Why good works must exist

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10

It is God's design that Christians do good things on this earth... right here... right now. It is His purpose for us and a big part of what it means to be a Christian. But we must understand exactly WHY we do these things. And that has been a source of confusion for many. Scripture gives us clear guidance into understanding our motivations to do the good things we have been called to practice.

WE DON'T DO GOOD WORKS TO SAVE OUR SOULS. The Christian life is a life of practical theology. What I mean is that Christians believe and have received a life-changing faith. It shows in us and how we relate to other people. It must start with what we know. In the context of this passage about good works, Paul makes it clear that works in no way save us from our sinful selves. God acted in grace through Christ. Salvation is by Christ alone, through grace alone and by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Nothing that I could do could save me. Works alone will never bring solutions to the sin problem. Only Jesus can do that through His atonement at the cross. So nobody can be called a Christian by thinking that doing good works made them worthy of relationship with Christ.

WE CAN'T EXPERIENCE SALVATION WITHOUT SUBSEQUENT GOOD WORKS. Good works do not bring us salvation, but they do naturally result from our salvation. We are saved FROM sin. We are saved TO do good works. AW Tozer liked to say it this way: "we are saved TO as well as FROM". We were created in Jesus to do good works. Jesus, our Lord and Master, cared for people in a way His world had not seen. He commissioned His followers to demonstrate a love for people that sought them out, even in their lostness, to proclaim and demonstrate "good news": the gospel. This gospel is about the saving grace that is in Christ. If we proclaim it we must also live out something new and good and transforming.

We must live out these two truths in balance. Christians must teach biblical doctrine with clarity and reach people with Christian charity. Emphasize one without the other and we miss our calling. It is that vital. Without this kind of Christian love actively reaching our world, Christianity will become a stale institution. We become either a theological fortress of imposing doctrinal walls, or we become just a powerless social institution bereft of eternal impact. But if we put them together...! WOW! The truth will set people free! That is why God created us to do good works. They validate the truth claims of the gospel, bringing a change that shows a new creation in Christ, one human life at a time.


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

to church or not to church

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 1:22-23

Jesus is the head of the church. And the church is the body of Christ. Jesus died to bring the church to Him. And He rose to show us His authority over all things, even death. Jesus is supposed to permeate and fill believers and thus fill His church. This is His church, and we have no business trying to tear it down.

I have seen a disturbing trend among many Christians in the past fifteen years or so. We have Christians advocating the abandonment of the local church. It usually comes with great criticism of the contemporary church. And the reality is that they are critical of some program or strategy, confusing it with the theologicial construct known as the church. It may be some personality of some Christian leader that upsets them. Their solution is to emphasize personal spirituality over corporate spirituality. They will then gravitate towards family first or self first in order to justify the abandonment of the church.

In many cases their criticisms are spot on and I would share them. The reactions against excess are justified. But the solution proposed does not fit the problems described. The solution should be to follow the biblical command to gently instruct and reform the church, not to abandon it altogether. Some people have become so antagonistic that they refuse to even use Jesus' word for His own body. They refer to themselves as living in a "missional community" rather than a "church". This is probably a sin on my part, but when I run into someone like that, I like to tweak them just a bit by continuing to use the word church to describe their experience.

I don't think it is wrong to avoid a building or a structure. The early church evidenced in scripture was so persecuted that they probably never would have considered owning a building. However, I do think it is wrong to abandon the assembly of believers. It is God's design to reach the world. And to refuse to fellowship with believers in a traditional church altogether is disfiguring to the Bride of Christ. Paul did not tell us he went around establishing "communities" or "households" on his missionary endeavors. He left behind local churches, often still in development, with leadership and structure in place, and possessing a body of teaching centering around the gospel of Jesus Christ. I bet it was a pretty messy experience at times.

