Saved By Grace - Reason for Good Works

It's the immature Christian who believes that because of we are saved by grace, sin can abound. Paul addressed this in his letter to the Romans.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Any sensible person should know that if sin is bad, then it's foolish to think we should now do it because we have are saved by grace through Christ. So the question remains, why should we be good and holy?

The main reason that God gives is that it's because He is holy. In a couple of places in the Bible, God says, "be holy for I am holy." That's his main reason. What does that mean?

We were designed and created in the image of God. That was our purpose and God's original intent. And just like a person born to be a teacher is fully satisfied and joyful when he is teaching, so too, we are most happy when we are holy.

We were created in the image of God and he is holy. That means we were created to reflects his holiness. When we do that, we understand more of who he is and we glorify him as he is to the world. We were created to know and do God's will.

One of the cries of our hearts as believers is to know God. When we are holy, we then personally experience a little bit of what God's holiness is like. We were saved by grace through faith so we could walk in good works (Ephesians 4).

Just like fathers understand more of God's fatherly love when they have children because they experience it personally, so do we understand God's holiness when we are holy.

God does good works, that's what he does out of the nature of his goodness. When we do good works, we reflect God's image, like our intended purpose.

Grace is not just for the forgiveness of our sins. Grace also gives us the power to repent and turn from our sins. We were spiritually dead in our trespasses and only the work of God can allow us to repent and respond in faith. Without God, we can't turn to him.

It's by grace that we repent, it's by grace we have faith, and it's by grace that we get to walk in good works that God has ordained for us for his glory and for our good. We don't just have to do good works, we get to, because and only because of his grace.

Slavery of Sin

We weren't just saved by grace from hell, but also from the slavery of sin. Praise God for his extravagant grace and mercy toward us! The grace of God is indeed amazing.

We as Christians often envy the world for their supposed freedom to engage in their pleasures, but the reality is they are experiencing not freedom but the brokenness of God's image that's on them. The Bible says that they must sin, because they are slaves to it and that is their nature.

Everything we get, all the rewards of holiness and obedience, and all the future rewards for our good works and obedience to him is by grace. Grace leads us to say no to ungodliness says Titus 2:11. It's a good thing that God allows us to do good.

It's like when a nonprofit goes into a slum and gives prostitutes the ability, skills and opportunities to get a normal job to make a living. Before they almost had no choice, from their perspective.

But when someone comes in like that, by grace they give the prostitute the opportunity to get a normal job that benefits society. That's not taking them out of fun and putting them in a boring job. That's taking them out of a hell hole and bringing them to green pastures.

That's what happened to us when God saved us. He took us out of our hell hole and gave us the opportunity to make an honest living. Christianity is not a boring job, it's a privilege. Obedience is not a burden, it's a gift.

Following Christ is not giving up the world of pleasure for a lesser life. It's selling all that you have to buy a field that contains a pearl of great price buried in it. He sold everything to buy something of much greater value.

You gave up the life of sin for something of much greater value of following after Christ. It's a gift to get to follow him and an honor that none of us deserve. God is not a man that he should be served by human hands.

The Bible teaches us that there will be 2 judgements that we will appear for at the end of days. The first will be when the Father asks if we trusted in Jesus' death, burial and resurrection for our salvation.

Those who answer in the affirmative will be ushered into heaven and await their second judgement. Those who answer in the negative will be ushered into hell and await their second judgement.

Those who trusted in Jesus will be welcomed into paradise where there is no more pain or tears or suffering. However, the Bible also teaches us that there will be different levels of rewards based on how we responded to God's grace and salvation.

There will be those who received the grace of salvation and did nothing with that gift. God will say, "welcome to My Kingdom, I love you unconditionally, I love you like I love Jesus, I cannot love you more.

But you will not receive the reward you could've had because of you did not steward the gift of salvation and did not walk in the good works I had prepared for you." Then there will be those who will hear, "well done, good and faithful servant." According to Jesus, they will be given rulership over many cities.

God's grace is free. Salvation is free for those who will take it. We are saved by grace alone. Heaven is free to those who trust in Jesus. However, there will be differing rewards in heaven based on our actions here on earth.

Similarly, there will be differing levels of punishment in hell. It is clear in the Bible that there are differing levels of how bad a sin is. For example, God made it clear that unintentional manslaughter was not as bad as first degree murder.

It's also clear just in the nature of God's creation that a sin like saying a white lie is not as bad as rape. It's just common sense. In hell, depending on how sinful a person was, he will receive differing levels of punishment.

Those are the 2 judgements. First will determine where you go. The second will determine the nature of your existence when you get there.

Application? Accept Jesus and be saved from the coming wrath. And after that, walk in the good works He's prepared for you to walk in, with His help of course. We were created to be motivated by rewards.

That's why free markets work better than command markets. Be who you were created to be, get yourself a ticket into heaven, then get all you can get in the world to come. You were saved by grace so you can have the opportunity to get the bonuses in the end. Remember, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.