Dead works versus good works

Dead works versus good works

Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. I want to use this medium to say thank you for always being here, it means the world to me. So last week, Favour and I talked about righteousness as a free gift of God. I hope this helped you reflect deeply about this notion of being righteous. If your head ever gets too big about how far you have come in the things of the kingdom, always remind yourself that everything is by God’s grace! There is nothing powered or inspired by you.

In my last post, I talked about how praying, fasting, serving in church, and evangelising can all be dead works if the doer has not accepted Jesus into their lives. It does not matter how much tithe you pay, how long you have had a big position at your church or how many people you have led to Christ. God doesn’t have any business with you unless you have business with Christ. It's all dead works without eternal value.

How can we define dead works?

In simple terms, dead works are any of our attempts to find favour, earn acceptance or be made righteous before God by our own effort, ability or willpower.

Some of the examples of dead works may include “Let me pay my tithe so God will bless me”, or “I will go to church so God sees me as a good person”, or “I have been a worker in church for 10 years now, God owes me” etc. Things like this are mere religious acts that have zero value if you do not believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Hebrews 6:1 (TPT) Now is the time for us to progress beyond the basic message of Christ[a] and advance into perfection. The foundation has already been laid for us to build upon: turning away from our dead works[b] to embrace faith in God

By the scriptures above, Jesus is the foundation that has already been laid. Everyone who believes in Jesus has received this solid and indestructible foundation. Everything good we do only counts to God if we are building on top of the foundation Christ has laid. How do we make our works good? Through believing in Jesus.

Matthew 7:22-23 (TLB) At the Judgment[a] many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we told others about you and used your name to cast out demons and to do many other great miracles.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘You have never been mine. [b] Go away, for your deeds are evil’

Although this above scripture has been used to scare believers about rejection on judgement day. Firstly, every believer has been justified and declared not guilty of all satans accusations. This verse doesn't apply to us. Secondly, if you read the whole chapter in context, you’d see that this is referring to people that don’t believe in Jesus but are actively involved in "ministry".

To be candid, there are many people out there that don’t believe in Jesus but are doing marvellous things for the kingdom of God. As great as these things are, they are dead works because they are not powered by the sacrifice of Jesus. Most times, you’d find them in high religious positions as a result of being born in a religious family or through their theology degree. But because of the name of Jesus is strong, he makes things happen when he is called for believers and unbelievers. On the flip side, there are people active in ministry that are not powered by the Holy Spirit. They use the name of Jesus, preach the gospel and perform miracles but their source is of darkness. 

Back on track...

Does Jesus know your name? I know religion has taught us to always do the right thing but that is not enough. 

You have to believe in the right person who is Jesus! Because you believe in Jesus, you will naturally do the right things. Having a mentality of doing the right thing over believing in Jesus will only breed self-righteous and judgmental hypocrites. Your actions no matter how good only has eternal value if you believe in Jesus.

You are probably asking, so how do I tell if my works are good or dead? The answer is simple

Good works are what we do as a response to God’s love that we have received. It is the fruit of the new identity we have received in Christ. It is powered by the grace of God, not by our desire to look a certain way to people.

How do I tell if a person's works are good or dead? It is none of your business. Rather than spending time being a good/dead works detector, pray for people and tell them about the unconditional love of God.

Are you reading this and feeling like you have been a career Christian without a relationship with Jesus?

Are you are a churchgoer but you haven’t accepted Jesus into your life?

Are you a benevolent person but haven’t accepted the love of Jesus into your heart?

Were to raised by Christian parents perhaps pastors? You know how to play the role of a Christian but aren't in Christ yet?

This is a great opportunity to accept His unconditional love, no string attached. His love will fill your heart and transform your soul more than you can imagine. You think you can do good things all by yourself, wait till you see how much more you can do in Christ.

It's time to come home to Jesus.

Say these words out loud:

Dear Jesus, I accept you into my life today. I know you showed me the truest form of love even when I didn't know you. You died, was buried and resurrected just for me to be free from sin, guilt and death. I believe you are not angry with me and I accept your love into my heart today. I believe you have forgiven all my sins, I accept your forgiveness into my heart this minute. I receive the gift of the Holy spirit this very moment to help me do good works. I thank you, Jesus, for this free gift I have received. 

Welcome to God's family, His blood now runs through your vein. Your next step is to find a bible believing church in your neighbourhood and ask to join their new believers class to help you become grounded in Christ. If you need any help with growing in faith, please reach out to me via email (bibilamour04@gmail.com) or via social media. My name is Bibilamour04 on all platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found leaves the ninety-nine

I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

                                                                                    -Cory Asbury

With love,

Bibi.