GOOD DEEDS

John the Baptist was in prison for rebuking Herod Antipas, the half-crazed tetrarch of Galilee for divorcing his wife and unlawfully taking his brother’s wife. It appears there had not been much contact between the Baptist and Jesus Christ since that momentous day when the Lord was baptized by John at the Jordan. Then John had witnessed the heavens opening and the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus and a voice proclaiming from the sky “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”. Later on John pointed out Jesus to the public naming Him the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. Now he developed doubt in prison and sent his disciples to Jesus to find out ‘‘Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?’’.

Jesus didn’t directly answer his question, but instructed the men to “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.” It is amazing this obscure description was sufficient to satisfy John’s curiosity. There was a perfect understanding between the Saviour and the Savant. Obviously, they were both thinking about Isaiah’s prophecy in 61:1, 2. This was quoted by Jesus to an incredulous congregation on  Sabbath at a Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4:18, 19) identifying Himself as the Messiah. A number of other Messianic prophecies speak about the ‘good works’ the Christ would perform; all of these found fulfillment in Jesus’ life--the work He started by turning water into wine at Cana and ended at Calvary when water and blood gushed from His side on the cross.

The scripture makes it clear that salvation cannot be earned through your good deeds, man can never become good enough for God to grant him as a reward entrance into the Kingdom of God. Salvation is a gift, secured as grace, the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God given to those who have faith in the finished work of Jesus in Calvary. St. Paul and other apostles go to great length explaining this and there are numerous passages in the Bible that conform to this. Titus 2:11 "The grace has appeared, bringing salvation to all men"; Ephesians 2:8, 9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" But, once you are saved through grace, it is your changed life, your exemplary conduct, and purity of thoughts that bear witness to the fact you are born again.

Salvation depends, not on what we do for God, but on what He has done for us.   It depends on the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. That was a perfect and complete work (Hebrews 10:12). It cannot be added to or improved upon (Hebrews 10:18). To doubt eternal security is to dishonour the sufficiency of the Lord’s atoning work. The believers’ assurance is in Christ, not in himself. Therefore it is a perfect and complete acceptance (Hebrews 10:14). It is as eternal as Christ Himself.

Where there is life, there should be motion. Real, life-giving faith should produce action. Believers must live out their faith. What kind of actions characterizes your spiritual lives? Martin Luther said, “you are saved by faith alone, but if faith is alone, it is not faith”. When a person becomes Christian, a new life begins, and it is inevitable that life has to express itself through his activities, through the good work he does. “What good will it do if a man claims to have faith, but has no deeds” asks James in 2:14. He proceeds to admonish the reader “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves; but put it into action (James 1:22).  Commitment to others and love to serve others are marks of good faith.

The Holy Bible points out to numerous life situations that might need actions of good deeds, “Christian” style of responses; it also gives examples of people who acted in ways pleasing to God rather than the world. Let us look into a few illustrations:

1Peter 2:12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

If your actions are above reproach, even hostile people will end up praising God. We are scattered among unbelievers who are inclined to believe and spread vicious lies about Christians. Don’t write them off because they don’t understand Christianity, instead, show them Christ through your life. This is what Jesus also meant in Matthew 5:16. Our patience and our forgiving and understanding nature are sure to impress these people and even win some of them to the Lord.

1Timothy 5:25 In the same way, the good deeds of some people are obvious. And the good deeds done in secret will someday come to light.

It is not easy to choose the right candidate for positions of church leadership. Paul warns his disciple not to be in a hurry to appointing men or women (particularly to the position of a Pastor) who appear to possess all the right qualifications, but really are not. See verse 22 also.

1Timothy 6:18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.

Ephesus was a wealthy city and probably there were rich people among the congregation. Paul advised Timothy to teach them the possession of wealth carries certain responsibilities. If you have been blessed with wealth you must not become proud and indulge in what pleasure money can buy. There are many ways rich Christian can put money to good use.

Hebrews 10:24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

Our close relationship will equip us overcome problems and doubts and deepen our relationship with God. We must take our colleagues along with us and motivate people. Jesus named us light of the world in the Sermon on the Mount and wanted us to be models to others.

Titus  2:14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds

Christ’s freeing us from our sins opened the way for Him to “cleanse” us. He redeemed us from the captivity of sin with a ransom. We are not only free from death, but we are not anymore hampered by the selfishness of the world that frequently makes it hard to help others.

James 2:18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” 

While it is true nobody can ‘’earn’’ salvation by being good, true salvation automatically changes our attitude towards others’ needs and inspires us to perform good deeds.

Also, read the following verses that are self-explanatory. Understanding God’s ways, being productive Christians, being wise, leading honorable lives and mercy—all these qualities are reflected in our lives when we know Jesus personally and dedicate our lives to him. Faith without works is a dead faith, asserts James (2:17).

Titus  3:14 Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.

James 3:13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.

James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.

Contemporary Babylonian records refer to Israel as Omriland, such was King Omri's might and popularity (the sixth king of Israel—ruled from 884-873 BC), but Biblical records dismiss him in a few lines and call him an evil king.  But kings like Asa, Hezekiah and Josiah are paid glowing tributes and classified as ‘good’. It is not their military achievement nor administrative capabilities but the love of their citizens, unblemished character  and obedience to the Word of God that mattered.

“It is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it” said James (4:17). Inspired by similar commands and obeying the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, realizing there was so great need in the fallen world to alleviate human misery, missionaries down the centuries travelled the whole world carrying the message of love at enormous personal cost and terrible risks. Many of them became martyrs in distant lands. Their work altered the course of history, deeply impacted cultures, influenced governance and changed peoples’ lives, unlike no other single factor.  they built hospitals and schools and started professional courses which became models for governments later. They set standards in health and hygiene which is the norm even today. William Booth was known to tell his followers “soup, soap and salvation”, as the order of their work. Their work is still going on and will go on until the Second Coming.

King Saul did everything in his power to capture and kill David. He had employed an army of 3000 soldiers to comb the country for David. David lived in hiding inside mountain caves and in exile. He had two opportunities to kill Saul but refused to do so. It is his greatness that earned him the title of God ‘a man according to my own heart’. Noah, Job and many other Old Testament giants were loved by God for their blameless character. St Paul and St. Peter became the most fearless spokesmen for Christianity because of their great work of love.

Mathew 25:40 ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ Jesus said. Wherever there is a dire need, there the Lord is present. Will you be there, too?

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