What Are Good Works According to the Bible

Summary

Good works flow from God’s grace and living faith, not from human merit. God prepares and empowers us to proclaim the gospel, love others, give generously, speak truth, pursue purity, steward resources faithfully, persevere in obedience, and glorify Him rather than ourselves. These works demonstrate genuine transformation, reflect Christ’s character, meet real needs, and ultimately reveal the reality of saving faith.

Good Works Flow from Grace and Faith

Let’s begin by considering what good works cannot do. Good deeds cannot earn eternal life (Matthew 19:16) or make us acceptable to God (Romans 4:2) any more than we can purchase the Mona Lisa for a penny.

God sovereignly chooses us to participate in His Kingdom work without any merit on our part. Good works accrue no saving merit (Romans 9:12). Nothing we can do earns God’s favor and approval. His grace is free from beginning to end, His undeserved favor bestowed on the unworthy (Romans 11:6).

Let’s consider what our faith must do. God saves us to do good works, not by them. He gives us spiritual life so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Ephesians 2:10). We can do them because God is working within us to complete His transforming work in our lives (Philippians 1:6).

Faith is more than knowledge about God that doesn’t affect daily life (James 2:18). It is more than a spiritual switch to flick to make ourselves right with God.

Living faith is useful (James 2:20), producing good deeds ( James 2:17). Good works are the fruit that faith and love for God/others inevitably bear ( James 2:26) when we die to our old way of life and through our union with Christ produce a harvest of good deeds for God (Romans 7:4).

Proclaiming the Gospel Is a Good Work

A good work that is part of every Christian’s job description is telling others the good news about God’s wonderful grace (Acts 20:24, Philippians 4:3). God empowers that work, resulting in the salvation of all who believe it (Romans 1:16). The good deed of sharing the gospel turns people from worthless things to the living God ( Acts 14:15).

We share it and wear it by demonstrating the difference it has made in our lives. Wearing it empowers sharing it. Our good deeds demonstrate we have changed (Acts 26:20) and are not the same people we used to be.

We must each do the good work the Lord gives us connected with bringing the good news to others  (1 Corinthians 3:5). We have different roles in bringing people to faith in Christ, depending on our spiritual gifts. Both gifts of ministering God’s word and of service energize the process of moving people toward a relationship with God.

Jesus shared the gospel with the poor, proclaimed the release of captives, gave sight to the blind, and set the oppressed free (Luke 4:18). Jesus works through us, His church, to accomplish those same purposes.

Good Works Serve and Meet Needs

Doing good pleases God and is associated with sharing with the needy (Hebrews 13:16). The needy in Scripture consist of the poor in general and needy saints. Giving money to needy believers is a good deed (Romans 15:28), as is giving generously to the poor (2 Corinthians 9:9, 1 Timothy 6:18).

The hard work we do for a living provides resources to give to others (Ephesians 4:28). The Apostle Paul’s good work was supporting himself financially so he could minister to others without cost (1 Thessalonians 2:9).

To be productive, believers must learn to meet others' urgent needs (Titus 3:14). The context in Titus suggests that believers are helping other believers. When the needs of believers are met, they express thanks to God joyfully (2 Corinthians 9:12).

Good Works Require Moral and Spiritual Purity

Good works are not guiltily performed to offset sinful behavior. Our attitude matters (James 3:13). As athletes train for competition by disciplining themselves, good works also require preparation.

Moral and spiritual purity, a God-honoring life, and Scripture equip believers to do every good work God might assign (2 Timothy 2:21, 2 Timothy 3:17). The light within them produces what is good, right, and true (Ephesians 5:9). Their good deeds are free of deceit and fraud and in harmony with the true ways of the Lord (Acts 13:10).

Good deeds are associated with wise people skilled in living for God. They demonstrate wisdom and knowledge of God’s ways by humbly doing good works. Also associated with the wisdom that produces good deeds are purity, a love of peace, gentleness, submissiveness, mercy, and sincerity without favoritism (James 3:17).

