Good Deeds

Steven’s Scribbles
“Good Deeds”
Eph. 2:8-10


    “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10).  I read yesterday that Elon Musk was willing to give $6B to help solve world hunger if certain conditions were met. That is an amazing thing to read. I’m not sure that I’ve heard of more generosity from a single individual. However, doing good works is not what saves us. Obedience through faith to God’s grace is the source of our salvation (Heb. 5:9; Titus 2:11-12). So why do we do good works? Doing good for our neighbors and our brethren (Gal. 6:10) is an outgrowth of being a Christian. We do not do good works to become Christian, we do good works because we’re Christians. When you’ve been saved from your helpless state (Rom. 5:6-10), the only proper response is to help those around you. James so eloquently put together doing good to others, and from a faith obeying God. James 2:14-18 he mentions feeding and clothing our brethren. He sums it up by saying, “Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” The love and care for our brethren should shine in a world of darkness. He then goes on to talk about how belief in God is not enough, because even the demons believe (2:19). But obeying the Lord’s commands, like Abraham and Rahab, are how we accept the Lord’s grace. Practice good deeds to those around you, because you have received something you do not deserve. I love you all!
    
In His service,
Steven Hugley