BBD 05.11.21 Good Works (Classic)

#1 · May 10, 2021, 10:50 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on May 10, 2021, 10:50 pm
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2003

The Burning Bush Devotional

11 May 2021

Good Works

For by
grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:8-10.

For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life. - John 3:16.

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. - John 5:24.

According
to Barna Research Group polling, many teens have beliefs that are “inconsistent with the Bible.” Barna says that 53 percent of teens believe that Jesus was not
perfect but committed sins. Also, two-thirds of teens believe that satan is not
really a living being but just a symbol of evil. In addition, 60 percent of
teens believe that they can earn “eternal salvation” by doing
good works.

Why is
earning your way to Heaven by doing good works “inconsistent” with
the Bible? Because the Bible clearly indicates in Ephesians 2 that salvation is a “gift.” The dictionary defines
gift as, “Something that is bestowed voluntarily and
without compensation.” Most likely,
you have received a “gift” from someone during your lifetime.
When you received the “gift”, were you required to pay for it
or work for it? No! Because if you had to pay for the “gift” or
work for the “gift” it would no longer be a “gift” but
a purchase or compensation.

Ephesians
2 also gives us a reason for why
salvation is a “gift” and not something that you have to earn
through good works. The reason? “…lest anyone
should boast….” What if you could work your way to
Heaven - what would be the result once people did arrive in Heaven? In Heaven,
the result would be that people would begin talking about what they had done in
order to gain entrance to eternal life. Some people would believe they had done
greater things than others and would therefore be proud of what they had done.
These people the apostle Paul believed would be boasting about the good things
they had done to earn salvation.

Doing
good things will not earn you salvation but good works should be the natural
result of your receiving the free “gift” of salvation. Paul says in verse 10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Once we have eternal life through Jesus, we should have a desire to
follow his example of doing good things. Good works do not save you but if you
are truly saved you should be doing good works.

Has
someone ever given you a free gift that you did not receive? My
step-grandmother for many years had been giving me a Christmas present even
after my grandfather had passed away and she had remarried. The first Christmas
that I was married, she told me that she had a Christmas present for me, and I
just needed to pick it up. To my shame, I never picked up the present. It would
have been a free gift, but it was not a gift since I never received it. Sadly,
many have and will do the same thing with God’s free “gift” of salvation. Have you received
God’s “gift?” If
not, why not open up the greatest gift you can ever receive in life right now?
Ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart and life. Ask Him to forgive you of
your sins and be your Lord and Master. Words will not save you but if you mean
it in your heart, you will receive the “gift” of eternal life.

Copyright © 2002 - 2021. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of
those first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent
to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush website:

www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites are
celebrating 23 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to subscribers
across the world. At one time there were 18,000 subscribers in more than 70
countries to the devotional but that has now shrunk to around 9,000.

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right-hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the Devotionals at
the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of the home page.
Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please pray for God to touch and
bring about His will in these lives: Caleb Freeman’ Pat S.; Buck & Barbara
Wright; Gwen P.; James Perkins and his wife; Vonnie; Evi Porter; Addison; JoJo,
Bailey and Nicky; Ralph and De Chapman; Hilary; Cody Stahlman; Patsy M.; Zoe
Marx Jones; Todd Higgins; Brandy and Jadyn’s Dad; Patricia Rohman and Lisa
Butler who has had a stroke; Scott J.; Karla W.; Clayton T. and Sarah; Clark
S.; Lana Bass; Matthew Collins; Marjean C.; Bradley E.; Fern McVey; Shonda Hutson
(fighting cancer); and please pray for my wife, Jeanie, who is having a problem
with her heart.

Please pray for the coronavirus
COVID19 pandemic to come to an end. Pray for treatments and a cure for the
virus to be rapidly found and deployed. Pray for all those afflicted to be
healed and for our leaders to have supernatural wisdom and ability to lead us
through this pandemic.

Please pray for an end to the
rioting, looting, wanton destruction, and the racial hatred in the USA and that
it will be replaced with peace and love. May God help the USA! Many prayer needs
are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You can also
post your prayer requests there (Of
course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me. 03.18.18 I accepted the call to be the pastor of Fairview
Baptist Church in Elk City, Oklahoma. Please pray for me and for this church.).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com

If you enjoy the devotional please
recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

--

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2003

The Burning Bush Devotional

11 May 2021

Good Works

For by
grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:8-10.

