For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)
Let’s begin with the bottom line of this post. Our works matter. Yes, those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Savior know we are saved by grace. Please understand though that God put us here for a reason. If we call ourselves followers of Christ, being a so-called good person who does good things is not good enough for God. Ephesians 2:10 tells us specifically that God prepared good works in advance for us to do. We entered this world with an assignment.
Are you doing the work God put you here to do? Before you answer, take some time, and reflect on it. Did God give you an assignment and you etched it in stone when He wanted you to write it on a chalkboard?
Imagine being called to serve at a food pantry. Out of obedience to God’s will for your life, you do it. As time passes, you have gotten comfortable with the assignment, look forward to it, and feel joy in serving the community. One day, you feel a nudge from the Holy Spirit letting you know it is time to leave this assignment and receive the next one. You have a decision to make. This is where many get stuck, and it is the point where good works no longer matter from a Kingdom perspective.
Before you question that statement, please allow me to explain. When we feel that nudge letting us know it is time to move on, we may not know what the next assignment will be. Our human nature may cause us to hold on to the assignment we are familiar with while we wait for the Holy Spirit to reveal the details of what is coming next. In the meantime, the Holy Spirit is waiting for us to be obedient to the instruction to leave the current assignment, and then our next assignment will be revealed. This is what faith and obedience look like. The moment we ignore what God is guiding us to do is the moment we become out of alignment with the story that was written for us which is God’s perfect plan for our lives. We may continue to do good works but if it is not what He told us to do then it does not matter because we have conformed to the ways of the world, not the will of our Father in Heaven.
In Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV) Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
I am not asking if you go to church, tithe, give to the homeless, or perform good and honorable deeds. I am asking if you are doing specifically what God has instructed you to do in this chapter of your life. Are you still working on an old assignment beyond its end date? Do you know what God has instructed you to do?
In an amazingly short amount of time, God has given me various assignments. Each assignment pushes me to do something outside of my comfort zone that I have never done before. The moment I have found my stride, He takes it to another level, gives me another assignment, and I am faced with making a choice. I can either try to hold onto my earlier assignment, justifying it because it originally came from God, or I can move on when He tells me to move on to the next thing.
Please be reminded that when the time comes, we must all be judged. 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV) says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” We are not saved by works but our work according to God’s will does matter. They will determine our reward in Heaven, and we will not each receive the same reward. There are degrees of reward and punishment.
Those in Christ will not be condemned for our sins when we are judged. Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and by accepting Him, we are forgiven. If we reject Him, we are telling Him we do not need Him and will pay the price for our sins. I’ll pass on that.
We were created for eternity. If you are passively going through life, please wake up and take it seriously. Everything we do and don’t do on this Earth matters. Our sins are paid in full by Jesus Christ…but please do not get it twisted, my friends because we’ve got work to do.
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