God Deeds

Introduction

Well, in following Dave’s example, I’ll go right into the invitation. Actually, this whole sermon is about really the Lord’s invitation to us. But I want to begin this morning in a text in 2 Peter chapter 3, where Peter warned of those who would distort. They would twist, they would rest the word of God to their own destruction. And he is referring in context to some of the messages that Paul wrote, some of which were difficult to understand, yet by implication is they could be understood. And those who would not correctly discern what Paul said and would distort those things, the result would be catastrophic. And so he warns in verse 17 be on your guard, lest being carried away by the error of unprincipled men. You fall.

You fall from your own steadfastness. Hold that thought. You fall from your own steadfastness. But I want to start this morning by asking the question why? Why would people distort or twist or alter the scripture? I think first and foremost, some people are ignorant. They just simply don’t know. And they are led to believe certain things and come to certain theological conclusions without scriptural basis for doing so. In fact, ignorance is a growing problem in our time. But furthermore, I think it issues from a fact that people don’t respect God’s word. And their lack of respect for the message leads to this error that Peter warns about in 2 Peter 3 and verse 16, but maybe more than them all, the reason why people do this is they just don’t like what God has said.

It doesn’t mesh with what they want to do and what they want to believe. And people have always been that way. Prophets prophesy falsely, and Jeremiah says, and my people love it so. They love it. That’s the way they want it. Paul warned Timothy about times when people would have itching ears and wanting teachers in accordance with their own desires. It’s really quite amazing how people just dismiss so much of the New Testament and say, well, that doesn’t jive with what I want to believe with my theology. And they just sort of watch it away with a wipe of a hand, it’s gone. Ignoring it. Our job is not to explain away or ignore what we do not like. God does not reserve that right for us.

And I want to talk to you about a popular notion today that is growing in popularity, and that is that God has done everything in salvation. All you have to do is believe. You just have to embrace that. And once you embrace that, you’re saved and saved eternally. Nothing you can do to forfeit that. That is the growing notion in religion today. I can understand why it’s so popular. If it were true, I’d sign up. Boy, that would make evangelism easy. And converting folks, just believe, just embrace. Jesus died on the cross for your sin. Boom, sign seal delivered. There you go. But that’s not what the New Testament teaches. And if it were true, then we would have to remove much of our New Testament.

1. Real Christianity Always Ends Up in Good Deeds

Several books would have to go. Hebrews could not be allowed in the New Testament, if that were the case. And nor could the book that we just studied, the book of Titus. And particularly chapter 3, though its message is throughout the entire tiny book of Titus. I told you I was going to come back to this on Wednesday night because we didn’t get to talk about this in detail. The emphasis that Paul makes on this, these two words. The words good deeds. And I want to tell you by way of introduction this morning that’s where real Christianity always ends up. Always. And notice the word real in front of Christianity. A lot of what is called Christianity isn’t real. It’s not consistent with God’s message.

But where real Christianity always ends up is in observance of what the New Testament has recorded for us. Yes, the words of Paul in Titus. And notice what he’s telling this evangelist, this preacher in Crete. Notice what he’s telling them to do. He’s telling him to say to those believers there, to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed. He would say later in verse 8, this is a trustworthy statement. And concerning these things, I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. And he will conclude down in verse 14. And let our people, these believers that he has mentioned earlier, those who he is reminding to be subject to rulers in verse 1.

And let our people also learn to engage in good deeds, to meet pressing needs, that they may not be unfruitful. Now, when you have Paul in the space of these few verses mentioning good deeds over and over again, three times in chapter 3, well, that is of some significance, is it not? But that’s not the first time that he has mentioned this phrase. Earlier in chapter 1 in verse 16, he says, they profess to know God. Here are people that he’s talking about who are actually depraved in their mind. Their conscience is defiled. He says they profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny him. Here are people who claim to know God. They claim to be enlisted in his cause, and yet their deeds say otherwise.

Their deeds actually deny him. And then he says, being detestable and disobedient. That doesn’t sound like a pleasant condition, does it? Detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. These people who profess to know God and yet in their deeds they deny him. Detestable and disobedient are set in stark contrast to the good deeds that believers are to be careful to engage in. That’s not it. In verse 7, the young men, as these various groups are being addressed, older men, older women, younger women, and now the young men in verse 6, he says, in all things, show yourself to be an example of good deeds with purity in doctrine. Dignified. And as he would go on to explain the theological basis for this instruction. What is at the root of this instruction to believers to behave in a certain way, he would say, because the grace of God has appeared, and that grace instructs us about certain things, among which are denying ungodliness, to live sensibly, soberly, righteously in the present age.