For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life. - John 3:16.

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. - John 5:24.

According
to Barna Research Group polling, many teens have beliefs that are “inconsistent with the Bible.” Barna says that 53 percent of teens believe that Jesus was not
perfect but committed sins. Also, two-thirds of teens believe that satan is not
really a living being but just a symbol of evil. In addition, 60 percent of
teens believe that they can earn “eternal salvation” by doing
good works.

Why is
earning your way to Heaven by doing good works “inconsistent” with
the Bible? Because the Bible clearly indicates in Ephesians 2 that salvation is a “gift.” The dictionary defines
gift as, “Something that is bestowed voluntarily and
without compensation.” Most likely,
you have received a “gift” from someone during your lifetime.
When you received the “gift”, were you required to pay for it
or work for it? No! Because if you had to pay for the “gift” or
work for the “gift” it would no longer be a “gift” but
a purchase or compensation.

Ephesians
2 also gives us a reason for why
salvation is a “gift” and not something that you have to earn
through good works. The reason? “…lest anyone
should boast….” What if you could work your way to
Heaven - what would be the result once people did arrive in Heaven? In Heaven,
the result would be that people would begin talking about what they had done in
order to gain entrance to eternal life. Some people would believe they had done
greater things than others and would therefore be proud of what they had done.
These people the apostle Paul believed would be boasting about the good things
they had done to earn salvation.

Doing
good things will not earn you salvation but good works should be the natural
result of your receiving the free “gift” of salvation. Paul says in verse 10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Once we have eternal life through Jesus, we should have a desire to
follow his example of doing good things. Good works do not save you but if you
are truly saved you should be doing good works.

Has
someone ever given you a free gift that you did not receive? My
step-grandmother for many years had been giving me a Christmas present even
after my grandfather had passed away and she had remarried. The first Christmas
that I was married, she told me that she had a Christmas present for me, and I
just needed to pick it up. To my shame, I never picked up the present. It would
have been a free gift, but it was not a gift since I never received it. Sadly,
many have and will do the same thing with God’s free “gift” of salvation. Have you received
God’s “gift?” If
not, why not open up the greatest gift you can ever receive in life right now?
Ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart and life. Ask Him to forgive you of
your sins and be your Lord and Master. Words will not save you but if you mean
it in your heart, you will receive the “gift” of eternal life.

Copyright © 2002 - 2021. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of
those first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent
to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush website:

http://www.theburningbush.net

The Burning Bush websites are
celebrating 23 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to subscribers
across the world. At one time there were 18,000 subscribers in more than 70
countries to the devotional but that has now shrunk to around 9,000.

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at http://www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right-hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the Devotionals at
the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of the home page.
Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please pray for God to touch and
bring about His will in these lives: Caleb Freeman’ Pat S.; Buck & Barbara
Wright; Gwen P.; James Perkins and his wife; Vonnie; Evi Porter; Addison; JoJo,
Bailey and Nicky; Ralph and De Chapman; Hilary; Cody Stahlman; Patsy M.; Zoe
Marx Jones; Todd Higgins; Brandy and Jadyn’s Dad; Patricia Rohman and Lisa
Butler who has had a stroke; Scott J.; Karla W.; Clayton T. and Sarah; Clark
S.; Lana Bass; Matthew Collins; Marjean C.; Bradley E.; Fern McVey; Shonda Hutson
(fighting cancer); and please pray for my wife, Jeanie, who is having a problem
with her heart.

Please pray for the coronavirus
COVID19 pandemic to come to an end. Pray for treatments and a cure for the
virus to be rapidly found and deployed. Pray for all those afflicted to be
healed and for our leaders to have supernatural wisdom and ability to lead us
through this pandemic.

Please pray for an end to the
rioting, looting, wanton destruction, and the racial hatred in the USA and that
it will be replaced with peace and love. May God help the USA! Many prayer needs
are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You can also
post your prayer requests there (Of
course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me. 03.18.18 I accepted the call to be the pastor of Fairview
Baptist Church in Elk City, Oklahoma. Please pray for me and for this church.).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com

If you enjoy the devotional please
recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org