Every Christian’s Good Work

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Ephesians 2:8-10.

I love it because it clearly identifies the relationship between grace and good works.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Verses 8 and 9 emphatically tell us that we have been delivered from sin—its penalty and power—by the grace of God by faith, or trust in the Lord Jesus. We have especially not been saved through our own works, so that we can never boast.

Verse 10 explains that when we believed in Jesus, we became God’s masterpiece—His absolutely unique creation in Christ Jesus for the purpose of accomplishing the good works He prepared in eternity past.

The last phrase is where our part comes in—that we should walk in these good works.

What a wonderful picture of the church age. Believers from every corner of the world, with tremendously different backgrounds, coming together to contribute their individual palette of good works to this magnum opus of God’s great and mighty work of grace—the bride of Christ.

Like snowflakes blanketing a mountain meadow, no two Christian’s assignment of the great and glorious landscape of the works of the church in the name of the Savior are the same.

I don’t have to compare or compete with you and your good works; you don’t have to compete with mine.

And none of these works earn or even keep our salvation by grace through faith. But all of them are in response to the grace and mercy of the One who washed us from our sins in His own blood.

Yet there’s one good work we all have in common. A good work Christ specifically assigns to every believer and commands His church to facilitate.

Baptism.

Won’t it be something, when we’re in heaven, to tell our stories of how God used us? The works He empowered us to do, the opportunities He graced us to embrace? Every story will be different, but all will intersect at the same good work: Baptism.

My memory banks are full of scenes of either baptizing or watching the baptisms of hundreds of dear friends over the years.

I’ve baptized people in a cold mountain river in the Cascades of Oregon, in a hot tub in Dallas, and in the pool and baptismal here at Church of the Open Door. I’ve watched fathers baptize daughter and mothers baptize sons. I’ve rejoiced as whole families entered the baptism waters together.

One of my favorites occurred just last Sunday at Church of the Open Door. A tattooed former addict named Lester baptized a young man he had led to Christ in northern California. And they did it all in sunglasses!

I can hear Lester telling his story in heaven someday. “Yeah, it was cool. He kept his sunglasses on as I dipped him under and back up again!”

Someone will wonder, “You baptized people with their sunglasses on?!”

Lester will laugh, “Yeah, but I’m from California.”

And everyone will nod their glorified heads.

It’s one of the most powerful motivations to be baptized in His name. It’s the one good work that every Christian is called to, a good work prepared for every Christian. Baptism is universally one of the first steps toward walking in the forever exciting and fulfilling good works our Father prepared for us.

Is it part of your story? Have you responded to the grace of God by trusting Him enough to embrace the good work of baptism? Not to receive grace, but in response to His grace. Is baptism part of your story you will be telling in heaven?

If not, maybe you should talk with the Lord about His deep desire that you would identify with Him and His people through baptism.

I promise you it will be one of the most moving parts of your following Jesus story.