A Reflection on Works and Good Works
by LewisAfter our service on Sunday morning I was asked by a “seeker” if good works were different than simple works (see Ephesians 2.9, 10). An excellent question! His reason for asking though, was a different question. He wanted to know if God was involved in, or possibly even the cause of, all good works.
This fellow has been involved in many noble causes and has witnessed many others. Most of those were not done on behalf of God, although God’s name was often invoked as though his support of these activities was certain.
Do you think Paul is making a distinction in Ephesians between “works” and “good works?’ The phrase “good works,” or some form of that phrase, appears 19 times in the New Testament. The first person to use the phrase was Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount he says, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
That may give us a hint as to the nature of good works — they bring glory to God.
Luke writes in Acts 9.36 that there was a disciple of Christ in Joppa named Tabitha, and “this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity, which she continually did.” Perhaps there is another clue there — deeds of kindness and charity constitute good works.
Finally, in Paul’s first letter to Timothy he says, “The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after. Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed.”
So it would seem that we can clearly see the difference between good works and “those which are otherwise.” That answers the first of my friend’s questions, but does it answer the second? Is God involved in all good works?
Under the mercy,
Lewis