To one degree or another a holy discontent ought to always describe the church. Lord knows I have had well nigh enough of contemporary excesses such as lavish buildings, Christian marketing, personality-driven ministry, slavishness to faddish programs, Christian celebrity idolatry, anemic curriculum-based sub-par teaching, and a caricatured Christian sub-culture that somehow wants to be as cool as the world's "real" culture... just slapping Jesus onto worldly desire or trend. Even with all my discontent, I know that leaving the church behind is not the answer. Instead, proclaiming and modeling authentic Christianity within the community of believers collectively known as THE CHURCH is absolutely necessary. Jesus died for the church, which is comprised of all Christian followers of Him, and He knew what we would become when He did so. If my Lord and Master loves this messy church Bride, so should I! He calls us to just passionately follow Him, laying aside the charts, the self-enamored thinking, and the programs we want, refusing to take our eyes off Him. Jesus is the head of the church!


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

conscience-stricken confession

But David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly."
2 Samuel 24:10

David knows he has willfully sinned against the Lord by the taking of a census of the fighting forces of Israel. The text is silent as to exactly why this was a sin. We do know that generally in the past any such census would have been done at God's command, and that is absent in this text. We also know that Joab provided advance warning to David concerning the wrongness of these actions, but David refused to listen to his general (2 Samuel 24:3-4). The census was performed clearly as an act of sin from that point onward.

Eventually after the final count reaches the throneroom nine months later, David is conscience-stricken over the sin he has committed against God and comes to the Lord in confession, begging to receive God's forgiveness for his sin. David's confession here is instructive. it gives insight into how we should deal with our own sin.

The terms in which David refers to his actions show us what confession involves. The first three words set the tone: "I have sinned..." David did not evade responsibility by calling his actions anything less than sin. He took full responsibility by adding the phrase "what I have done".

David also knew that only God could bring the healing of forgivenss and "take away the iniquity". He was appealing for God's mercy and grace to a sinner. He also realized that his actions were stupid and foolish. But that was the last way he talked about his sin. I find that insight to be challenging. Usually at war with my pride, I may concede an action as dumb, but not easily will I acknowledge it as sin. That needs to change if I am going to be a man of confession and change!

The power of Christianity lies in its tranformative ability to find God's grace and live in it. It comes by acknowledging our broken sinful selves and exchanging that life for the life of Christ. And it starts with honest confession of sin. Christians can't be apathetic when it comes to our own sin. We should still readily identify ourselves as sinners when we need to confess. It keeps God in proper perspective. Oh what a beauty of humble confession would adorn the church if such a real view of sin would mark our prayers, our commitments, and our lifestyles!


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

famous last words

The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
2 Samuel 23:3-4

These "last words" of David (probably the last recorded psalm of David) are filled with wonder at the power of God at work in his kingdom. David was amazed. He has been a man of warfare all his life. He has seen a lot of violence. Yet he has lived to be an old man despite all the struggles, the sins, and their consequences. He has been blessed in spite of it all.

In this short psalm he summarizes his experience as king by summarizing what God has done for him. He begins with the miracle of God's Word, claiming that God has used him to speak His Word (2 Samuel 23:2), a clear and rare personal reflection on the theology of inspiration and inscripturation. He then speaks of God's honoring Himself in David's rule. There was a unique relationship with God that David experienced as king. When he ruled "in the fear of God", his kingdom was a blessing to those he ruled.

David then reflects on the wonder of having God make a unique, uni-lateral covenant with him in which God promised an everlasting dynasty to David (2 Samuel 23:5). This was the most amazing part of David's life. He was chosen and his house was chosen by God... and this was the secret to his success. God had done everything for him to honor His covenant with David. David knew it all came from God's grace to him.

David ends his last psalm with an observation that contrasts living under God's care with livng a "worthless" life in disobedience or disregard of God (2 Samuel 23:6-7). The end of such living is waste and destruction. The righteous ultimately prosper in God's embrace while those who reject God are miserably destroyed. David knew that the peace with which his life was ending was God's final verdict on his life and his kingdom. He is happy to thrive in such blessing.


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

grace as far as the eye can see

He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
2 Samuel 22:20

David rejoiced in the incredible experience of God's grace. He experienced it in almost every category of his life, even while still a boy. It made him who he was. It made him the kind of king that he was as well.

David's poetic description of that grace is profound. It gives me insight into God's care for me right now. God's desire to save us, to rescue us, is in no way restrictive. Instead, it is meant to give us the kind of freedom He made us to enjoy with Him. David says that God brought Him out into "a broad place". There was plenty of room to enjoy all the good things God was giving him. Grace is not constricting... it is liberating.

