For 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
The words ‘good works’ stand out as highly negative when we present the Gospel. One of the hardest things to get across to lost sinners is the worthlesness of what they consider to be their good works. So, very seldom is the Gospel preached without good works being clearly pointed out as the wrong way to salvation. We lump good works along with religion, prayers, and donating to the good cause as the prime obstacles people have to overcome to be saved. But our text speaks very highly of good works! And well it should. Because, although good works stand in the way of our salvation, they also stand as proof of our salvation after we receive it.
One of my favourite Gospel tracts told the story of an atheist who was trying to convince people in a mining town that there is no God. He was confronted by a huge miner who asked him, ‘How do you explain me?’ The big miner had been a mean drunk, brutal to his family and a terror to his neighbours, until the Gospel came to town. This miner responded to the message in repentance and faith in Christ, and became the gentlest of men, kind and loving and generous to his family and to all who knew him. The atheist had no answer. But our verse does; the miner became part of God’s workmanship, transformed by the Lord Jesus into a man full of good works. When it comes to good works, God sets the standard, and we are part of His good works, for our benefit and for His glory.
Our text declares that God has ordained that we should walk in good works. That simply means that good works are His will for us. His salvation gives us the power to do good works that actually please God. His desire is that we would use that power to walk in good works. When young people wonder what the will of God is for their lives, they need to start here. Before God unveils His great plan for their lives, He presents them with the path they are to walk in, the path of good works. This path is marked by simple and faithful obedience to the Word of God in worship and service. It is a path of honesty, kindness, and caring for those around us. It is a path that strives to be like the path that our Lord Jesus walked when He was among us. God has great purposes for every one of us. But they all begin – and remain – on the path of good works.
No, our good works don’t get us to Heaven. But they do bring more of Heaven to us. –Jim MacIntosh