If we are discouraged about good works, it might be because we think of them mainly as great public achievements for the gospel. But notice how important to Jesus are the small acts of daily kindness, sacrificial ministry, and tender love for those in need. If God is working in you and if you are walking by the Spirit through His Word, in prayer, and in worship, then God has ordained good works like these and has given you power to do them.

Christians who know Reformation theology are keen to point out that sinners are justified through faith alone, apart from works (Gal. 2:16). Unfortunately, there has been a tendency in some parts to conclude that good works are therefore not an important part of the Christian life. But such a view could not be further from the thought of both Jesus and His Apostles. Jesus spoke of good fruit as the natural fruit of a healthy tree (Matt. 7:17). He emphasized that while we are justified apart from our good works, godly fruit that results from our salvation is a necessary and inevitable consequence of His saving work in our lives.

The question will be especially raised by weak Christians and new believers: “How is a sinful person like me supposed to do good works?” The answer is given by Paul in Philippians 2:12–13: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Because God Works in Us

The first reason that Christians have power to do good deeds—works that serve the Lord and bless other people—is that God is at work in believers’ lives. How crippling it is to think that we must generate good deeds out of our own power. It is true that the Christian life requires effort from believers, as Paul instructs: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). We must apply our faith to every area of our lives, changing our approach to work, play, relationships, sexuality, money, life goals, and daily habits. But lest we despair of so difficult a task, Paul adds that “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (v. 13). We have power to do good works because God is working in us for His good pleasure.

As Paul sees it, our doing is because of what we are becoming. This “be, therefore do” principle permeates the Bible’s approach to sanctification and good works. The greatest change begins when a sinner is born again to saving faith in Jesus. This means that if you trust in Christ, the greatest change has already happened to you. John wrote, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9). John does not mean that born-again people never sin (see 1:8) but means that we are no longer on a trajectory of sin but rather on a trajectory of righteousness. We therefore must never view a believer—even ourselves—as we do an unbeliever. Sin is the principle working out in an unbeliever’s life. But the believer has been born again and therefore has the impulse to do good works and the power of God to do them. Born-again Christians are new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17), and therefore we do good works that reflect God’s new creation in Christ.

By Walking in the Holy Spirit

The new birth establishes the fact that believers have power to do good works. But what is the manner in which Christians experience this power? The answer is given in Romans 8:4, where Paul states that because of God’s gift of his Son, “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

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