I know that kind of liberation in Christ, and in many ways, I know it to a greater degree (at least from a New Testament perspective) than David could have ever imagined. I have the capacity to do what is right. Not on my own, but through the enabling of the Holy Spirit and the equipping of God's Word. The real rescue that I can live is what Jesus brought to the world. It is a rescue from the worst effects of sin. It is a rescue from the worst defects of self. And I am a new creation in Christ, set free to wander the vast expanse of the new frontier of God's grace!

God delights in His children. David could sing of that despite all the hardships and the discipline that he had received for his sin. God was good and God is not out to make life miserable. He delights in us and that is why grace is offered to us. I am a child that God loves. That is a profound truth and the very best way to define myself.


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

a change of seasons

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, "You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel."
2 Samuel 21:17

David is not the same young warrior that he used to be. He has returned to his old pattern of fighting as warrior king beside his troops in battle. Only now he is an older man. His children have grown. He is not the agile young fighter that he used to be. He is growing weary in the battle. This is a liability now. It has been great to have him leading the battle, but not in the thick of it where it has become a distraction.

David was always a target, so that is not what his men are getting at when they swear to no longer take him into the heart of the battle. The issue is that David's crucial role as unifying king is too important for the nation. He is too great a risk in battle. And he cannot stand up to the rigors of hand to hand combat like he used to do. He is the "lamp of Israel" to his men, and they can't stand the thought of losing him in battle.

This is a season of change. David truly has a warrior's heart, but that energy needs to be directed somewhere other than in hand to hand combat. He needs to be leading, not participating, in the battle. And David humbly accepts the change. He is not the young fighter of giants anymore. His men will follow him anywhere, but he must continue to lead the army of Israel another way.

Life has its seasons, and David must now adjust. It is time to let young warriors kill the giants (which is a key chapter theme here). Just as David proved his manly courage while still a shepherd boy by killing a Philistine giant, so do his young troops dispatch four of them again in this account. It is clear the torch has passed with greater results. He could see Israel's army do greater things under his leadership than David would accomplish alone. So the reward of this change of seasons for David was the fruitful increase in the army's overall success. I take note of that as I read it today. As our years increase, the chance to see the next generation do more than we ever did also increases. And God can use us to help see that happen. That is encouraging. It gives purpose to the relentless movement of seasons of change.


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

rebellion again

So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 20:2

David gets very little relief from the civil war trauma in Israel. No sooner does he end one rebellion than a new one arises. Again a Benjamite gives David trouble. Sheba manages to lead away the armies of most of Israel in a short-lived rebellion. While David should be attending to restorative duties, he is forced to continue to wage a war at home against his own people.

David hopes to quickly control this insurrection. He dispatches his new "head general", Amasa (a political move since he came from the armies of the northern tribes), to rally the Judean army in three days time. But Amasa fails to achieve this task by the due date. David then appoints Abishai, the brother of his demoted general Joab, to finish the task. That sets in motion more of Joab's reckless bloodthirsty cruelty. Taking matters into his own hands and without the authority of the king's orders, Joab tracks down Amasa and murders him in full site of the armies of David. He then assumes command of the forces and chases down the rebel Sheba, who is now defensiviely holed up in the fortified Israeli city of Abel.

Joab lays seige against a leading Israelite city, threatening great loss of life and destruction to get his man. A wise woman of the city negotiates with Joab at the wall of the city. By the end of that day the city leaders toss the head of Sheba over the wall and Joab is satisfied. He gets what he wants by any means necessary.

Horrible things happen in war time.This is evident by what we see occurring at the hands of Joab. Ideally, Amasa should have been relieved of his command by David. But Joab seized control quickly by violence. Eventually David would never forgive this of Joab. He is a powerful general, but ruthless, because he is a morally weak person. He is more of a gangster than a real leader. Yet even in the messiness of human sinful actions in war, God protected David and delivered Israel back over to David's leadership. The real picture is God's sovereign control over all these wild and wrong political and military actions. Not even the worst sins that people commit against one another can thwart the plan and power of God. No human rebellion will succeed against God's rulership.



- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13