The Promise of Good Works!

Ephesians 2:10 (NAS95)

In this sermon series, we are learning how to live like a champion by learning how to live according to the victory of the promises of God. Our guiding image for this series is being a member of an NFL team who wins the Superbowl. We live like champions so that others will come to know the One who gave us His Victory—Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and coming again!

The play of the week is the “Promise of Good Works!” The memory verse for this promise is Ephesians 2:10,

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Listen to the promise as part of Paul’s gospel presentation from Ephesians 2:1-10,

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

“nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

You were saved by grace alone and the good news is that God’s grace never stands alone—grace always produces the results of God’s intention! You were saved by God’s good work so that you would live out your life of good works for His glory! As James said in James 2:14-16,

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

What will be your life’s legacy? One of the most powerful testimonies about the promise of our good works is found in Revelation 14:12-13, which calls us to persevere in good works: 

Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”

Amazingly, this is the first time the Holy Spirit explicitly speaks in the Revelation of John and it is to those who are in union with Jesus, or as I like to say, are in the yoke of Jesus. There is a blessing for them; the second of the seven beatitudes of Revelation, reminiscent of Jesus’ beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount.

The promise of God is that upon death we will not only rest from our work, but that our good works will follow us. The key to the promise is ensuring that our efforts are in alignment with God’s grace. Paul speaks clearly about this in 1 Corinthians 3:8-15,

Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

In the easy yoke of Jesus Christ you will fulfill the purpose of your life by producing the good works God has prepared for you to do in your life. God’s word from 1 Corinthians 3:8-15 teaches us the importance of ensuring that our efforts are in alignment with God’s calling. That is what the yoke does—keeps us aligned!

Never forget that grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning. It is not your salvation which is at stake, that is secure in the promise of God’s love. It’s your experience of rest in this life! You are called to the family of God to represent the Father through your good works, so now walk in them and don’t waste another ounce of energy by doing it alone for nothing done alone will last (John 15:5). I join with Paul from Galatians 6:9 and pray for you, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

We see this so clearly demonstrated in Joseph’s life—he was abandoned and betrayed, falsely accused, thrown in prison, and forgotten about, but he never let go of the promise and he never stopped doing good works because of His relationship with God. No matter the circumstances Joseph stayed in the yoke!

The key to the promise of good works is not to focus on the work itself, but to focus on your union with Jesus—your relationship with the Father through the Son. The good works that are done while in the easy yoke of Jesus are promised to follow after you because these are the works done in agreement with God and by His power. This is the very reason Jesus came and died on the Cross—for relationship! Jesus didn’t die for workhorses, but for those who would “partake [partner with Him] in His divine nature” (2 Peter 1:2-4).

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The Promise of Calling!

Ephesians 4:1-7 (NAS95)

In this sermon series, we are learning how to live like a champion by learning how to live according to the victory of the promises of God. Our guiding image for this series is being a member of an NFL team who wins the Superbowl. We live like champions so that others will come to know the One who gave us His Victory—Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and coming again!

The play of the week is the “Promise of Calling!” The memory verse for this promise is Ephesians 4:1, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.”

The foundational truth for this promise of God is that we are each called by God. This sounds simple, but it addresses a huge misunderstanding in the traditional church that must be addressed—the calling of God is not limited to being a pastor or missionary. The calling of God is for every single believer in Jesus, because the calling of God is about the health and functionality of the entire Body of Christ.

In fact, spiritual leaders in the church are commanded to equip you to fulfill your calling. Listen to this truth taught in Ephesians 4:11-16, from the same chapter as today’s promise:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

The truth of God’s Word is that the body of Christ will not mature until every single member of the body is walking in maturity—“in a manner worthy of the calling.” My call as a pastor and fellow elder in this church is not to have power over you, but to empower you in your calling—to live a mature life as a member of the Body of Christ! For you to be living the life of faith, hope, and love.

