Friday, 24th July, 2.00pm — Works and Deeds

Verse:

Acts 26:20 (NKJV) – (I declared) “that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.”

Note the NIV version has a subtle but marked difference –  “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.”

Swali:

Last week we saw that repentance and faith (turning to God) are essential for salvation.

• Is the third item included here (deeds/works) also essential for salvation?
• If so, how do we reconcile that with the verses that contradict that?
• If not, what do we make of the verses that command works?
• What is your response to this verse? (either version)
• What do you conclude from the other verses on the subject of works and deeds.

Mistari inayohusiana:

See the post: https://group.questionsandbelief.org/related-verses-works-and-deeds/

Discussion

There are some core verses that form the basis for believing that we are not saved from sin by our good deeds, but simply through faith in Jesus and what he has already done to save us. And that truth is echoed throughout the bible.

Romans 3:28, Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

Eph 2:8-10, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

So, good works are what a faithful believer in Jesus does in obedience to God as guided by the Holy Spirit.

There were a huge number of verses related to this topic, too many to summarise here, so it’s a topic I would like to return to.

After I found verses by searching for “deeds” and “works”, I thought of many more which are indirectly related, since many of Paul’s letters are about people’s behaviour and their deeds. He spent many words in confronting toxic behaviour and divisions in the church, such as:

• fighting over leaders – 1 Corinthians 3:3-4: there is envy, strife, and divisions among them, … one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos”;
• feuding women in the church – Philippians 4:2 Euodia and Syntyche had ongoing hostility;
• toleration of severe immorality – 1 Corinthians 5:1-2: the church is actually boasting instead of mourning over a man living in a sexually immoral relationship with his stepmother;
• defrauding each other – 1 Corinthians 6:7-8: believers are taking one another to court before secular judges;
• misbehaviour during worship – 1 Corinthians 11:21-22: wealthy members eating ahead of the poor during communion;
• false teachers – 2 Corinthians 11:13-15: who were undermining his teachings and deceiving believers;
• endless quarrelling – Galatians 5:15:

So, people’s deeds are very important. And while we may often use Jesus’ command in Matthew 7:1 of “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” to avoid confronting sin, we are in fact advised to correct believers who we see fall into sin:

• to restore them in a spirit of gentleness – Galatians 6:1: Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness;
• to admonish as a brother those who fall into sin – 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15: And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother;
• with the aim of correcting those in opposition to know the truth – 2 Timothy 2: 25, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth;
• and Jesus advises us to personally confront sin – Matthew 18:15: Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother;
• James tells us we are to turn a brother who sins from his error – James 5:19-20: Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

There is much meaning given about works and deeds from the bible verses:

We learn from Jesus that a person’s behaviour can reveal much about them.

• Luke 11:48, Jesus condemned the Pharisees because their deeds showed their true nature and their lack of an honest relation to God.
• John 8:41,42 their deeds showed their father was Satan and not Abraham as they claimed.

What convinced the robber on the cross of who Jesus is, was that Jesus had “done nothing wrong” – Luke 23:41, 41.

While our deeds cannot save, they can condemn us. In John 3:19-21, Jesus stated our deeds condemn us, as they make men hate the light that came into the world in Jesus, for it showed their deeds were evil.

Evil deeds can reveal a person’s relation to God. John soundly condemned Diotrephes with his malicious deeds and words (3 John 1:10-11) and exhorted us to “not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.”

Jesus told us the nature of good works in John 6:28-29, 28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Titus warns of the hypocrisy of works in 1:16, 16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

Judgement will be based on people’s deeds – Romans 2:5-6, the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:

No one is justified before God by his deeds under the Law – Romans 3:20, 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

True life is given by the Spirit as we put to death the deeds of the body – Romans 8:13, For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

We are to “put off” the old man with his deeds – Colossians 3:9, Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds

Romans 12:9-13, tells us to behave like a Christian – “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.”

Good works can lead others to glorify God – Matthew 5:16, 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.