(), “works, or deeds, of the law,” is equivalent to the works which the law requires, or the entire performance of those works which the moral law, whether written or unwritten, i.e., law in general, whether applicable to Gentile or Jew, demands (Rom 2:15; Rom 3:20; Rom 9:12; Rom 9:32; Rom 10:6; Rom 11:3; Gal 2:16; Gal 3:2; Gal 3:5; Gal 3:10; Eph 2:9). On the ground of works, i.e., of perfect obedience and therefore of merit, none can be justified, because “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” If, then, any are justified at all, it must be of grace; but this grace, although freely bestowed and without any just claims on the part of the sinner, is still not unconditionally bestowed. Faith in him who died to save sinners is requisite to prepare one for the reception of pardon; and he who is justified in this way, as a consequence of his faith, is still justified in a manner altogether gratuitous. The reader will mark the difference between the phrase “works of the law,” in the above passages, and the expression “work of faith” or “good works” (1Th 1:3; 2Th 1:11; 2Co 9:8; Eph 2:10; Col 1:10; 1Ti 5:10; 1Ti 5:25; 1Ti 6:18; 2Ti 3:17; Tit 1:6; Tit 2:7; Tit 2:14; Tit 3:1; Tit 3:8; Tit 3:14). <\/p>\n
In the writings of Paul, works of the law always designates the idea of perfect obedience, i.e., doing all which the law requires. But works of faith or good works are the fruits of sanctification by the Spirit of God; the good works which Christians perform, and which are sincere, are therefore acceptable to God under a dispensation of grace, although they do not fulfil all the demands of the law. On the ground of the first, Paul earnestly contends, at length, in his epistles to the Romans and Galatians, that no one can be justified. The latter he everywhere treats as indispensable to the Christian character. So also the apostle James, when disputing with those who make pretensions to Christian faith, and mere pretensions, maintains that no man has any good claim to the faith of a Christian who does not at the same time exhibit good works; in other words, he avers that a mere speculative faith is not a real Christian faith (Jam 2:14-26). In a word, Paul has taught us that justification is not on the ground of merit, but of grace: James has taught us that a faith which will entitle one to hope for justification must be accompanied with evangelical obedience. Both are true and faithful teachers; the doctrines of both are equally the doctrines of the gospel. Good works, in the gospel sense of these words, are an essential condition of our acceptance with God; but on the ground of perfect obedience to the divine law, no one ever was or ever will be accepted. SEE JUSTIFICATION.<\/p>\n
In an evangelical sense, good works are those actions which spring from pure principles, and are conformable to truth, justice, and propriety; whether natural, civil, relative, moral, or religious. The phrase is often used of acts of charity. The qualities of a good work, in the Scriptural sense of the term, are,<\/p>\n
(1) That it be according to the will of God; (2) that it spring from love to God (1Ti 1:5); (3) that it be done in faith (Rom 14:23); (4) that it be done to the glory of God (1Co 10:31; Php 1:11).<\/p>\n
The causes of good works are, <\/p>\n
(1) God himself (Heb 13:21); (2) union with Christ (Eph 2:10); (3) through faith (Heb 11:4; Heb 11:6); (4) by the word and spirit (Isa 3:3; Luk 8:15; 2Ti 3:16).<\/p>\n
As to the nature and properties of good works in this world,<\/p>\n
(1) They are imperfect (Ecc 7:20; Rev 3:2; (2) not meritorious (Luk 17:10; Tit 3:5); (3) yet found only in the regenerate (Mat 7:17). The necessary uses of good works, <\/p>\n
(1) They show our gratitude (Psa 116:12-13); (2) are an ornament to our profession (Tit 2:10); (3) evidence our regeneration (Job 15:5); (4) are profitable to others (Tit 3:8). See Gill, Body of Div. volume 3, book 4.<\/p>\n
These are activities, divine or human, which may proceed from good or evil. We read of ‘dead works’: acts of mere ceremony, and the religious efforts of the flesh (the flesh profiteth nothing). Heb 6:1; Heb 9:14. These stand in contrast to ‘works of faith,’ which are the expression of life by the operation of the Holy Spirit. Heb 11. The works of the flesh are detailed in Gal 5:19-21.<\/p>\n
Man is justified by faith apart from the ‘works of the law’ (Rom 3:20; Gal 2:16), but real faith will produce ‘good works,’ and these can be seen of men, though the faith itself be invisible. Jam 2:14-26.<\/p>\n
The Lord Jesus when on earth declared that His works gave evidence that He was Son of God, and had been sent by the Father, and that the Father was in Him, and He in the Father. Joh 9:4; Joh 10:37-38; Joh 14:11.<\/p>\n
