Chapter 323—What About Good Works?
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
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Our acceptance with God is sure only through His beloved Son, and
good works are but the result of the working of His sin-pardoning love. They
are no credit to us, and we have nothing accorded to us for our good works
by which we may claim a part in the salvation of our souls. Salvation is
God’s free gift to the believer, given to him for Christ’s sake alone. The
troubled soul may find peace through faith in Christ, and his peace will be in
proportion to his faith and trust. He cannot present his good works as a plea
for the salvation of his soul.
But are good works of no real value? Is the sinner who commits sin
every day with impunity, regarded of God with the same favor as the one
who through faith in Christ tries to work in his integrity? The Scripture
answers, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” In His divine
arrangement, through His unmerited favor, the Lord has ordained that good
works shall be rewarded. We are accepted through Christ’s merit alone; and
the acts of mercy, the deeds of charity, which we perform, are the fruits of
faith; and they become a blessing to us; for men are to be rewarded according
to their works. It is the fragrance of the merit of Christ that makes our good
works acceptable to God, and it is grace that enables us to do the works for
which He rewards us. Our works in and of themselves have no merit. When
we have done all that it is possible for us to do, we are to count ourselves as
unprofitable servants. We deserve no thanks from God. We have only done
what it was our duty to do, and our works could not have been performed in
the strength of our own sinful natures.
The Lord has bidden us to draw nigh to Him and He will draw nigh to us;
and drawing nigh to Him, we receive the grace by which to do those works
which will be rewarded at His hands.
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