Featured Our Faith Walk

God prepared beforehand the good works those saved by His grace are to do. I take that to mean before we were saved, God had prepared the works.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

As in a decree. So the good works you do, God planned them for you to do. This was of Him, and not you. You are His creation, part of that includes the programming of your new life in Him before you had a new life in Him. You can not create a good work for yourself to do as of yourself.

STRONGS NT 4282: προετοιμάζω
προετοιμάζω: 1 aorist προητοίμασα; to prepare before, to make ready beforehand: ἅ προητοίμασεν εἰς δόξαν, i. e. for whom he appointed glory beforehand (i. e., from eternity), and, accordingly, rendered them fit to receive it, Romans 9:23; to prepare beforehand in mind and purpose, i. e. to decree, Ephesians 2:10, where οἷς stands by attraction for ἅ (cf. Winers Grammar, 149 (141); Buttmann, § 143, 8). (Isaiah 28:24; Wis. 9:8; Herodotus, Philo, Josephus, Plutarch, Geoponica, others.)

In Fact those good works the elect did, they were not really aware of them that they had done them, they just happened as a natural part of their supernatural God ordained christian life.

Matthew 25:37-46
New King James Version

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

 

A prepare assignment is not necessarily a completed assignment.

 

God is not adding up the good works in a scale matched against you bad deeds, just that they did good works according to His planning of them.
Paul was always concerned for them, that the church do good works.
But underneath all that was God.
Philippians 2:13
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

1 Timothy 6:17-19
Instructions to the Rich
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Titus 3:8
This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

Titus 3:14
And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.

 

...

as in still hanging on the tree, unpicked.

 

How much fruit does someone have to have done be to be considered fruitful.
Lets see what scripture says
Matthew 13:23
But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

And there is a difference between good fruit and good works.

Good fruits are not the good works we perform

 

Why then, was this scripture quoted?

 

Good fruit we bear to God.
Without bearing good fruit, you cant be saved.

Good works are of benefit to men.
Good works do not save you, they are just evidence of good fruit.
There is still a difference.

 

I can read the last statement two or more ways
but how can you tell the difference between a truly good work and fruit?

Do you think that you have performed all the good works God had planned for you up until now?

I envy you if your reply is yes.

I can think of many things the Lord has asked me to do which I chose not.

 

One thing about good fruit, you have to have that to be saved, and a good tree can not make bad fruit. It is impossible.
And if your a bad tree, your going to be cut down and burned in the fire.

Either your a bad tree or a good tree, you can't be a little of both mixed together. God when HE makes you born again, your are the good tree. Otherwise your the bad tree.

Matthew 3:10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 7:17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

Matthew 7:18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

Matthew 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 12:33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.

 

One easy way is the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life. It is what you bear in your life to God because He is at work within you.

Galatians 5:19-24
New King James Version
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

 

If a man abide not in me,
he is cast forth as a branch,
and is withered;
and men gather them,
and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
John 15:6

If any man's work shall be burned,
he shall suffer loss;
but he himself shall be saved;
yet so as by fire.
1 Corinthians 3:15

... bad, unfruitful works burned, suffer loss.

until the Lord come,
who both will bring to light
the hidden things of darkness,
and will make manifest
the counsels of the hearts:
and then shall every man have praise of God.
1Corinthians 4:5

I am saved; I know it, although many might not think so.
I have tons of missed opportunities, although many might not think so.
Yet I shall have praise from God.

 

First case, the person is not abiding in Christ at all, they are unsaved. They bear both bad fruit, bad works and maybe some good works.

Second, the person is a believer has done bad works but not bearing bad fruit. He still bore good fruit, just not much maybe.
We are all going to be judged by our deeds, for believers, it has to do with eternal rewards, more, less, maybe only get saved and have nothing else. Believing in Christ is you bearing good fruit to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life.

For unbelievers, (the dead, they are really spiritually dead) they are also judged by their works at the Last Judgement, Great White Throne Judgement. Rev 20

1 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

But for believers, they are judged by their good fruit set for eternal life, not by their works, as they are spiritually alive.

 

I am glad it it easy.

 

Romans 6, about our fruit set to holiness now versus set to death.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

If good works are not the fruit of the Holy Sprit, what are they?

 

Upon salvation, Christ set me free.
But sometimes I go back to Egypt, as those in the exodus, of whom many who did not please God, died.

 

Be thankful your in the New Covenant now, instead of the old one.
Hebrews 8
New King James Version
The New Priestly Service
1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

A New Covenant
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

In the OC, God remembered your sins and lawless deeds to JUDGEMENT DAY and getting thrown into the Lake of Fire for them, but now no longer because of the more excellent ministry Christ has obtained for us alone who believe, verse 6.

 

John 5:24
Life and Judgment Are Through the Son
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

That judgement at the Great White Throne of God however in Revelation 20, the saved in Christ will not experience that. Christ delivers us from the wrath of God to come.