#148 – Our Good Works

THE DOINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN
OUR GOOD WORKS
Col. 3:23-25 “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”
We are not saved by our works. If anything is plain in the teaching of Scripture, this is it. I am surprised that so many who claim to be Christians cannot see this. But good works are important part of the Christian’s life after salvation. “For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). It is one thing to be “created unto good works” and to claim to be “created because of good works.” We do need to get that straight. There are seven things in these three verses Paul points out that will be the focus of this meditation. First, he speaks of,
THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE DOING (OUR GOOD WORKS)
The words, “And whatsoever ye do . . .” include all things. “Whatsoever” actually translates three words. First, the word “pas” which means, “individually, each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything.” Second the word, “hostis” which means, “whatever,” and third, “ean” and means, “if, in case.” The word “whatsoever” has a big job to do to say everything that those three words say! “Whatsoever” means, “each individual thing, what ever it is, in case you do it.” All of that in whatsoever! The words “ye do” translates “poieo” and means, “to make, with the names of things made, to produce, to construct, to form, to fashion, etc., to be the author of, the cause.”
The second “do” is different from the first “do.” The second “do” translates “ergazomai” and means, “to work or labor, the work done is business.” It would be the work of a manager or what we call common labor.
I believe from this definition that we can conclude that nothing is left out. It truly means “whatsoever.” God is to be in mind in whatever we do. It can be ministry of some kind, or just a father out making a living for his family (an employee), or the mother keeping house, or the child struggling through the years from birth to maturity, or a servant (a slave), or the business owner or manager, whatever it may be, if it is DOING, it must be related to our obedience to, and our relationship to our Lord.