Matthew 5:16 – Let you light so shine before me that they may see your good worlds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Have you ever had a Biblical theme that you cannot get away from? This happens all the time to me. God begins to speak to my heart about something and then every where I turn I see reference to it or opportunity for application. In the letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul says that we are not saved by works, lest we boast. He goes on to say that we have been saved by grace; a true statement. We cannot save ourselves and we cannot save anyone else from damnation. We can tell them the Good News, we can share what we know about our faith, the rest is up to the Holy Spirit and the person. But somehow in the process the Protestant church has some how managed to think that works are a bad thing.
If a particular Christian faith says that we need to do works, we denounce them saying “They are preaching a works salvation!” But how can we have a salvation and there be no works. How can we say we have faith in God and there be no works? I had a very well read friend of mine say that when you take and boil down everything that both Calvin (who put God’s sovereignty first) and his antithetical student, Jacob Arminius, who put man’s freedom first, it comes to this. They both agree that the only true proof of salvation is in the works of the person.
I have become convinced that we may not be saved by works, but we were saved for works! Jesus didn’t just die on the cross to guarantee us a seat at the great banquet in the sky. He died so that we could be free of sin (basically selfishness) both its penalty and its works. God has planned good works in advance for us to accomplish. God has recreated us that we can be His workmanship, created for good works.
So what does that look like? It doesn’t mean protesting Obama. I’m pretty convinced its not supporting the protest against proposition 8 in California either. Its not starting movements called “God hates fags” and it isn’t attending gay rights parades either. Our good works are when we look at those in the world in need of care and comfort and we become the comforting arms of God. Yes there is a moral code associated with Christianity. Sexual purity is something to be striven for and maintained. But as we look at the whole some of the Bible NT and OT alike there are by far more scriptures encouraging God’s people to maintain justice for the poor and care for those in need, than there are even dealing with Holiness (as my Seminary professor once told me).
We cannot have salvation in Christ Jesus without an outflow of good works. It is not the government’s job to do good works. We aren’t really even supposed to be paying them to do that. Instead, we are to be the hands and feet of a loving God who cares for and defends the widow and the fatherless. In 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus makes it pretty clear in his illustration of the sheep and the goats. The goats (unbelievers – those who will not enter into His Kingdom) acknowledged the Lord Jesus but did no good works. The sheep (believers – those who will enter into His Kingdom), also acknowledged the Lord Jesus but feed the hungry, clothed the naked and visited those in jail.
The New Testament is pretty clear. You cannot ignore the needs of those living around you (believers and unbelievers alike) and say you have faith in God. The only belief that you have in that case is the same belief that the demons have and they shutter at the thought of Jesus.
Its easy to find excuses why not to care for others. We have bills, we have families; blah, blah, blah. I know I have and still struggle with making those kinds of excuses. But God is watching. And He cares for even the glue sniffers and prostitutes. If this seems overwhelming, I suggest you start small. Ask God to show you someone today that you could help. You may get ripped off. You may throw good money after bad, but I ask you, “Do you want to be counted with the sheep or the goats?”
We should use our money wisely in fact giving money is probably not the best way (it’s just the easiest) to help other believers and even our unbelieving neighbors. But still the plight of those in need must be answered. We don’t have to help them maintain a standard of living that so many westerners have come to expect, but we do need to make sure that those unable to care for themselves are cared for.
Lets all shine for Jesus!
In Him
Alan
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