Donald Fehlauer posted on October 06, 2005 00:00
We are made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ and not by any works that we do (Ephesians 2:8-9), but God has commanded that we do good works as fruits of our faith. We do them out of love for God, not to earn a reward from God (Ephesians 2:10).
Good works are all our thoughts, words, and actions done out of thankfulness to God, obedience to His commandments, and faith in His forgiveness for Christ's sake (Psalm 19:13-14).
Scripture teaches that only people with saving faith in Jesus do works that are good in God’s sight (Hebrews 11:6; John 15:1-17). Believers’ thoughts and deeds are good only because of Jesus Christ. For the sake of Christ, God forgives and accepts the works of His faithful people even though they are tainted by sin and impure motives (Romans 7:15-25).