Adapted by Art Licursi from a paper by Ricky Kurth:

Every true believer knows they are saved by grace through faith, totally apart from “good works.” and any other performance requirement.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:5)

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;” (Titus 3:5)

And also we always have the benefit of God’s love and favor in the same way of God’s grace, as a free gift.

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord (by grace through faith alone), so walk ye in him:” (Colossians 2:6)

This doesn’t mean “good works” have no place in “the dispensation of the grace of God,” for right after affirming that we are saved without works (Eph. 2:8-9), Paul quickly asserts that, as “new creature(s) in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17), we are created to walk in the good works He has ordained for us (Eph. 2:10). If you have ever wondered what kind of works God expects us to “maintain” (Titus 3:8, 14) in our Christian walk, we hope the following brief study of the phrase “good work(s)” in Scripture will help.

Yet, as “God’s workmanship,” Paul says we were saved unto “good works” as the fruit of our union with the Lord, having His life in us to guide and empower us. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

So then we might ask, ‘What exactly qualifies as an example of these good works we were ordained to do?’ The kind “good works” we are appointed to do may vary in view of being men, women, rich, poor, while some good works apply to us all. Note that many of these works are unspiritual, in themselves.
For the Women

To begin with, in Acts 9 we meet Dorcas, a woman “full of good works” (9:36). She was evidently quite the seamstress, for her good works are later defined by a reference to “the coats and garments which Dorcas made” (v. 39). In those days, it could be said of many a virtuous woman that “she seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands” (Prov. 31:13 cf. vv. 22, 24). Thus we know that when a Christian woman performs the many duties of a wife and mother, she is walking in the good works in which she was created to walk.

To this must be added the testimony of the Apostle Paul, who speaks of widows who were “well reported of… for good works” (I Tim. 5:10). He then goes on to describe things like bringing up children, hospitality, and caring for the sick as good works with which godly women can adorn themselves (I Tim. 2:9-10).

For the Men

In the natural accompaniment to these instructions to godly women, Paul instructs the man of God to “labour, working with his hands the thing which is good” (Eph. 4:28). Well, if Christian men are told to work the thing which is good, wouldn’t going to work be a good work? You would think so, especially since God plans to reward men for “whatsoever good thing any man doeth” on the job (Eph. 6:8). Paul says we should work to provide for ourselves and not to take handouts. “Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.” (2 Thessalonians 3:12).

I doubt that most Christians consider these everyday responsibilities as good works, but God says they are. And if being good husbands and fathers and wives and mothers be viewed as good works, it is not a stretch to suggest that being a good citizen would also be found in that category, especially since we are told “to obey magistrates (government officials)” and, in so doing, “be ready to every good work” (Titus 3:1). I do not think this calls us to be activist; consider that Jesus of Nazareth never attempted to change the Roman government, but rather to touch men’s souls unto salvation.

For the Rich

Next, Paul told Timothy to “charge them that are rich…that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate” (I Tim. 6:17-18). Obviously the financial support of the Lord’s work and less fortunate brethren also constitute good works in God’s eyes (cf. 2 Cor. 9:6-8). While few of us are rich, all of us can participate in good works of this sort in some measure.

This then opens up a wide field in the category of good works, for we can give our time, our talent, and our efforts to the Lord’s work as well as our finances, and there are innumerable ways we can “do good unto all men, especially…the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10).

For Us All

In time past, rebuilding the temple was a “good work” (Neh. 2:18). Today God’s temple is found in the physical bodies of individual believers (I Cor. 6:19, 20), and in “the Body of Christ” (3:16, 17), and so you would think that building up believers and local churches would be good works today. If ministering to the physical body of the Lord Jesus was considered a “good work” (Matt. 26:6-10), surely ministering to “the Body of Christ” would be as well. If the Lord defined “good works” as feeding the multitudes, opening the eyes of the blind, and helping the lame to walk (John 10:32), then surely “to feed the church of God” (Acts 20:28) by opening the eyes of their understanding (Eph. 1:18) so they can “walk worthy” of their vocation (Eph. 4:1) would be good works as well. The word “worthy” here means walking doing things of worth or value, so it is not saying we are worthy of our salvation or God’s favor.

Also, being teachable, accepting the Scripture, and walking in its reproof, correction and instruction, as noted here in 2Timothy 3:16-17, must also be considered “good works.”

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (so) that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2Timothy 3:16-17)

Of course, it goes without saying that “if a man desire the office of a bishop (overseer, elder), he desireth a good work” (I Tim. 3:1). In this passage, Paul is talking about the qualifications of a spiritual leader. Thus if a man is interested in engaging in the pastoral /elder ministry in “the body of Christ” is a good work. Such men are needed to help nurture and guide the local assembly of believers.

We might ask ourselves, are we walking in the good works we were created to walk in? It is your only hope of a happy, fulfilling Christian life. No creature of God is happy unless he is doing what he was created to do. Birds were created to fly and birds sing, and neither are happy when kept from doing what they were created to do. Our only hope for a truly satisfying Christian life is to be “fruitful in every good work” (Col. 1:10)!

What’s more, it is the only way to honor the One “who gave Himself for us, that He might…purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14).