And then in verse 14, he gave himself for us that he might redeem us from, underscore the word from. Redeem us from every lawless deed. That must mean unto lawful deeds. Redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself a people for his own possession. Now, how are they then described? Zealous for good deeds. Now, do you see the emphasis on this phrase? Look at the verses in just this tiny epistle that are mentioning the necessity of good deeds. Some just dismiss these verses out of hand and say, well, the only thing he’s talking about here is eternal rewards. That is, I guess, how big your mansion is when you get to heaven. Really?

Admonished to refute those who contradict, to exhort in sound doctrine, and he talks about rebellious men and deceivers, and they must be silenced. Salvation is at stake. And remember those who were worthless for any good deed, it says they were detestable and disobedient. And the very nature of our redemption is from every lawless deed. And a purified people, now zealous for good deeds, those who have believed in God are to be careful to engage in good deeds. And so, in the context as he describes salvation, the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, but it instructs us, he says, to deny ungodliness. And then in chapter 3, he’s not done explaining what the grace of God coming, what it meant in the lives of believers.

He says, when the kindness of God, our Savior in verse 4 and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. There has been a change that the believer has undergone. He has been regenerated. He has come to new life. And this new life was connected, as we saw Wednesday night, with his washing in water and renewing by the Holy Spirit those things working in concert. But whatever that means, whatever the grace of God appearing means, and whatever the salvation of verses 4 and 5 means in regard to God’s activity, it in no way nullifies our activity. Submission to the washing, for example.

2. Grace Has Never Meant It Doesn't Matter How We Live

And the good deeds that are to follow our course in Christ. Grace has never meant. God will save us regardless of how we live. Now, if you don’t get anything else out of what I’ve said this morning, I want you to take that home. Grace has never met. God will save us regardless of how we live. Paul was very clear about that. Now that’s what some people were reporting, Paul was saying in Romans chapter 3. And he said that’s a slanderous report that we are teaching, let us do evil that good may come. Or shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? May it never be. Romans chapter 6, 1 and 2. He dealt with that malicious charge. Grace has never met. It doesn’t matter how we live.

It does. Those who are in Christ in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, they were urged, they were admonished not to receive the grace of God in vain. What does that mean? We talk about something being in vain. That’s to no effect. That’s of no value or benefit. They’ve received the grace of God. That’s past tense, but they do so in vain. And he precedes all of that and prefaces it by saying, and working together with him. That’s all based on the reconciliation of the previous chapter that Christ died so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And working together with him, he says, we urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. So whatever Paul is talking about in relation to all these good deeds, he’s talking about working together with him.

If we’re going to be saved eternally, whatever that phrase means, we need to be about the business of doing it. More on that in a moment. Working together with him. Be careful to engage in good deeds. Jude, that tiny little book, next to last in the New Testament, as Jude, probably the brother of the Lord, is ready to talk about the common salvation, the faith once for all delivered to the saints, has to warn about those who would come teaching a message. These people have the sentence of condemnation upon themselves. And he warns about these men who would come in and they would preach a message that turns the grace of God into licentiousness for lawlessness. The New International Version says, changes the grace of our God into a license for immorality.

Any view of the grace of God that promotes immorality is a lie. That’s what Jude is saying. And he says, those people who teach that, they deny the master who bought them. Some would use grace, though we are free men, Peter would say in 1 Peter 2.16. You really need to have all these verses together. 1 Peter 2.16, he says, act like free men. But some use this freedom as a covering for evil. Peter says, no. No, that’s not what this freedom in Christ is about. And Paul makes that clear as well in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 1. Yes, we are free, but don’t use your freedom as a covering for evil, but through love serve one another, which gets back to the good deeds of Titus chapter 3.

So this is where Christianity has always ended up. What things are involved? These people who have been redeemed. The washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, they’re all about teaching. They’re all about this instruction, this message that saves. That’s how, that’s why it’s so important. That’s why our Bible classes are so important. They’re all about serving others. Obviously, good deeds involves looking out for the interests of others. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 4. It’s helping your neighbor, it’s helping your brother, it’s having a focus in life that says Jesus was a servant. So I’m going to serve others. This isn’t all about me. I sent, I put praying, but really it’s just about worship, period. People who honor and magnify God as He is their redeemer and Savior.

