Our Works - By: Lisa Grant

God Made Us A Promise

Revelation 1:17,18:

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.  I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave

God says He holds the keys to our eternal life.  But, we should serve others, as we see in 1 Peter 4:7-11;

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides

Ephesians 5:16 tell us what we should be doing;

Making the best use of your time because the days are wicked

As Christians, we've been taught that we will get to Heaven by Faith in Jesus. Our faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior of humanity cleanses us of our many sins and allows us to live forever with God.  Romans 10:9-13 shows us very clearly how this works and what we have to do to be saved;

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

So, faith saves us.  But, what is faith?  The Bible tells us that what we do here on Earth will be judged and repaid; either good or bad. Our faith saves us and brings us to God. But, we should strive to be Godly, as we see in James 2:14-20;

So too faith by itself without works is dead. Never the less, someone will say. ' you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without works and I shall show you my faith by my works.  You believe that there is one God do you? You are doing quite well. But, yet demons believe and shudder. But, do you care to know O, empty man, that faith without works is useless?

We see this same message continued again in James 2:26;

"Indeed, just as the body without Spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."

Ephesians 2:10 explains this concept a bit further. Here we see that God created us to do good works;

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Jesus came to Earth and lived as one of us. He set an example for us to follow with His own life. He came in the flesh, lived a sinless life, and left His word as the New Testament of our Bible so we can read, learn, and remember to follow Him. Jesus himself repeats this message in John 14:12;

"Most truly I say to you, whoever exercises faith in me will also do the works that I do; and he will do works greater than these, because I am going my way to The Father."

He didn't just die for us. He also lived for us. His life is a living example for us to follow. He was a man who lived a sinless life in our world, as one of us. As Christians, it's our responsibility to strive to do what Jesus did. Acts 26:20 explains more;

"I was bringing this message that they should repent and turn to God by doing works that befit repentance."

May God Bless you!