Good Works
April 29, 2023
God has built the Bible on paradox, and that makes humans unhappy. We want things to be one way or the other, not irreconcilably both. Thus it is that in the Lord's church, the pendulum is constantly swinging between grace and faith on the one hand and works on the other.
This is a time in which grace is ascendant. Many commentators, myself included, have been encouraging brethren to stop being so fearful and trust in Christ to save them.
Similarly, I find it emotionally satisfying to attribute whatever good I have done to Christ working in me, as though I had nothing to do with it. I hate to be praised and would much rather focus on my failings.
However, all of the above is not true to the paradoxes in the text. It emphasizes one facet of scriptural truth at the expense of another. Passages like Revelation 14:13 remind me of this and challenge me not to try to put God in my box.
The grace of Christ matters immeasurably, yes, but so also do the labors that we perform in His name. Those labors keep us in Christ until we die, and they follow us even after we are dead. What's more, they are our labors. We are workers, not puppets.
This is hard for me to confront. In my heart of hearts, I would probably be happiest surrounded by a nice neat theological system in which God is everything and I am nothing. However, God doesn't think I'm nothing. He doesn't think that my works are nothing either.
Indeed, my life of faithfulness has brought Him great joy. I am constantly conscious of my failures, but thanks to grace, He has forgotten them. The good works are all that He sees, and even after I am dead, they will remain as an eternal monument to His glory.
This is true not only for me but also for all of us. Not every disciple is a preacher or a writer, but all of us do things that matter. The spiritual geography here is not the same as the earthly geography. God's values are not the same as the world's. A Christian may never say a word in the assembly yet live a life of humble service that marks them as among the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
We need to be brave and acknowledge our own significance. Here, I think, is the temptation in an exaggerated view of grace. I don't think that most brethren are likely to view grace as an excuse to sin, but it may be an excuse to shrink back from good works. If Christ is responsible for all that we do, and we don't do something, then Christ must not have wanted it done, right? We're just floating down the stream of grace on our way to heaven.
Don't float. Work. Struggle. Fight. Christ won't make you do any of these things, but He will help you. Shine wherever you can, however you can. Be like our brothers and sisters 2000 years ago. They were a people who did. If we live out their muscular, active faith, we will glorify Him like they did too.