Reply To: Christian Character 2024/25 Discussion Board 1

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As a believer in Christ Jesus, one of the ways your Christianity becomes visible to others, especially unbelievers, is through good works that result from a relationship with Jesus. This relationship is made possible through your new birth, which gave you a new nature of love.

However, it’s essential to remember that these good works did not grant you salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly states that we were saved by grace and not by works. This means that no amount of good works can earn salvation; instead, it’s through faith in the finished work of Christ.

You might wonder, then, how good works that stem from a relationship with Christ are necessary for bearing witnes for Him. Verse 10 of Ephesians 2 provides the answer: “We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” This means that our salvation, which is purely a work of grace and faith, involves our recreation into a new being that can truly do good works that bring glory to God.

This is possible because, at our new birth, we were translated from darkness to light, and now we are children of light. As a result, we bring light to our world through our works, which are enabled by our relationship with Jesus. Every light has a source, and the quality of the light depends on that source. Just as the sun’s light is brighter and higher than the moon’s and stars’, our good works can only truly shine when they stem from a relationship with Christ.

Matthew 5:15-16 reinforces this point: “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” This scripture emphasizes that good works are expected of believers, and these works should inspire others to glorify God.

The question, then, is not whether good works are expected, but whether you have an active relationship with Jesus that enables you to do good works that bring glory to Him. Any good works that do not stem from a relationship with Christ are merely acts of philanthropy, not bearing witness to Christ.

As Paul emphasized in Ephesians 2:10, “We are created unto good works.” This means that recreation is necessary to do good works that truly bear witness for Christ.

The story of the rich man in Matthew 19:16-26 illustrates this point. The rich man asked Jesus what good things he must do to be saved, revealing his misconception that salvation could be earned through good works. Jesus’ response showed the rich man that his good works were rooted in selfishness, not a genuine relationship with God. Despite claiming to have kept all the commandments since his youth, the rich man’s good works did not lead him to salvation. Instead, Jesus presented him with a way of grace, instructing him to sell his possessions and give to the poor. However, the rich man’s inability to rejoice at this instruction exposed the true motivation behind his good works – selfishness, not a desire to glorify God.

In conclusion, 1 John 2:3&6 reminds us that we ought to walk in the same way Jesus walked. Jesus went about doing good and healing those who were afflicted. As followers of Christ, good works are expected of us, and by doing so, we bear witness for Christ.