It’s about a life of prayer and dependence. It’s about in all that we do, confessing to whom our allegiance belongs. And so somebody said, Well, then how do all how does all this work in salvation? We’ve got grace, God doing something for us that we could not do for ourselves, and our salvation is based on his mercy and kindness, not on the deeds that we’ve done. So if we’ve done all these good deeds at the end of the day, can we say, God, you must save me?

Can’t say that. Wait a minute. So if I’m engaged in all these things, and that’s where real Christianity ends up, and I’ve done, and I’ve done, let’s say I’ve done more than everybody else in this room. Who gets the distinction? I’ve done the most good deeds of any member of the Decker Prairie Church. Who are we going to pick out here? One of the elders. Ernie’s sitting there in the back. He’s looking at me. I’m going to call on Ernie. He’s done more good deeds than anybody else. Has he merited salvation? He’s going like this. That’s right. We can’t do enough to merit our salvation. So you mean then on the last day, God’s going to have to extend mercy? Yes. Well, I’m just not sure exactly how that works.

3. Why Your Good Deeds Are Important

Maybe I don’t understand it all either, but I know this. I can’t whittle on God’s end of the stick. And that’s really where this message of good deeds comes in. God who began a good work in you will complete it at the day of Christ. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6. And so we need to concentrate on those things that are our business. God cleaned up our mess. Good deeds are the least that we can do. Are they not? Why are your good deeds important? I want you to notice how many times this phrase appears in the New Testament when it says in 1 Peter 2 and verse 12, keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers?

Look at this. They may, on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. I want to get very practical here about the things we need to be busy doing as God’s people. We need to be about the business of good deeds because people are watching you to determine the validity of truth. Do you ever think about that? And don’t think that they’re not watching. That’s why our behavior among unbelievers is so important. 1 Peter 2 and verse 12, that they may, on account of your good works. How we look people are watching you to determine the validity of truth. Because how we live causes others to render judgment upon God’s law. If these are God’s people, look at the inconsistency.

What kind of message is that? And let me tell you something else that flows out of this. And this really, Jared actually prayed this in his prayer. Other Christians are watching. For the very same reasons. He talked about younger people looking to the older people. I remember as a young person growing up among the Lord’s people in New Albany, Indiana, that now that I look back, the example of all those older Christians was so important. Their commitment to these things sent a powerful message about what I needed to do in my life. Young people are looking to us. Lost people around us are looking at us to determine whether this truth is valid or not. Oh, my bad behavior doesn’t make it invalid, but that’s the conclusion some will draw by my disobedience.

And even such things as our attitudes toward assembly. And I’ll just say, parents, don’t take your kids, don’t notice this. When something other than the Lord is first place in your life. Something as simple as attending assemblies. Kids will see it. People are watching. And I would say this God is concerned not just with right positions, but with right dispositions. Our business as God’s people is to be those who deny themselves, who take up their crosses and fight temptation and give praise to our God and who serve others. That’s what our business is. One more passage in this vein in Hebrews chapter 10. I have to connect all of these passages because again, in Hebrews 10, in this familiar text, it says, and let us consider how to stimulate one another.

We were talking about Hebrews 9 and 10 last week, the implications that flow out of Christ’s sacrifice for us. This again, Hebrews 9 and 10 is grace and faith. God did this, we respond this way. Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some. But encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Again, Peter is echoing the same things in 1 Peter chapter 4. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. We’re encouraging one another unto love and to good deeds, like he described in 1 Peter chapter 4.

We live in a time when people are super focused on fitness. I don’t know that there’s ever been a time when even the Lord’s people have been so focused on physical fitness. And that’s fine. I mean, God gave us these bodies to be taken care of, to have respect for God’s creation. Sure, I get all of that. Good health. Wonderful concept, great thing. Bodily exercise, profits a little. Knock yourself out. But I want to tell you, there is a greater emphasis. Godliness is profitable for all things, having promised of the life that now is and the life that is to come. We need to make sure in all of this emphasis on the physical carcass that we have an even greater focus and interest in souls.

