What We Do Matters

“If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” – C.S. Lewis

We have looked at what Scripture says about why what we watch matters and how what we say matters. Today we are going to look at what Scripture says about why what we do matters. Sometimes salvation through Christ is presented in a “do nothing” kind of way. It sounds like this: there’s nothing you can do, you’ll never be perfect, you’re still going to sin, you’re still going to make mistakes, don’t bother trying harder. Presenting salvation this way is dangerously devoid of hope, and while some of the ideas are founded on truth, it’s not an accurate representation of what the Scriptures say we need to do. After putting our faith in Christ, then the work begins to prove that faith and life change. The old saying is true—actions speak louder than words.

“Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” (Matthew 3:8) 

“Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.” (Philippians 2:12)

 “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” (James 1:22)

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.” (James 3:13)

Putting your faith in Jesus, accepting His payment for your sin, is an action—the most important action we’ll ever do. It’s the first step on your journey of working every day to live in obedience to Christ. After making this commitment is when the hard work starts. James, Jesus’ brother, wrote a lot about faith, works, and the importance of not just listening to Scripture but actually putting it in action. In referencing Abraham’s act of obedience in taking Isaac up the mountain to sacrifice him, James wrote: “You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete” (James 2:22).

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? (...) So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” (James 2:14, 17)

“You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” (James 2:19)

 “So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. (...) Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.” (James 2:24, 26)

The idea that faith alone saves us does not come from Scripture. There is nothing that we can do to save ourselves from our sins, but the message that there is nothing we can do once we’ve put our hope in Christ is untrue. The only thing we can do to be saved from our sins is to accept the payment Jesus made for us on the cross. After that, however, there is a lot that we should be doing. Every single day, every single moment, for the rest of our lives, we need to be choosing to follow Jesus, to live in obedience to Him, choosing the nature of the Holy Spirit over what our sinful nature desires. We should be shown right with God by what we do, and our faith should be producing good works in our lives.

 “So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-15)

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:3-11)

 “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

 “Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1)

This idea that we shouldn’t try to be better or perfect flies in the face of the truth of Scripture. It stands in contrast to Jesus’ command in Matthew 5 and in opposition to the writings of Paul and Peter. Jesus tells us that we need to be perfect as God is perfect. Now this isn’t something we achieve on our own and that is how the message gets twisted. We’re told we’ll never be perfect and not to try to be better, but in fact holiness and perfection is the goal we are striving toward (a topic we’ve written about before). We don’t reach this by our own power but by God’s! Through Him, we will indeed reach perfection—after all, that’s what Heaven is! We should be working hard while on the path toward perfection and holiness. Your life after Christ should look different than your life before Christ. We leave behind our sinful lives and begin walking on the narrow road with Jesus. We won’t be sinless here on earth, but we should sin less the more we walk with our Lord. If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, confess your sins, repent of them, and then work hard to show the results of your salvation and prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God, because what we do matters.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed