What is the Point of Your Good Works?

What are your good works for? They're to help you be effective in loving your brothers and sisters and creating unity within the body of Christ. When we just shove off that responsibility of like, yeah, whatever. I mean, it's, I know it's important but... No, it's more than just important. It's more than just important. It's what the believer was called to, not out of fear. But as we see -this is what I love- second Peter 1:9, if you're not doing these things, you've forgotten you've been cleansed. Paul says, for the love of Christ controls us because of the gospel. Grace is always our motivation. Love for Christ is always our motivation. But let us not be foolish to think that our actions don't matter because how else are we to care for one another? I think the gospel message has been watered down, and I think we focus on so many things because the church has lost two things: we don't preach Christ and him crucified. You go to churches, and you hear anything but the gospel, and then you wonder why people are so mean and vile and nasty towards each other because they aren't being motivated by the love of Christ that has been crucified for them. And then, you know what we try and use? Fear. We try and use fear to motivate people. Our governments have tried it. They've been trying it for thousands of years. Fear does not motivate people to do right. It does not. What motivates us to do right, according to scriptures: we love because he first loved us. So I am not up here trying to scare you because you're going to stand before the judge. Romans 8:1, one of the greatest verses the holy spirit has ever given us: for there is now at this moment and going forward, no condemnation for those who are in Christ. The judge is not coming to condemn your sins- that's not what it means, but he will say these were for the glory of the father and for the benefit of the believers, and these were done out of selfishness and they're of no value. So at the end of our life, whatever that may mean, there's nothing wrong with saying, I really want my life to be about effectively loving one another. Everyday Grace 042