By Your Good Works!

A friend pointed out to me that the Scripture in Philippians 2:12 says, that it is necessary to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”  He understands this to mean we must work hard to do all that God would have us do so we will be acceptable when our soul goes into eternity.

He hasn’t understood that Paul the apostle is saying, ‘it is because our sins have been forgiven by the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary, that we desire to show our thankfulness by good works.’  God’s Spirit within a person, is the driving force glorifying God, after he or she has requested forgiveness, and received it.  The Bible tells us, “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” -Colossians 1:10

If a person does good works to make himself acceptable to God, then he or she is attempting to glorify himself rather than God.  God tells us in His Scriptures, that we were made to glorify Him.... “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” -Ephesians. 2:10.  We are to praise Him, as given in Psalm 50:23, which says, “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.” We are to glorify Him, as in 1 Cor.10:31, where we are admonished, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”  And it is in humility that one works for God, for the Scripture instructs us saying,  “What doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” -Micah 6:9.

As for doing good things to gain favour with God, the Scripture tells us, “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” -Isaiah. 64:6.  “The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression.” -Ezekiel. 7:19  “A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”- Romans 3:28.  Jesus told us, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life.” -John 5: 24.  We are advised that, it is “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy that He saved us.” -Titus 3:5.

Our good works are meant to glorify our Father in Heaven.  Scripture says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” -Matthew. 5:14.  To do good works to make oneself acceptable to God, it is only an act to glorify one’s own self, and not God.

The parable of the prodigal son is a picture of the forgiveness a father has for his wayward son, who is welcomed upon his return home.  It’s a lesson about what it will be like when God the Father in Heaven welcomes us into our eternal home.  Jesus calls us His brothers and sisters, and members of God’s family.  As wayward as we are in our lives, when we call upon our Heavenly Father to accept us into His family, He will do it without question, never thinking to cast us off for not having earned our way back.  We are accepted “In the Beloved,” as any loving father would accept his own child, forgetting his or her inadequacies.  The “Beloved” is Jesus, considered to be our brother, when God is our Father.  

Will Any Name Suffice?

We have met those who say that regardless of whatever name He may be called, there is just one God.  They say it is the various religious faiths that have given God His various names.  However, one cannot honestly say, “I don’t like to be critical of the faith of others,” for in that statement, a person avoids the truth that God exists as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and in nothing else.

Could it be true, that all faiths actually worship the same God?  Can one stand quietly and agree with the person who issued that statement?  No, - there can be only one true God, Creator of the Heavens and the earth.  The Bible tells us, “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:3)  Scripture also tells us, “there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,”(Acts 4:12) and that Jesus said, “I and my Father are one,” (John 10:30) and “No one cometh unto the Father but by me.”(John 14:6)

The fact is that in all faiths, sinfulness requires restitution in order to be right with God, but there’s no other god that offers forgiveness like God of the Christian faith.  No other faith provides a Saviour from one’s sinfulness, a God who paid the price to redeem sinners.  God in the Bible recognized that we are all sinners unable to earn a relationship with Him.  How would a person know when he or she had repented sufficiently and worked hard enough to earn forgiveness for wrongdoing?  Consequently, God has provided the means by which mankind can be redeemed and have personal communication with Him.  Jesus left his Holy Spirit with us, and through Him, individuals may have a personal relationship with God by asking for forgiveness.

It cannot be true that you can call God by any number of names and He will still be the same God, because there is no god that provided such a magnificent Sacrifice for mankind, which was His own self.  People do not have to earn their way to Heaven by their good works, but only believe with all their hearts, that God provided the way by having come to earth to be one of us, and demonstrating that He has the power over life and death.  Only God has the power to overcome death.

Muslims believe Allah is their god and Muhammad is his prophet.  The Hindus have Brahma, and the Jews, Jehovah.  Ancient Greeks worshipped the god, Zeus.  However, in a sense, these various gods are an answer to a basic need to worship some god, one to whom people can look for mercy and provisions.  The folly is in making gods from wood and stone or as in the case of the Israelites, from gold.  In any of these gods, there is no “truth.”  There is falsehood in abiding by many rules or by living a righteous, god-pleasing life to satisfy the desire of a god.  God expects us to please Him however, but it is only by faith in Christ who gave His life for ours, that we have any relationship with God.  Loving God, who first loved us, will result in the good works that we offer Him.  It is not our good works that will earn the favor of God, for we were made for that purpose, and it is our obligation.

There are those who would say, “God is love,” just as John wrote in the Scripture, John 4:16.  Consequently they would give God the name, “Love.”  Their reasoning is that the truths of all religions of the world could be united under one God if He were given the name, “Love.”

The name, “Love,” if given to God, won’t change the characteristics of the gods devised by man.  Love is not a name for God, because it is His nature to love.  To the fullest extent God demonstrated His love when He gave his life to pay for our sins.  The Scripture in John 15:13 says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down His life for His friends,” and “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” -John 3:16

What sets God above all other gods is that He, Jesus, is the “truth,” and the “truth” is that the Spirit of Jesus, who was God in person, is able to free us from sin and its consequences, permitting us to have a personal relationship with God.  God, according to Scripture in John 4:24, is to be worshipped “in Spirit and in truth,” and in John 14:6, the Bible says that Christ is “the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Him.”

Love is a characteristic of God and Jesus showed it by going to the cross in our place.  A poem by David Sper, editor of Our Daily Bread illustrates this.

When Jesus gave His life for me,
Enduring all the agony
Upon the cross of Calvary,
He showed the love of God.
                                        

All the world’s religions are not the same, nor will all people be united by giving their various gods only one name for the purpose that He would be recognized by all.  Love is simply a characteristic of God, and it is not a name we can give Him.  God has so many ineffable names such as Counselor, the Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, Jesus Christ, Saviour, Benefactor and Gracious Father, that each is accurate, yet at the same time, only partly describes our great God of the Universe.  He has existed forever, being the Creator and Sustainer of all.  God is forgiving and merciful, and promises to dwell forever in our hearts when we believe Jesus was sent to earth for our sakes.

People have devised other gods.  Their strength has only been imaginative.  Elijah called upon God to ignite the fire on the sacrifice made to Him, and God ignited the sacrifice though it had been thoroughly soaked.  Numerous gods of men’s devices were called upon, and they all were “asleep.”  To be correct, they were simply non-existent.  Only when we accept Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, will we know the one true God, whose name is Jesus Christ, who can bind people together with His great love.

What to Wear

In today’s society, where casual wear is appropriate for social occasions, we try to choose the most suitable attire.  We have clothes for work, for church, social occasions and various sports, as well as for yard-work, the shop, pipe band practice and parades.

Another way to think of wearing apparel is to consider how we look to others as they observe our attitudes and reactions.  This is using clothing of a metaphorical kind; the correct wearing apparel for the way we interact with one another.  The spiritual apparel for followers of Christ is of more importance than the actual style of clothing we wear.

Dress codes for Jesus’ friends have been given to us in the Scriptures.  We are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.  We must be forgiving and above all, we must “put on love which is the bond of perfection.”(Colossians 3:14)

The Person for whom we go to work each day is Jesus.  We must please Him by how we present ourselves.  The right apparel should be worn!  We must ask ourselves if we have been conforming to His dress code, for the kind of work He would have us do.

                                                O to be like Him, tender and kind,
                                                Gentle in spirit, lovely in mind;
                                                More like Jesus, day after day,
                                                Filled with His Spirit, now and alway.
                                                                                         -Ellsworth