Good Works Demand Faithful Stewardship

Faithfully handling the resources and responsibilities God gives us is a good deed, which God celebrates and praises (Matthew 25:21). He expects a return for those resources and responsibilities. His expectations are reasonable because He provides the power to accomplish all the good things faith prompts (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

Good Works Include Words and Teaching

Good works include not only our actions, but also our words (2 Thessalonians 2:17). That is, words that are good, helpful, and encouraging to others (Ephesians 4:29). Speaking what is good and right is a good deed (Matthew 12:34).

Sharing God’s good words is especially important, but it requires study. God approves of good workers who expend much effort to explain His word accurately ( 2 Timothy 2:15). They patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage believers (2 Timothy 4:2).

Those who teach God’s word as a profession are worthy of special honor. Those to whom they minister perform a good work when they share all good things with their teachers (Galatians 6:6).

Good Works Reflect Love and Compassion

Loving our enemies means doing good deeds that benefit them (Luke 6:27), going beyond merely doing good only to those who are kind to us (Luke 6:33), and even lending to enemies without expecting repayment (Luke 6:35).

Saving life is always appropriate (Mark 3:4), as is contributing to the physical, spiritual, or emotional healing of others (Acts 4:9), because that is what God does. His goodness meets the needs of people who do not know Him, and our goodness should do the same (Acts 14:17, Acts 27:24). We can’t do that without the spiritual power the Holy Spirit provides (Acts 10:38).

Good Works Promote Peace and Overcome Evil

Doing good works requires turning away from evil and searching for and maintaining peace (Psalm 34:14, 1 Peter 3:11). God uses our good deeds to conquer evil (Romans 12:21). Kingdom of God living is full of goodness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17, Romans 15:14). Notice that peace and joy punctuate a life committed to goodness.

Good Works Require Perseverance

Continuing to do good requires perseverance, but produces a harvest of blessing at just the right time (Galatians 6:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:13). It isn’t easy. Good deeds are associated with hard work (Revelation 14:13). 2 Corinthians 11: 27 suggests that the Apostle Paul experienced physical hardship for the sake of others.

Doing good works is to be a lifestyle maintained despite the temptation to quit. Those who persistently do good, despite difficulty, seek the glory, honor, peace, and immortality that God offers (Romans 2:7, Romans 2:10).

Good Works Glorify God, Not Self

Who receives the glory for good works? God does not reward those who do good deeds to gain others' admiration (Matthew 6:1). We can show others God’s goodness that called us into His wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9).

Others, witnessing our good deeds, should praise our heavenly Father (Matthew 5:16), not us. Paul defended his apostleship in 2 Corinthians. He said that the changed lives of the Corinthian believers verified the good work his team had done (2 Corinthians 3:2). He was not bragging about his ministry but defending its authenticity. It wasn’t looking for human praise for it.

Good Works Flow from Devotion and Sacrifice

Sacrificially serving Jesus (like the woman who poured perfume on His head) is a good deed (Matthew 26:13). That includes giving up house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or property, for Jesus and the gospel (Mark 10:29).

Work done for God’s Temple and its services are good deeds (Nehemiah 13:14). That includes sacrificially doing mundane tasks associated with serving the Lord in a local church.

We serve sacrificially because Jesus sacrificed His life to free us from the penalty of sin. We are His perpetual debtors. That is why we must do good, even if we must suffer to do it (1 Peter 2:21). Jesus suffered for us first.

Good Works Prove Genuine Spiritual Transformation

Christians are good trees that produce good fruit in the form of good deeds (Matthew 3:10, Matthew 7:17, Matthew 7:18). Mature believers produce every kind of good fruit (Colossians 1:10). We do it through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Paul preached that people should repent, turn to God, and demonstrate repentance by their actions (Acts 26:20). Therefore, we prove that we are God’s children by doing good (3 John 1:11).

God will judge non-Christians who produce bad fruit (Matthew 7:19). Those who have done good experience eternal life, whereas those who have continued in evil experience judgment (John 5:29).

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