Are Works Important?
Did Jesus Christ glorify God by performing good works (Matt. 5:16; John 8:29, 39; 10:37-38)? Are we supposed to serve Jesus Christ by following His example of doing good works (John 12:26)? Will some of us do greater works than He did (John 14:12)?
We bear good fruit by doing good works (Col. 1:10). If good works are the same as good fruit, then isn't it by doing good works that we prove ourselves to be Jesus Christ's disciples (John 15:8)? Were we not chosen and appointed by Christ to go out and bear good fruit, which is doing good works (John 15:16)?
The false Christians - which the Bible calls dogs, goats, hearers, wicked, tares and bad fruit - are those who profess to know God but are worthless for any good works (Titus 1:16). If Jesus Christ is the axe described in Matthew 3:10, and if we are the trees and the fruits are good works, what is this verse saying?
Are good works necessary for a resurrection of life (John 5:29)? What kind of works is Jesus Christ talking about (Matt. 25:33-46; Luke 14:13; 1 Peter 4:11, 2)? Didn't Jesus Christ die that we might live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24)? Isn't living to righteousness doing good (1 Peter 3:11, 13)? Didn't Paul warn disciples of Jesus Christ to learn to do good (Titus 3:8, 14)? Isn't Christ making for Himself a people who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:14)? Isn't doing good works how you overcome (Rom. 12:21; Rev. 2:26)? Aren't we warned not to get weary of doing good works (Gal. 6:9; 2 Thess. 3:13)? Were we not created in Christ Jesus for good works (Eph. 2:10)? Don't good works include helping the needy (James 2:15-16; 1 John 3:17-19; Luke 3:11)?
Aren't we, then, to bring forth good fruit if we say that we have repented (Luke 3:8; Acts 26:20)? Isn't this the Way (Acts 24:22)? Isn't this the message of how to be righteous? Isn't this the message many people refuse to believe when they hear it (Matt. 21:32)? Isn't this how you know you are born again and considered righteous by God, no longer a child of Satan (1 John 2:29; 3:7, 10)? Isn't doing good works how you serve God and glorify His name (Mal. 3:18; Matt. 5:16)? Isn't this how you do God's Will and enter God's rest (Matt. 7:21; Heb. 4:10)? Isn't this the Way of righteousness Jesus lived, which we are to imitate (1 Cor. 11:1)?
After reading all these Scriptures, do you believe good works are important in God's complete message of salvation (Acts 5:20)?
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