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Commentary on "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow"

COLLEEN TINKER

 

Day 3: Monday, March 29, 2010

 

Overview

The lesson opens by quoting Ephesians 2:8,9: “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.”

Then it asks why salvation must be by faith and not by works, and why works cannot save us. It continues by making the point that we are saved from death by God’s grace, and works flow from gratitude for what God has done on our behalf. The lesson ends with the questions, “What have we done that we deserve living? What have we done that we deserve eternal life? What is it about us that God would go through so much to save us?”

The final question asks, “How well do your works reveal [your] gratitude?”

 

Observations

On the surface, the point of the lesson looks good; we are not saved by works. Our works are a consequence of God’s work on our behalf.

The subtle “twist” in this lesson lies in the idea that our works flow from gratitude for what God has done, and the final questions reveal an inverted understanding of our relationship to God.

First, the question, “What is it about us that God would go through so much to save us?” reveals a lack of understanding of God’s sovereignty. God didn’t save us because we were valuable or important intrinsically. Rather, He saved us for His own glory. In fact, the reality that none of us can obey God, that we are all born dead in sin and by nature objects of wrath (Eph. 2:1-3), reveals that our natural “value” is that we do not “deserve” eternal life. Our lack of deserving is not primarily because we haven’t done anything to deserve it, but that because we are born separated from God and spiritually dead, we have nothing to commend us for life. Nothing. By nature we exist in the domain of darkness (Col 1:13).

God saves us because of His own glory and mercy. None of our salvation is because of our own worth or value (Eph. 2:1-10).

The question of our works is also important. If we are born again through faith in the Lord Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, good works will flow out from us. These works result from the life of God in us, not from gratitude. As non-born again people, we can do good work for people, but these works do not count as “good works” from God’s perspective because they flow from our natural selves. Only the work of the Holy Spirit done in us is considered good work.

The Bible never asks us to demonstrate gratitude by good works. Rather, it says that Scripture equips us for good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17), and that if we walk away from sinful behavior we will be an honorable, sanctified vessel “prepared for every good work” (2 Tim. 2:21). We are also admonished to bear “fruit in every good wor, increasing in the knowledge of God,” (Col 1:10) and to comfort and strengthen each other “in every good work and word” (2 Tim. 2:17).

Good works result from our new birth, the life of God taking residence in our spirits. They do not spring from gratitude. If we have to generate good works to show gratitude, we are likely using works to convince ourselves we are saved, not experiencing the joy of salvation and the discovery that the Holy Spirit is working our His life in us.

 

Summary

  1. We are not saved by works; neither can we be lost by our works.
  2. There is truly nothing about us that would cause God to save us.
  3. He saves us for His glory and by His grace entirely.
  4. We are never asked to demonstrate gratitude by good works.
  5. Our good works flow from the Holy Spirit in us; He equips us for His work.
  6. God has saved us through Jesus’ blood for His own purposes and for His own glory and by His mercy. He does not ask us to understand or to deserve it. He simply asks us to accept that fact

 

GO TO DAY 4

 

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