Do you know that you were created in Christ Jesus to do good works? We tend to forget that our sole purpose is not to please ourselves and have fun while here on earth. Even as Christians we label any talk about doing good works as legalistic or pious. But the Bible is pretty clear about this.

For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Eph. 2:10, NRSV, emphasis added,*)

We have been created in Christ Jesus to do good works. When we are in Jesus, good works flow naturally. Make note that good works do not come first but second. We are first saved by grace through faith. Then we are to do good works that have already been prepared for us. Even then it’s not us working but the Holy Spirit in and through us.

Also these good works are not few and far between, they are our way of life. Yes! Our way of life. And that gives good works a whole new meaning, don’t you think?

We do not do good works to get saved. We do not do good works to get favors from God. We do not do good works because we are forced to do so. We do because we were created in Christ Jesus to do so. That’s our natural state as believers. When we are breathing in God’s Spirit, we are breathing out good works. That’s our way of life.

Hence. Do as much good as you can. And how is this possible? Only by abiding in the Holy Spirit. If we are not in Christ, good works are forced. And we all know what then happens. We get exhausted. But when we first seek God, he will equip and empower us to do good works that he has prepared for us to do.

But, yes, it is our way of life. We can’t ignore this calling. We can’t wish it away. Doing good works is our way of life. Loving our neighbors is the way of Christ. Serving others is what is expected of us. And we won’t be forgotten either. With the words of Jesus: If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. (John 13:17, NRSV,*)

 

Gracious God,
Thank you for saving us by grace through faith.
Thank you for calling us to do good works.
Equip, empower, energize us to do
as much good as we can.
Show us how to serve.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: Is serving others your way of life?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you do good works as much as you can!

* [As you might have noticed, I enjoy reading the Bible in different translations and love comparing them. I have started linking the Bible verses to Biblegateway.com so you can easily read (and compare) them in the different versions I’ve used while preparing each post.]

Image courtesy of Chris Meirose, design Mari-Anna Stålnacke. This post is refurbished from 2010. Linking up today with Unite the Bloggersphere , Three Word Wednesday and #tellhisstory.