Discipleship Letter 58

Discipleship Letter 58                                    Oct. 25^th, 2009

Question: Since we are redeemed from all sin and misery by grace through Christ, without deserving it, why must we do good works?

Answer: Because Christ, having redeemed us with his blood, also renews us in his own image through his Holy Spirit. Consequently, we may show with our whole lives how grateful we are to God for God’s goodness and we can glorify God through our lives. Furthermore, we ourselves may be assured of our faith by its fruits and we can win our neighbors to Christ by our godly conduct. (Taken from The Heidelberg Catechism)

We are created in Christ Jesus to do good works (Eph. 2:10). Good works do not nullify the grace of God. Rather, good works are the fruits of genuine faith. Our godly conduct can’t win God’s favor. God’s goodness toward us can’t be merited. It can only be received.

Once upon a time, we bore fruits in our lives. We grew old and up at the same time. But as time goes by, we may not keep growing up and bearing more fruits. Those who continue to bear fruits are the spiritually deprived (Matt. 5:3). Those who are poor in spirit are the ones who continue to bear fruits in life. It “isn’t so much a list of rules to follow; it just tells us what sort of lives show that God is in charge—lives that are characterized by dependence on God’s goodness…” [Rowan Williams, Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007), p. 59.]