What does “Good works are the result of salvation” mean?
The simple answer can be found in Eph 2:8-9
Eph 2:8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9 not of works, that no one would boast.
This passage of scripture is telling us we are saved only by faith in Jesus Christ. And this is a gift from God. There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn our own salvation. In verse nine, we can see the reason why we cannot do good works to enter God’s Kingdom. If we could, then we would have a reason to boast about how we got there, and compare our works to the works of others. One very rich man may say, “I gave one million dollars to the church”. But a poor man may say, “I only gave ten dollars because that is all I could afford to give”.
Do you see the problem here?
The rich man has pride in what he has accomplished to enter God’s Kingdom. And probably the greatest sin we can commit against God is that of pride. If you look at the parable of the Poor Widow in Luk 21:1-4. You will see how God looks at our offerings.
Luk 21:1 He looked up, and saw the rich people who were putting their gifts into the treasury.
(2) He saw a certain poor widow casting in two small brass coins.
(3) He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them,
(4) for all these put in gifts for God from their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, put in all that she had to live on.”
Therefore, it is not the size of our donation, the amount of goods deeds we do, the number of people we help or anything else we may accomplish that makes us “right” with God. It is God’s grace that does this for us. Good deeds cannot save.
Consider also Rom 3:20.
Rom 3:20 Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
Realise that no-one is justified in God’s sight by keeping the law. As we read earlier in Eph 2:8-9, we are saved only by faith, and this is a gift from God.
The reason a Christian does these “good deeds” is because he realises he has been forgiven for his sins. The grace of God, His love, His forgiveness and His mercy have been given to us. Therefore, we want to do these good deeds as a way of pleasing God, who has given us everything.
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