SABBATH THOUGHT 2022-01-29—GOOD WORKS
May God bless you on His Sabbath day!
Passover is 76 days from now. It is a time for self-examination. We must consider our past works, whether they pleased God or not. While this should be done each and every day throughout the year, it is especially important for the Passover so that we do not dishonor it:
1 CORINTHIANS 11:27-28 For this reason, if anyone shall eat this bread or shall drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, he shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup accordingly.
Whether our works pleased God or not, we are to partake of the Passover “accordingly,” meaning we are thankful to God for the good and repentant of the bad. In both cases, we humbly come to the Passover knowing that God works in us for the good and the sacrifice of Christ covers the bad.
I speak and write about works quite frequently; particularly, good works. They are critically important because doing good works are salvational. This is made clear in the parable of the talents, the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25, and many other scriptures. The following is, perhaps, the foremost of all of them:
EPHESIANS 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this especially is not of your own selves; it is the gift of God, 9 Not of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto the good works that God ordained beforehand in order that we might walk in them.
But why assess our works? Those works that were sin, we (hopefully) have already repented of before God. We also know that salvation does not rest on past good works—we must continue doing them up to the day of our death. The reason for examining our works is because they are a reflection of the motivation for all of our works. In simple terms, works reveal to us the thoughts and intents of our hearts. This is described in beautiful and poetic words by Paul:
HEBREWS 4:12-16 For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing as under of both soul and spirit, and of both the joints and the marrow, and [God] is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is not a created thing that is not manifest in His sight; but all things are naked and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account. 14 Having therefore a great High Priest, Who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot empathize with our weaknesses, but one Who was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own temptations; yet He was without sin. 16 Therefore, we should come with boldness to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Works that we find deficient or sin should prompt us to seek God’s help. God the Father, in fact, encourages us to seek His help. Why else would He remind us that Jesus Christ sympathizes with our weaknesses of which He was tempted just like you and me? Likewise, has not God given to us that same spirit of Christ so that we can endure (Rom. 8:9)? Did not God send multiple angels to minister to Jesus after His spiritual battle with Satan (Mat. 4:4)? God witnessed Christ’s struggle so He understands ours and wants to send angels to minister to us in our time of need as well. The Bible tells us that we are to be humble and contrite before God. And He is also to be feared because He can kill both body and soul (Mat. 10:28). But here, in verse 16, we are told to be bold before God’s throne of mercy and grace when we need His help. The Greek word for bold in no way implies an arrogant and aggressive manner. It means to be out-spoken or blunt to God while having assurance that He is faithful to render the help we need. When we need God’s help, are we not humble and contrite? Does not the shame of our sin precede us when we come before God?
So, God is not so much interested in our works as He is in our hearts. God says this in Isaiah 57:15: “I dwell in the high and holy place, even with the one who is of a contrite and humble spirit” and in Isaiah 66:2: “to this one I will look, to him who is of a poor and contrite spirit.” Our hearts are completely exposed to God. He knows our hearts better than we do. That’s why examining our works—both good and bad—is important since they are the window through which we can see our own hearts.
Good works are, ultimately, the means for understanding and growing in God’s agape love. I spent a lot of time studying before and after my baptism. I studied the holydays, the Sabbath, the Law of God, biblical history, prophecy, the calendar, Judaism, sacred names—all manner of things. One day I realized that I was missing something: agape love. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought that agape love would come through commandment-keeping as John said (1 John 5:3). While that is true, what I missed were the really important commandments (to do good works). As I examined myself, I saw that I did not even understand how to have agape love. I felt so deficient and ashamed. 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, kept gnawing at me—I had been gaining knowledge but it was pointless without agape love.
