good works not to save us, but because (i) we died to sin; (ii) to prove we are saved; (iii) to show thankfulness to God; and (iv) to encourage other Christians.

This week we look at yet another reason: to attract non-Christians. If a non-Christian sees Christians being horrible and unkind, it logically repels them from Christianity rather than attracts them. Whereas if Christians do good works to those around them, it often attracts people to Christianity. This is because when you show consistent love to a friend (or even an enemy) it can really break down their heart and bring them to a willingness to hear about Christianity. They begin to recognise that there is something different about you compared to the rest of the world and they want to know why and how they can be like you.

The Bible speaks about this in a number of places. For example Jesus teaches it in Matthew’s gospel: ‘In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven’ (Matthew 5:16). Jesus says that our good works may lead people to praise God. The apostle Peter teaches the same thing in his first letter: ‘Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us’ (1 Peter 2:12). Peter is saying that people may not like you at first because you are a Christian. But as you live good lives among them they eventually are unable to accuse you of evil and so are eventually led to glorify God.

Just recently, a new Christian told me that what first attracted her to Christianity was how kind some Christians were to her. The Bible’s teaching is true: we need to live the gospel as well as share it with our mouths. So remember that although good works do not save you (only trusting in Christ’s death on the cross can do that) they are of vital importance, particularly regarding our faithfulness to evangelism. If you want to see people come to know the Lord Jesus you need to show that Christianity is a good thing by the way you live, not just by speaking with your mouth. Are you conscious that non-Christians are watching you? Are you repelling people from Christianity by your bad works? Or are you attracting them by your good works?

Joel Radford.

Do good works to encourage Christians

This is the fourth week we look at the question of why we do good works if Christ has paid for our sins. So far we have seen that we do good works not to save us, but because (i) we died to sin; (ii) to prove we are saved; and (iii) to show thankfulness to God.  This week we look at yet another reason: to encourage other Christians.

The apostle Paul regularly speaks of the encouragement that comes from hearing of churches that are doing good works.  To the church in Corinth he writes ‘For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action’ (2 Corinthians 9:2).  Paul’s boasting about Corinth actually encouraged other Christians to do good works too.

Another example is when Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica Paul writes: ‘We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God's judgment is right’ (2 Thessalonians 1:3-5).  The fact that the Thessalonians are doing good works encourages Paul that what God has said is true.  And this makes sense.  If people were converted and then continued to be horrible and unloving towards other Christians we would doubt the truth of Christianity.  Christianity would be known as bringing horror rather than joy.

Also, think about your own experience of Christianity.  When another Christian sins against you (or other members of the church), does it encourage you or discourage you in your own faith?  How much damage have you done to the churches you have been in by doing bad works that have been the source of discouragement to the other believers?  Meanwhile, when Christians have been kind to you, has that encouraged or discouraged your own personal faith?  I know that when I see members of our church showing love for one another I am strengthened.

Therefore, remember that although they don’t save you, good works are a wonderful way to edify other Christians.  If you want to help encourage the faith of those around you, do good works.

Joel Radford.

Do good works to show thankfulness to God

This is the third week we look at the question of why we do good works if Christ has paid for our sins. So far we have seen that we do good works not to save us, but because (i) we died to sin and (ii) to prove we are saved. This week we look at yet another reason, to show thankfulness to God.

When we understand what God has done in Christ for us there can be nothing but thankfulness and love for him.  How could anyone not love the God who in his mercy sent his one and only son to die in our place so that we would not have to spend an eternity in hell!  What a God!  But how do you express your love and your thankfulness to him?  By obeying him.

Nowhere is good works as an expression of love to God more clearly taught then in the writings of the apostle John.  Firstly, John records Jesus’ words in his gospel:
•    ‘If you love me, you will obey what I command’ (John 14:15).
•    ‘Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him’ (John 14:21).
•    ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me’ (John 14:23-24).

Then the apostle John picks up on the words of Jesus in his letters and emphasises once again that love for God is shown in good works:
•    ‘This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world’ (1 John 5:3-4).
•    ‘And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love’ (2 John 6).

Are you grateful to God for saving you from the clutches of Satan by Christ’s blood?  Do you love him?  Do you study his word to know what he commands so that you can express your love for him in obedience.  He loves your love, why don’t you show it to him?

Joel Radford.

Do good works because you want to prove you’re saved

Last week I began a series on why Christians should do good works - the question that naturally arises once you understand that Christ has done all the work for our salvation. Last week we saw that you should do good works because you have died to sin. This week I want to show that you should do good works in order that you prove you’re saved.

We often ask ourselves whether we truly have received the gift of eternal life. You have repented of your sins and believed Jesus died for you, but how do you know for sure that you are saved? Well the Bible says that one of the primary ways is through looking at your works. If you have become a Christian you should start to see changes in your behaviour. If you do not, then you should seriously consider whether you are saved. Many, many texts in the Bible support this. Here are a few of the best:
•    ‘The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did’ (1 John 2:4-6). John says you are a liar if you claim to be a Christian yet walk in the darkness.
•    ‘As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead’ (James 2:26). James says your faith is considered lifeless if you do not do good works.
•    ‘Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire’ (Matthew 7:17-19). Jesus says that someone claiming to be a Christian and not bearing good works is only worth throwing into the fire.
•    ‘They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good’ (Titus 1:16). Paul says those who claim to know God can deny him by the way they live.

Do you want to know if you are going to heaven? Repent of your sins, trust in Jesus death on the cross for your sins, and then begin doing good works. If you claim to be a Christian but consistently do what displeases God, your repentance, faith and salvation are questionable. But if you regularly see good works in your life, take heart that this is part of the evidence that you are one of God’s children.

Joel Radford.

Do good works because you died to sin

Last week we saw that a Christian becomes progressively more and more sanctified (holy) before God. But the question can then be raised, why do we need to do good works? If Christ has already earned our salvation and all we have to do is repent and believe, then why should we have to do good works? This is the question I want to answer over the coming weeks.

Firstly, Christians are obedient to God in doing good works because they have died to sin. Sin is no longer something they should want to do, it has been killed in them at the cross. Paul makes this very clear when he answers the charge that if God is shown to be gracious in forgiving sin then we should sin more: ‘What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?’ (Romans 6:1-2).

What does it mean to have died to sin? Well when we put our faith in Christ that means our sinful selves are crucified with him at the cross: ‘For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-because anyone who has died has been freed from sin’ (Romans 6-7). If we have put our faith in Christ then we have been freed from sin so that it is possible for us to serve God rather than sin.

Jesus did not save us so that we can go on sinning. He gave his life so that we are free to do good works: ‘For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’ (Ephesians 2:10). Another good verse on this is 2 Corinthians 5:15: ‘And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.’ Someone who thinks that they don’t need to do good works because Christ has done everything necessary for salvation, has not understood how terrible sin is in God’s eyes. Just as parents do not put all their time and energy into their children so that they can be little terrors around the house, God has not saved you so that you can fill your life with what he hates.

Are you lying to yourself that Jesus died and gave you life so that you can serve yourself? This is impossible and such a belief makes a mockery of Jesus’ death. I hope that all who read this have died to sin and been raised to life to serve the living God.

Joel Radford.