Good Works

April 20

Good Works
agathois ergois

Having studied in Eph_2:8-9 that works do not save, does that mean works have no place whatsoever in the believer’s life? Does that mean works are meaningless and irrelevant?

Absolutely not, as Paul makes clear in the very next verse: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph_2:10).

Good works do not produce salvation, but salvation most certainly produces good works.

Back on March 18, we examined agathos (G18, good) and learned that it has a wide range of meanings: benevolent, profitable, useful, beneficial, excellent, virtuous, and suitable.

We see here, then, the plural agathois. Works is ergois (plural of ergon, G2041), which means an act, a deed, the doing of labor, or even employment. The Christian, therefore, is now employed to do things that are good in all the ways implied by agathos. And that is quite a job!

Commentator Walter Liefeld relates this personal testimony that underscores the importance of these verses and this principle:
There are few verses both more important and more misunderstood than Eph_2:8-9.

This is partly because Eph_2:10 is often not quoted along with them. When I was a young Christian I acquired a pack of Bible verses to memorize. Among the first were Eph_2:8-9. I began quoting them in witnessing, but it took me years to realize that the omission of Eph_2:10 was one reason I was having trouble persuading my morally sensitive friends that salvation is only by grace.

The almost inevitable response was that if this is true, Christians can live as they please and still go to heaven. Rom_6:1 deals with this issue as well, but when we quote Eph_2:8-9 it should not be necessary to leave the Ephesian context, because Eph_2:10 gives the needed corrective: we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works.

Many Christians think that since our salvation was a gift, it, therefore, does not demand anything of us. Jesus is presented today as a “fix-it” for all our problems and someone who doesn’t demand anything from us.

That is serious error! Any gift demands a response even if it is only a simple “thank you.” But truly our salvation demands much more than a “thank you” because our salvation is a life-altering reality; it transforms a depraved, hell-bound sinner into a blood-bought, heaven-bound saint.

Scriptures for Study: What prepares us for doing good works, according to 2Ti_3:16-17? What’s the challenge of Heb_10:24 in relation to good works?

 
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