So, I asked God for help. I began praying for God to give me His agape love. Every day, for years. I did not know how I would receive it; I only knew I needed to ask for it. I was bold about it in the sense that I was unrelenting like the widow before the unjust judge (Luke 18:4). For quite awhile, it eluded me. What could I do? But that is exactly what happened. Almost in an effort to cover over my feelings of deficiency in agape love, I started serving others. For me, it was simple works behind the scenes—cleaning the meeting room, praying for the sick and suffering, sending cards, helping distribute food to the needy, giving rides, etc. Unknowingly, I was finally starting to fulfill Ephesians 2:8-10. But all of these works had an effect that I had not anticipated—they were producing and revealing God’s agape love in me. It took time but it was growing. Finally, God revealed to me what was so obvious—the one thing that I had missed in all my diligent studies:
EPHESIANS 4:15-16 But holding the truth in love, may in all things grow up into Him Who is the Head, even Christ 16 From Whom all the body, fitly framed and compacted together by that which every joint supplies, according to its inner working in the measure of each individual part, is making the increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Those of you who know me, have heard me often talk about these verses. And for good reason. They reveal the connection between works and God’s agape love. The two are intimately linked together. They are inseparable because good works produce agape love, which motivates us to do more good works. In engineering parlance, it is an unconstrained system. Unconstrained electro-mechanical systems usually end with catastrophic failure. However, the unconstrained system of good works producing agape love, which leads to more good works, are exactly how God put it all together for us. God IS love! If God is the sum of all power, wisdom, might, and majesty, how much greater is the agape love that defines Him? Unimaginable!
So, asking God for help in time of need is vital and we do not have to understand how it will work out. The asking is what is important. These days I have also come to understand that good works are not just doing things for others, they are allowing others to do good works for us! Agape love functions both in the giving and receiving.
Jesus Christ said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35); however, only Paul mentions it. It is nowhere else recorded so there is no context for its origins. In Acts, Paul was saying this to the elders from Ephesus as a warning against wolves attacking the flock. However, good works can only exist if others have deficiencies or sufferings. All of us begin life with health and strength but our end is sickness, illness, weakness, and death. That is the way of this life. All of us will eventually need help whether it is physical or spiritual.
As odd as it may sound, the greatest agape love is shown by those who allow us to serve their needs. Why? Because there is no pride or arrogance in their heart. And that is approaching the perfection of Jesus Christ! Those who serve must do so humbly and meekly because they will one day need help. Those who are served are not only humble and meek, but without pride or arrogance because they need help. In simple terms, those who are utterly and completely reliant upon God for everything in their life know the purest form of agape love. This is why James said:
JAMES 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
The Greek word for pure is kathara from which we get the English word catharsis meaning purged or cleansed. The purest form of religion before God the Father and Jesus Christ is the good works of the Body of Christ. This is what it means to edify itself in agape love. That is, pure and undefiled religion is doing good works for those in need and receiving good works in a time of need. Good works cannot exist without both giving and receiving. Think about it. How does God provide help to us in times of need? Through others. If anyone refuses to help others, God will find someone else and it becomes a lost opportunity. On the other hand, how will God fulfill His promise to help us if we refuse the good works of others?
So, the Passover is that time to deeply examine our hearts so that we can partake of it worthily. Does that mean our works need to be perfect? No, it only means we need to know which have pleased God and which have not. Understanding what to ask God to help us with is important to overcoming and being a little more perfect at the next Passover.
Pure and undefiled religion consists of agape love and good works. One cannot exist without the other. Neither can there be giving without receiving. Again, one cannot exist without the other. Are you desiring to have more of God’s agape love in you? Be involved with good works whether giving or receiving. Paul emphasizes this by saying:
HEBREWS 10:24 And let us be concerned about one another, and be stirring up one another unto love and good works.
We cannot stir one another up if we are not doing good work but neither can we stir others up if we refuse good works in our time of need. These things fulfill Ephesians 4:15-16 and, in doing that, we are discerning the Lord’s body and partaking of the Passover “worthily” and “accordingly” (1 Cor. 11:26-29)!
May God’s grace and peace be upon you!
Steven Greene
https://sabbathreflections.org