Having Done Good

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HAVING DONE GOOD

John 5:28-30

28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out — those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

NIV

We have to be careful not to get into the trap of salvation by works by these words of Jesus. It might be easy to think that when he says that those who have done good will rise to live and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned, that we have to do good deeds in order to live. This is then a doctrine of salvation by works. Some would want to tie these words with the letter James wrote when he said that faith without works is dead. But that would be in error for we are saved by faith, not by works. It is true that once we are saved, we by the very nature of being a new person, born again, we would do good things for the kingdom of God. Because of our faith, we would be involved in doing good things. But that is a result, not the reason, of our faith. The doing good Jesus is speaking about is in the opposite of doing evil. The good live, the evil are condemned. What would cause a person to live? It would be doing the work of God, which Jesus says is to believe in the one who was sent, him. Having faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior is the good work. Accepting the fact that he is the sacrifice for our sin, that he took our place, he atoned for our sin, he is the Lamb of God who took away our sin, is the good which results in life. Refusing Jesus is the evil that results in condemnation. If we say we, as believers, never sin, which by its very definition is evil, then we are liars, which also is a sin. So then because we commit sin, evil, then we would be condemned if evil is just defined as sin. We do have to see this in the light of good and evil as the faithful and the rebellious or unfaithful, those who believe and those who refuse to believe. This is related to the sheep and goats which is explained for us in the gospel of Matthew. Sheep get to enter his rest, the goats are cast into the lake of fire. What works could we do other than believe in Jesus, which would qualify us to enter into his rest? It is true that it seems as what Jesus says in this account in Matthew that good works, the ones who feed him and gave him drink are getting to go in while those who did not are cast out. That does sound like a work based salvation. But again the works are what follow the faith, one would not do those works unless one believed. However, it is also true, the unbelievers do some great humanitarian deeds relieving the pains of others. So then would it not be a competitive situation, which we believers need to do more than the unbelievers do in order to qualify to be the sheep on the right. We can see how nonsensical that would be. It would have nothing to do with faith, doing the work of God. Just as Jesus says he does not seek to please himself but him who sent him, we too should seek to please God rather than ourselves. How do we please God? Can we please him by good works? If so, then it would become a matter of how many good works are enough to please him, and how good do the works have to be. The only way we can please God is to believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That is the will of God as John will tell what Jesus said about the will of God a little later. Although, we should add that to this idea about the works. This is the having done good.

John 6:40

40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." 

NIV