Although good works, which are the fruits of faith, and
follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity
of God's judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and
spring out of a true and lively faith, insomuch that by them a lively faith may
be as evidently known as a tree is discerned by its fruit.
I have no better words to explain good works than those of my long-distance brother from another mother, Tony Ares.
The following is an article in it's entirety from Tony's afreshword.org
Rich Son, Poor Son
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)
One of the hardest spiritual obstacles that Christians have to overcome is the “works based” mindset. Today many so called Christians are going to church, volunteering and giving money in order to get to heaven. They work to get to heaven, instead of working gratefully because of what Jesus did to get them to heaven.
An analogy or metaphor that I have embraced is that of the rich son and the poor son.
A poor son is taught to “grind” because he has to if he wants to be successful. The poor son is defined by his works. If the poor son doesn’t work, he is assigned a room in his private version of hell on Earth. The poor son is dependent on himself and his labor to make it on this planet.
The rich son is born successful. He is taught to work hard not to be successful but to be thankful! He is thankful for the family that he was born into. The rich son is not defined by his works but his family name. (Think Rockefeller, DuPont or Kennedy.) If the rich son doesn’t work, he will disappoint his Father and besmirch the family name, but he will still be in the family and he will still be loved. The rich son works hard because excellence is his identity. The rich son works because of who his daddy is.
We should go to what we call ‘church.’ We should help in the community. We should witness the Gospel. We should give. We should do all of that! We should do that because it’s what a true Child of God does. It is our identity. We should never do those things in order to “make it”.
I was raised in a poor neighborhood. I identify every day with the working class or the poor man. Physically Jesus wants us to be empathetic to the needy. From a soteriological and spiritual perspective though, I am retraining my brain to think of myself as a rich son. Why?
-Cause my daddy in heaven is RICH!
-I am going to heaven, not because of my works but for the family name….Jesus!
I work hard for the family business not to be saved but for the love and appreciation that I have for my daddy!
(paraphrase of Galatians 4:1-7)
Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they own everything their father had. They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.
- See more at: http://afreshword.org/search/rich#sthash.iD5bPjaC.dpuf
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