And that’s where ultimately these good deeds are played out in our lives. Let’s not just be fitness folks, but spiritual fitness folks as well. One more text I want to look at with you, and we’ll conclude this morning in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Paul is writing various admin. Some of these are very familiar. I want you to see the greater context of this instruction. Because he talks about the instruction that’s being given in verse 12, and esteem those who give it. But he says, and a lot of these little pithy things he’s telling us, little short statements, admonish the unruly, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all men. There are your good deeds right there. Don’t repay evil for evil, but seek after that which is good for one another.

And then all these short statements, you can quote these. Short verse, rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give things. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. What were these good deeds all about? Well, Paul talks about a lot of specific things here. Do not quench the spirit. Well, that has a particular application to a time, I believe, of miraculous spiritual gifts. Such things could be cut off by disobedience and a failure to engage in good deeds. That’s how important these things are. Do not despise prophetic utterances and then, but examine everything carefully. Hold fast to that which is good, abstain from every form of evil. Pray for us, he says in verse 25, and then verse 28, don’t miss this. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

4. Saved by Grace Through Faith: The Right Balance

Isn’t that interesting? That grace is mentioned after all of these good deeds that we’re to be engaged in. We’re to stimulate one another unto love and good deeds. So what we’ve been talking about this morning is God’s plan to save us. And there are two things that work together, and those things, we have to strike the right balance between them. You are saved by grace through faith. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8. So, what is the proper balance? We should never diminish either side of this equation. I put grace on top because grace is the greater part. The things that God has done that we could not do for ourselves, the mercy, the basis for our salvation, Titus chapter 3, and the kindness that prompted it.

The fact that Jesus became man, God became man, and then he shed his blood, and he’s our high priest. And the role of the Holy Spirit in our salvation that we’re begotten of him, that his word instructs us into these good deeds that we’re to live. I can never measure up to this. I could never equal what God has done. All of my good deeds, all of our good deeds together as we saw last week. In regard to Jesus’ sacrifice, none of it would be sufficient for all that God has done. That’s the greater part. And should always be emphasized. I am dependent upon God for salvation. So why is it then? I think Jared might get into this in his study of Ephesians. Why is it then that we tend to, perhaps in teaching, and I don’t want to be guilty of this, to emphasize the faith part more than the grace part.

I think there’s a reason for that. I think we should always strive for balance and always emphasize to folks that we believe that God’s part is the greater part. It is essential. We can’t go to heaven without it. We’re completely dependent upon God. But the reason why we emphasize the faith part so much is that’s the part we control. That’s the part where some response is necessary from us. There is a change. He purified us, Titus 2 and verse 14 again, to be a people zealous for good deeds. He redeemed us from every lawless deeds. The gospel means change in our lives. It means ongoing change. And I don’t care who you are and what level of spiritual maturity you’ve gained to this point, you are not done changing.

We won’t be done changing and molding ourselves in the image of Christ and molding our thinking after His until we take our last breath. He who began a good work in you will complete it at the day of Christ, and we’ve not achieved that yet.

5. God's Greater Part Is the Motivation

And isn’t it true? Haven’t you discovered that so much of the New Testament is about the attitudes and behavior of those who believe? Because that’s the part that demands your response. What motivates your response to God? Why pursue all of these good deeds? It’s what the Creator designed for us from the very beginning. It’s all that He worked out throughout the Old Testament to bring about the Redeemer and to provide salvation for Jew and Gentile. God’s greater part is the motivation. I am I’m a debtor, Paul says. I’m under obligation. Why did you do all the why did you do all of your good deeds, Paul? Perhaps more than any man in Christ ever did. Perhaps. What was his motivation? The mercy. God’s grace and the mercy that he received for his sins.

And that will be your motivation. That must be our motivation to be his zealous servants. You know what happens to our zeal?

When we first obey the gospel, we’re excited. It says, Great, I found salvation. And yet time and circumstances can rob us of our zeal. We’ve got to keep coming back to this message. Salvation by grace through faith. It will keep us zealous as our Lord deserves. Zeal is fire inside of us. Fervency, a boiling over for God. That ought to be characterized by every word we sing to him and every prayer that we pray. It doesn’t matter that we’ve done this thousands of times. Our God is deserving of this and more. And it’s what will approm, it’s what will prompt your initial obedience, your initial faith. To say, I need to be redeemed from my lawless deeds. I need to be purified in the blood of the Lamb and be washed, the washing of regeneration.

Conclusion

If there’s someone in this audience this morning who needs to do that, may the grace of God motivate you to act while there’s time and opportunity that your life may not be unfruitful, but fruitful to the Lord. Won’t you come as we stand and say?