Tag Archives: Good Works

Devotions

Castles in the Sand

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“Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.“ Titus 3:1-7

Last week I spent some time at the beach with my family.  With two small children, beach time has changed significantly over the years from vegging out staring blankly at the sand and surf to activities ranging from jumping waves to building castles in the sand.  Our castles are usually pretty unremarkable, a couple molds for the four corners, a few molds for the walls, and a moat.  Comparatively, there is usually someone along the beach that builds an elaborate castle that takes an extensive amount of time, effort, and skill.  Regardless of whether it is our meager castle or someone else’s grand replica of the Edinburgh Castle, one truth remains consistent…they will all be washed away by the tide at some point.  We work and work building a castle in the sand, sometimes for 30 minutes, sometimes for hours, all to have our efforts washed away sooner or later by the tide.

Much like building castles in the sand are any efforts to earn or work for your own salvation.  We can work for a lifetime and find that in the end like tidal waves washing away castles in the sand, good works toward salvation will be burned up at the final judgment.  Unfortunately, the majority of people think that by simply being morally good, avoiding scandalous sins, or simply having their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds they will by default “earn” heaven.  Many will be in for a rude awakening to find out that living a good, moral life will be as worthless as a sand castle in a hurricane.

In the passage from Titus cited above, we find the proper ordering of good works.  First, the inspired Apostle reminds Titus to be ready for every good work and as is his norm, follows this with a brief list of what this may practically look like.  Left alone, it may seem as if the Apostle is promoting a good works theology, simply do these things and live right.  However, this is not the final word.

Then the Apostle gets to the heart of gospel message by reminding his young protege of how the mercy of God came to them, “4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior”

In this passage we find the author of salvation – God our Savior; the motivation of salvation – His goodness and loving kindness; the basis of salvation – not works, but God’s mercy; the outworking of salvation – regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit; the source of salvation – Jesus Christ our Savior.

Salvation, as we see here, is entirely a work of God.  Additionally, it is entirely a Trinitarian work.  Not only do we not contribute to our salvation by good works, but all we have brought to the salvation table is our sin, inherent in our nature and explicit in our thoughts, words, and deeds.

Repentance of sin and faith in Christ are the only sure foundation.  Any effort to earn one’s salvation is nothing more than building a castle in the sand.  Good works have their place, but they must be built upon the foundation of Christ, the Cornerstone, flowing from a regenerate heart and done with a motivation of love and obedience toward God.

Bible Study, Hebrews

Speaking of Better Things

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The transition out of the warning passage in Hebrews 6 is rather obvious, especially if you are reading an ESV or NASB translation.  There you’ll see verse 6:4 say, “in the case of those” contrasted in 6:9 with, “yet in your case” which would seem to indicate that the author’s attention is shifting from a third party back to his immediate audience as he prepares to identify and address specifically their condition.

The phrase translated above “in the case of…” is not present in either of those verses however.  The ESV’s decision to include it may be one of smoothing for readability, but more likely its to highlight the contrast being implied in the two verses.  While maintaining the “in the case of those” in 6:4 the NASB may be more accurate in 6:9 which it renders, “we are convinced of better things concerning you.”  This still conveys the idea of an attention shift from the example held up in Hebrews 6:4-8 to the immediate audience and the forthcoming commendation.

Due to the high level of interpretational uncertainty that many have experienced from this particular warning, highlighting yet another reason that shows a negative example was in mind from verses 6:4-6:6, rather than the possibility of genuine salvation, is a significant step in rightly interpreting the passage.  That said, we turn our attention with the author back to the condition of the audience who has been previously warned about their dullness of hearing and spiritual lethargy.  So as not to leave them totally discouraged, we find in our present passage under consideration a commendation on the evidence of their fruit, corresponding nicely to the parable from 6:7-8.

“9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.“

The use of “beloved” is important as the author shows his pastoral care and knowledge of not just their “dull of hearing” but of their work and service in the name of God.  Building on this introductory address is the statement, “we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation” further securing the notion that those things previously mentioned in the passage were not dealing with salvation.  These “things” are defined for us in the subsequent verses to  include work, love for the name of God, and service of the saints, all of which points towards a believer’s fruit or evidence of salvation.

Recognition of this evidence is not arbitrary or even unseen, but is rooted in the very justice of God.  Whereas we saw in verse 8 that the ground that does not bear fruit is “worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned“, no doubt reflective on the justice of God, here we see that God’s justice extends to the recognition of the “ground” that bears fruit.  Simply put, justice is getting what one deserves.  In the case of unrighteousness deeds getting what one deserves is punitive, however,  in the case of righteous deeds getting what one deserves is rewarding; both are the result of justice.  For those who have trusted in Christ as Savior, our punishment has been swallowed by the mercy of God in Christ by withholding what we deserve, namely the wrath of God.  Conversely, having been made righteous, justified by the blood of Christ, clothed in His righteousness, enabled by the Spirit to perform the works that God prepared for us beforehand (Eph. 2:10), we may eagerly expect the reward that God has promised, namely eternal life and the blessings that accompany that.

As the pastor-author of Hebrews moves on in his encouragement he aims to prod the church (and by relation us) to continued progress in the faith as seen in vs. 11.  Earnestness, or perhaps intensity, and assurance work somewhat together like hand and glove.  Certainly one can be zealous for the things of God, but be fueled by improper motivation or ignorance of the righteousness of God (Rom. 10:1-3).  But here, proper motivation grounded in a love for God will lead to assurance in salvation.  Conversely, assurance is not alone, pointing simply to a one-time decision or walking of an isle, but can look toward intensity in serving the saints and glorifying the name of God motivated by love and fueled by the Holy Spirit.  Both sides of the coin are necessary and mutually dependent upon one another.

As is pointed out in verse 12, zealousness is in direct contrast with sluggishness, as the author provides the closing bracket to his argument begun in Heb. 5:11, “you have become dull of hearing“ utilizing the same word to enter and exit his warning.

As is so often the case in Hebrews, we are introduced to an idea or concept that is expanded on in greater detail later, such is the case again here.  Before entering a discourse on Melchizedek, begun in Hebrews 5:10, we see the mention of the phrase “those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” whom the readers are supposed to imitate.  As we will see, in the near context this statement has its attention towards Abraham (6:12ff), however we will see it expanded with numerous examples in the Hall of Faith found in chapter 11.

Working through this difficult and divisive chapter of Hebrews we have seen it is not meant to be a battleground for Calvinism vs. Arminianism or eternal security vs. loss of salvation.  Instead, it is for the purpose that we have seen employed in this section, namely to spur on believers to continue in good works through faith and patience, rooted in a love for the name of God, and anchored by hope in the promises of God secured by the High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore we can conclude that these harsh sounding warnings are a divine means of preservation by a loving God for the perseverance of the saints.