Recently, our church celebrated the addition of 8 souls to our congregation. What a day! We were so glad to see the God clearly at work among our congregation as a whole and in these individuals as well. The fruit of the Spirit is evidenced clearly in godly growth. These individuals came forward to profess or reaffirm their faith in King Jesus; two even were baptized! There was joy surrounding this event because Christ is on the move.
But a natural question soon arises: What now? The sentiments can sometimes be like this, “We’ve come to be discipled in the teaching of the church. Now what?” Here we see that dynamic so often used by Christ to describe his expectation for his disciples: bearing fruit. Christians are expected to exude godliness.
As a Reformed Presbyterian, I abide by that central slogan of the Protestant Reformation that we are saved by faith alone. However, as many other like-minded pastors and theologians have testified before me, such a living faith is never alone. What does that mean? R. C. Sproul, that great Bible teacher, echoed these thoughts in sharing that the faith which saves is a living faith. It is a faith which abounds in spiritual life. In other words, if we are truly alive in Christ by faith then such a faith is going to naturally produce a life rich in good works. Such good works are an evidence or fruit of saving faith.
This distinction is so important because good works are not the cause of our saving faith, they are an evidence or supernatural effect of it. If you say that you are a Christian, then that means, that your life is going to look different than what it did before you became a Christian. In short, this means that your life cannot follow the worldly standards of today but instead must look like Christ’s life. Such a life is rich in love, mercy, and truth. It does not mean perfection, as no one this side of heaven is able to not sin. A simple read of 1 John 1:8-10 makes that plain. Instead, it is expected that we will grow in godliness just as a fruit tree is expected to grow.
I’ve already mentioned that our congregation is Presbyterian. This historically means that our pastor’s abiding by the teaching of the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF). In the 16th chapter of this Confession we read about good works and learn about their benefits in a believers life. The Confession points out a fuller list of the effects of good works but we will limit ourselves to the first two alone. You are welcome to the look up the Confession online for your benefit.
What is the first effect? First, believers seek to perform good works according to God’s word in order to “manifest [that is, show] their thankfulness.” (WCF 16.2) It is the main way we show our appreciation to God for saving us in Christ. We are not ungrateful for the suffering and death of Jesus. We show our appreciation for the cost of our redemption by committing our lives to Him in thanksgiving. God gave us the most precious gift He had which is the life of His only begotten Son. Can we not offer our very selves to Him as a living sacrifice for all that He has done for us?
The second benefit good works hold for Christians is to “strengthen their assurance”. Assurance in what exactly? Assurance that they really are born again in Christ. When we look at our life before Jesus and after, there ought to be a real change because who we are is fundamentally different. When we are saved from sin, we are raised from the dead spiritually. We are gifted God’s Holy Spirit. We are sprinkled clean by the blood of Jesus and purified. We are adopted into His family. We are declared holy and are progressively made holy. We used to love sin, but now we fight it. We used to be indifferent about God and the church, now we love both. We used to ignore the Bible or twist it to our ends, but now we honor and obey Scripture recognizing that God speaks to us in it. Something radical has happened!
Now this is not my idea or even the Confession’s idea but arises from the Bible itself. We simply need to look to the words of John to confirm this idea of the assurance of our salvation being evidenced in our good works. John wrote “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments…. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.” (1 John 2:3, 5).
The assurance of our own salvation is not merely for the super religious, but available for all of us today. You can have peace with God and know it deep within your bones so that death will not be a terror but a welcome release from the body of sin whenever your time comes. We can face death with hope knowing that Christ has already defanged the basilisk of death, devouring death itself by His death and resurrection.
If you struggle with knowing that you are saved, my friend, I encourage you to first consider your life. Have you come to Christ knowing that you are a sinner in need of a savior named Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God? Having come to Christ, does your life look different? I’m not asking if you are perfect, for none of us are. I know that I have failed miserably in my own life. But I am so thankful that God’s mercy is available to anyone who comes to God in Christ. Have you come to Christ seeking pardon and peace? Have you sought out a faithful pastor to sit with him and bear your heart and heed his wisdom? Have you participated in public worship in a church that faithfully teaches the gospel? Have you delighted in the holy sacraments, especially the Lord’s Supper? Have you given yourself to prayer? Are you surrounding yourself with godly friends? God has begun His great work of salvation in you and He will not quit so be empowered to press ahead live for Him.