Good works are important but the question is, what exactly are they? Many scholars say that good works are some acts of love that meet people’s needs. Good works can meet needs that are big or small, material or spiritual, and the recipients can be anyone. Therefore, we can rightly say that good works can also be in the service we render to people, the church, the community and even the one we do at the workplace. We have always been told that service delivered rightly and with good hearts can be meritorious. However, a Scottish theologian, believes otherwise. According to him, good works do not have any inherent merit, instead, the entire worthiness of good work depends on God’s gratuitous promise and acceptance.
Consequently, the concept of good works is intricately linked to the theological belief in salvation through faith rather than a means of earning salvation, as Christians seek to manifest their gratitude for God’s grace by actively participating in acts of service to others. Good works call for our devotion, after all, they’re what we were “created in Christ Jesus for’’. Curiously, God created us for good works though, we were not saved by our good works, rather, He saved us for good works. This is such a redemptive and encouraging fact for believes. Good works are important in the life of the believer and they are what we are designed to do. Did scriptures not say in James 2: 21- 23, how Abraham our father was justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? We see there that faith was active along with his works and faith was completed by the works ‘’, thus, Abraham was promised to have children as many as the stars in the sky by God. Therefore, the scripture was fulfilled and says, ‘’Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness and he was called the friend of God’’.
In conclusion, we may ask, is our effort completely enough? The answer is no, nonetheless our effort is important, they are absolutely necessary but not sufficient. However, when we work with God’s grace, then miracles happen. So, His grace permeates our work and our work becomes abundant and it is always motivating when God rewards us for the good work we have done even though it is not as if we did this without God. But ,it is His grace that makes it possible for us to participate in His work and God crowns our merits because He is really crowning his own gifts.
