If we are honest with ourselves, most of us do good deeds for one of two reasons (or maybe both). We either do them to earn a reward of some kind–reputation, profit, kindness in return, etc.–or we do them to avoid consequences. Either way, it’s sort of a cost-benefit analysis.
When we do right things with these motivations it actually misses the heart of Jesus and the message of the gospel. To do good, to obey God, in order to gain a reward is a tacit declaration that we think we can earn God’s love and favor through our deeds. On the other hand, if we obey God to avoid punishment we are saying that God doesn’t have our best in mind but rather that God’s word is designed to take away our freedom rather than to give us the richest and best life possible.
Both of these attitudes–earning favor or avoiding punishment–completely miss the significance of what Jesus did at the cross. If we could earn God’s favor by doing good, then Jesus didn’t need to die. His death would have been a waste. And if we think that doing good will pacify God’s anger we miss the point of Romans 5:8: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus’s obedience at the cross satisfied God, so we don’t need to duck and cover from his anger.
Rather, let’s remember 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.” Our reason to do good works is because Jesus, in all he did at the cross, gave us a reason and a means to do good. He has laid out the way of life for us so we can walk in it, with joy and gratitude, in the help of his Holy Spirit.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
