Doing the Works of God

By Cal Cook

A few years ago while a good friend of mine was on a four month mission trip to Sweden we had a lengthy discussion / debate through e-mail about what is required for salvation. Of course the concept of works was ever present in that discussion. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. Faith, believing is that work? Certainly not of the hands, back or feet…yet is it an effort of the mind? We are given a definition of Faith in Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Jesus tells the crowd when they ask to do the works of God, John 6:29 “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” The Greek word used here for work is ἔργον ‘ergon‘ translated 152 times as work, 22 times as deed, once as doing and once as labor. The root comes from ergo which means ‘to work’ not much debate here! Jesus is saying the only work God wants from you is to believe πιστεύω ‘pisteuō’ to place your trust in, to be committed to the One sent from God…the Son of Man…the Son of God. For God has placed His seal upon Him (v27) proven by the works He does, proven by the Spirit that resides on Him and that is poured out from Him as Streams of Living Water. So it is with us…the proof, the evidence that God has sealed us, that God has given His stamp of approval to us is His Holy Spirit who makes himself known through us by the things we do, how we act…our works. It’s no wonder this has been twisted up and confused by so many? My fear as a Pastor is that a big chunk of the Church doesn’t really understand it; they keep putting the cart in front of the horse!