[So please call on me to help you; this is a relational process that I walk with you in the way, not a program to be managed or service to be lead! I desire to meet with you and help you find out where you are in your walk with Jesus and then help you, with the Holy Spirit as our guide, in taking next steps in this maturation process. This is the way! My call is to help you mature in your walk in the Way of Jesus.]

You have been chosen by God and called to be a member of the Body of Christ so that we, as one mature body, walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which each of us have been called!

Paul said in Ephesians 4:4-6, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

Every believer is chosen and called to be a part of God’s victorious team—God’s family! This is a team sport that requires each of us to train ourselves according to the promise and then be a healthy, cooperative, functional member of God’s family. Why? So that the world may know that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior!

There are so many illustrations that come to mind from sports, family, politics, in fact, every arena of life experience. We all know how one person can change the functionality of an entire workplace or family or sports team—for good or bad. Just like if your toenail gets infected—it may be “just a toe” in your mind, but in functionality the whole body suffers and limps and loses its well-being. What if you have “just” one nerve misfiring? Is it just one nerve, really? No, it either hurts badly or a part of your body keep misfiring!

You are called to be a part of something bigger than you—the Body of Christ, but it is dependent on you being a healthy, functional member. The key is that every member of the Body has to submit to the headship of Jesus Christ! What does a team look like when every member is doing their own thing? What would it look like if you were walking down the street with each limb of your body doing its own thing?

Listen to Paul’s thoughts from Ephesians 4:1-3, so that we can learn about our calling as fellow members of Christ’s body: “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

The calling of God is first and foremost about your spiritual formation! Paul teaches us in Romans 8:28-30,

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. [What’s His purpose that we are called according to?] For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

God’s will for each of our lives is that we reflect Him—that we walk in a manner worthy of that calling—to be “conformed to the Image of His Son.” This is your first calling and every other call is secondary to this first calling! Your first calling is God’s preeminent purpose for your life: to walk with Him in a manner worthy of His calling—to walk in the way of Jesus Christ! Everything else flows from this center!

As John explains this in 1 John 2:5b-6, “By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

Let’s look at three practical applications of our walk with Jesus from Ephesians 4:1-3:

Surprise, surprise, Jesus described Himself this way first, as being “gentle and humble in heart” in Matthew 11:29 and that, in fact, is the yoke we are to take on ourselves—Christian discipleship is the spiritual formation of our lives and character, so that we walk in a manner worthy of our calling.

Paul explains in Philippians 2:5-8, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Jesus is our example: we are to have the same attitude, but not necessarily take all the same actions: You do not need to die on a cross in order to be gentle and humble, but you do need to put aside our own selfish pride and vain ambition in order to serve others. Some examples of that are the following:

I combined these two because the tolerance that is being spoken of here is the ability to endure or bear something—patience under the weight of stress and anxiety. The application to this is simply stated, but difficult to live: show love by being patient with people, including yourself. Some things only happen through prayer and fasting! Get in the easy yoke of Jesus, learn to be gentle and humble in heart, and patiently love people so that you yourself will not be tempted to sin or fall away. Pray and fast through it!

As Paul said in Galatians 6:1-2, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” And we learn from Jesus that the law of Christ is to love one another as Christ first loved us (John 13:34).

We have heard the call to diligence from the beginning of this sermon series (2 Peter 1). Every member of a Superbowl-winning NFL team is called to not only work hard as individuals, but also as a team—it’s both-and, individual training and team cooperation in order to live the Victory. This requires long-term diligence!

We have to know the playbook (the Bible), train ourselves with all diligence (a wholehearted commitment to our Christian discipleship), listen to our Coach (Jesus is Head so pray and fast!), and work as one team (a healthy member of Jesus’ body submits to His headship and mutually submits to one another!).

You are called to be a part of something bigger than you! Are you all in? Are you committed and submitted?

I ask you again: What does a team look like when every member is doing their own thing? What would it look like if you were walking down the street with every limb of your body doing its own thing?

With those images in mind, listen again to Ephesians 4:1-7 so that your memory verse will have the persevering power to help you live the promise of God’s calling:

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

You can listen to the message here:

You can watch the message by clicking HERE.