God of Good Works

One of the things we struggle with the most is faith itself. What does it mean to believe? What does believing require of me? 

We think that if we believe, then we should act in certain ways. And we're absolutely right. Having faith in Christ should change the way that we live our day-to-day, the way that we respond to the challenges in this world, the way that we love one another. 

But the more that we let our faith change the way that we live, the easier it is for us to shift our minds to believe that the way we're living justifies what God should give us in return. In other words, slowly over a life of faithfulness that produces good works, we are drawn into the temptation that our good works are our faith. 

We start to believe in the good things we do. 

The New Testament spends a good amount of time refuting this kind of thinking. In Romans, Paul says that if you work, it's easy to think of your wages as compensation - this trap that we're all so prone to falling into. It's easy to think that if you work, God owes you for that work.

But, Paul continues, without the works, it's faith itself that is credited to you as righteousness (4:5). That is, faith is what really matters before the Lord, who looks at the heart of a man. 

And on some level, don't we know that this is true? 

Look at Christ Himself. 

In His ministry on earth, He did many good works. He did them because He believed in the One who does such things - who gives sight to the blind, sound to the deaf, voice to the mute, movement to the lame, washing to the unclean, life to the dead. His faith told Him these things were possible, but His works put them on display. 

Yet, the greatest example of Christ is not His good works. Yes, they are great. Yes, we are thankful for them. Yes, we would love to go into the world and do likewise. But the testimony of the life of Christ is the testimony of incarnation, of relationship, of trust, of hope, of faith. 

The example Christ set for us is not one of doing miracles; it's one of believing in miracles. It's one of sneaking off and stealing quiet moments to pray. It's one of knowing the Scriptures and studying the story and entrusting yourself to something bigger than you. It's one of knowing the Father and being known by the Father. It's one of surrender and acceptance, of humility and embrace. It's one of walking softly, speaking tenderly, proclaiming boldly, and being unafraid. 

You don't have to cast out demons to demonstrate your faith. Your faith is shown when you stand your ground and cause the demons to flee. Do you see the difference? 

Just believing is the work. Just believing is the manifestation of faith. 

And this, Paul says, is credited as righteousness. 

And it's what makes us go and do good in the world in the first place.