As Recorded In The Books

Very seldom do people today hear in church a positive sermon on "good works." In fact, the words "good works" are often viewed in Christian circles as more negative than swear words. This should not be!

As Christians, we frequently applaud sermons and sing songs about God's wonderful grace, and it's easy to find churches titled by that word. And why not? God's grace is marvelous! But when we leave out the message of good works and live the Christian life in complacency, it's offensive to God.

The Bible says that faith in God and acceptance of His grace without goods works is not enough. This type of lifestyle is worthless and unacceptable to Him.

"So you see, faith by itself isn't enough.

Unless it produces good deeds,

it is dead and useless."

James 2:17 (NLT)

There will come a time when God will judge all people — not just unbelievers, but all people — according to their deeds.

"For the Son of Man will come

with His angels in the glory of His Father

and will judge all people according to their deeds."

Matthew 16:27 (NLT)

In fact, the deeds of every single person are recorded in a book by God.

"I saw the dead, both great and small,

standing before God's throne.

And the books were opened,

including the Book of Life.

And the dead were judged

according to what they had done,

as recorded in the books.

The sea gave up its dead,

and death and the grave gave up their dead.

And all were judged according to their deeds."

Revelations 20:13 (NLT)

Let us be careful to never have an imbalanced perspective of the Christian life, taking God's grace for granted. Instead, let us daily look for ways we can show our love to God and others by doing good deeds.