The last couple blog posts (part 1 and part 2) sought to answer the question “Does our justification lead to inaction?” Our hope is that these posts would spur all of us on to proactively pursue good works. We are speculating that another lie that Satan tells us to “slow us down” from pursuing good works is that…
3) Me Preaching the Gospel to Myself will Save other People
“I must be doing well spiritually. I am in an community group where I am vulnerable with others and freely confess my sin, I attend the gospel-centered Christian conferences, I am preaching the Gospel to my soul daily, I faithfully attend church. Things are going well – I feel spiritually healthy and am being balanced in how I live.” Yes, but…
How are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? Romans 10:14-15
The health of my soul will save no one if I do not open my mouth and share the Gospel. Yes, maybe I am doing well spiritually, but perhaps the Devil wants to keep us so distracted with ourselves and our own sin issues that we do not look outward to those who do not know God at all. Our justification does not save our neighbors.
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So, in sum, let us seek to do more good works. How do we know what good works to do? Where there is an imperative in the New Testament, let us do what it says. And let us unapologetically encourage one another to do more good works. In the words of rap artist Lecrae, let us “Go Hard.”
But what is the role of the Gospel in the midst of seeking to live a life full of good works? The Gospel has everything to do with living this kind of life because as we seek to do good works, we do them with mixed motives, we sin, and we realize how selfish we really are. We need to Gospel at every point—it is what frees us to aggressively pursue doing good works because we know all our failed attempts are covered in the blood of Jesus. So let us preach the Gospel to ourselves every day as our tired heads hit the pillow and we see how imperfectly we sought to serve the Lord today.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. Hebrews 10:24