When the Jews were persecuting Christ because He had healed a man on the Sabbath day, He said, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” Joh 5:17. God had rested from His works of creation on the seventh day, but sin had come in, and in the O.T. allusions are frequent as to the activity of Jehovah for the spiritual blessing of man.<\/p>\n
The apostle Paul, in writing to Titus, insists strongly on good works, that Christianity might not be unfruitful.<\/p>\n
Every one will have to give an account of himself to God, Rom 14:12; and the wicked dead will be raised and judged according to their works. Rev 20:12-13.<\/p>\n
Good works:<\/p>\n
\n
– <\/strong>Jesus an example of<\/p>\n Joh 10:32<\/span>; Act 10:38<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Holy women should manifest<\/p>\n 1Ti 2:10<\/span>; 1Ti 5:10<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>God remembers<\/p>\n Neh 13:14<\/span>; Heb 6:9-10<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Shall be brought into judgment<\/p>\n Ecc 12:14<\/span>; 2Co 5:10<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>In the judgment, will be an evidence of faith<\/p>\n Mat 25:34-40<\/span>; Jas 2:14-20<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Ministers should be patterns of<\/p>\n Tit 2:7<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Ministers should exhort to<\/p>\n 1Ti 6:17-18<\/span>; Tit 3:1<\/span>; Tit 3:8<\/span>; Tit 3:14<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>God is glorified by<\/p>\n Joh 15:8<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Designed to lead others to glorify God<\/p>\n Mat 5:16<\/span>; 1Pe 2:12<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>A blessing attends<\/p>\n Jas 1:25<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Of the righteous, are manifest<\/p>\n 1Ti 5:25<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Parables relating to:<\/p>\n \n b The talents and pounds<\/p>\n Mat 25:14-29<\/span>; Luk 19:12-27<\/span> <\/p>\n \n b Of the laborers in the vineyard<\/p>\n Mat 20:11-15<\/span> <\/p>\n \n b The two sons<\/p>\n Mat 21:28-31<\/span> <\/p>\n \n b Of the barren fig tree<\/p>\n Luk 13:6-9<\/span> <\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Unclassified scriptures relating to<\/p>\n Deu 6:25<\/span>; Deu 24:13<\/span>; Neh 13:14<\/span>; Neh 5:19<\/span>; Job 30:25<\/span>; Psa 37:3<\/span>; Psa 90:17<\/span>; Psa 106:30-31<\/span>; Jer 22:15-16<\/span>; Eze 14:14<\/span>; Eze 14:20<\/span>; Eze 18:5-9<\/span>; Mat 3:8<\/span>; Mat 6:1-4<\/span>; Mat 10:42<\/span>; Mat 18:5<\/span>; Mat 19:16-21<\/span>; Mar 10:17<\/span>; Luk 10:25<\/span>; Mat 25:34-46<\/span>; Joh 3:21<\/span>; Joh 15:2-8<\/span>; Joh 15:14<\/span>; Act 10:4<\/span>; Act 10:38<\/span>; Rom 2:13<\/span>; 1Co 3:6-9<\/span>; 2Co 9:8<\/span>; Gal 6:4<\/span>; Eph 2:10<\/span>; Phi 1:11<\/span>; Phi 2:13<\/span>; Col 1:10<\/span>; Col 3:12-14<\/span>; Col 3:17<\/span>; 1Th 1:3<\/span>; 1Th 1:7-8<\/span>; 2Th 2:17<\/span>; 1Ti 2:10<\/span>; 1Ti 5:9-10<\/span>; 1Ti 6:18-19<\/span>; 2Ti 2:21<\/span>; 2Ti 3:16-17<\/span>; Tit 2:14<\/span>; Tit 3:1-2<\/span>; Tit 3:8<\/span>; Tit 3:14<\/span>; Heb 6:10<\/span>; Heb 10:24<\/span>; Heb 13:21<\/span>; Jas 1:22-27<\/span>; Jas 3:13<\/span>; Jas 3:17-18<\/span>; Rev 14:13<\/span>; Rev 22:14<\/span> <\/p>\n \n Insufficiency of works, for salvation<\/p>\n Psa 49:7-8<\/span>; Psa 127:1-2<\/span>; Ecc 1:14<\/span>; Isa 43:26<\/span>; Isa 57:12<\/span>; Isa 64:6<\/span>; Eze 7:19<\/span>; Eze 33:12-19<\/span>; Dan 9:18<\/span>; Mat 5:20<\/span>; Luk 17:7-10<\/span>; Luk 18:9-14<\/span>; Act 13:39<\/span>; Rom 3:20-31<\/span>; Rom 4:1-22<\/span>; Rom 8:3<\/span>; Rom 9:16<\/span>; Rom 9:31-32<\/span>; Rom 11:6<\/span>; 1Co 13:1-3<\/span>; Gal 2:16<\/span>; Gal 2:19<\/span>; Gal 2:21<\/span>; Gal 3:1-29<\/span>; Gal 4:9-11<\/span>; Gal 5:2<\/span>; Gal 5:4<\/span>; Gal 5:6<\/span>; Gal 5:18<\/span>; Gal 6:15<\/span>; Eph 2:8-9<\/span>; Phi 3:3-9<\/span>; Col 2:20-23<\/span>; 2Ti 1:9<\/span>; Tit 3:4-5<\/span>; Heb 4:3-10<\/span>; Heb 6:1-2<\/span>; Heb 9:1-14<\/span>; Jas 2:10-11<\/span> <\/p>\n \n Works of God<\/p>\n God, Works of<\/span> <\/p>\n Works (), “works, or deeds, of the law,” is equivalent to the works which the law requires, or the entire performance of those works which the moral law, whether written or unwritten, i.e., law in general, whether applicable to Gentile or Jew, demands (Rom 2:15; Rom 3:20; Rom 9:12; Rom 9:32; Rom 10:6; Rom 11:3; … Continue reading “Works”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encyclopedic-dictionary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"