Is Good Works Anti-Grace? - Grace not only saves; it also transforms.

"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

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One thing that the Believer should never do is to magnify a Bible truth above all others. To do so is to slip into error and most times, heresy. Extremes are dangerous for the health of the Believer, hence it is wisdom to always stand on the whole counsel of the word of God.

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When the Gospel of the Grace of God is not properly taught or clarified, I believe it may create an impression utterly different from that which the Scripture teaches.

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Now, I disagree with those who say Grace gives men license to sin. That can't be true. All a man needs to sin is his will.

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That said.

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This must be made VERY CLEAR.

God does not just save a man from hell, He saves him from his nature of sin. The man who is "under" Grace has become free from the oppression of sin. "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under Grace" Romans 6:14

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That we have eternal salvation and eternal forgiveness in Christ Jesus doesn't mean that we have freedom to do whatever we want. The freedom we have in Christ Jesus is to accomplish the Will and desire of His Spirit within us, not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty, only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" Galatians 6:13.

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Right after this statement, the Apostle Paul begins to talk about not fulfilling the lust of the flesh by walking in the Spirit. So you see, our liberty is Spirit-regulated. We don't have the liberty to do what the Spirit of God in us wouldn't do.  "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things you wish" Galatians 6:16&17 "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If indeed we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" Galatians 6:24&25

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You know, there are some school of thoughts who say that Believers should not be instructed because they have the Spirit of God in them who will teach them all things. And I'm wondering, perhaps Paul didn't catch that "Rhema". Because in his epistles, you will find dozens of instructions issued to Believers who have the Spirit of God. There are instructions against stealing, lying, covetousness, immorality, selfishness, etc. So where did this conflicting "rhema" come from? This must be part of the folks that Uncle Peter wrote about:

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"And consider that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation -as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you as also in all his epistles which UNTAUGHT AND UNSTABLE people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures" 2Peter 3:15&16. We will not allow these unstable folks corrupt the purity of the Grace of God.  We are not saved by good works but we are saved unto good works. We are saved to do good works! Good works isn't the balance of Grace; it is actually its fruit.

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"Who [Jesus] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works" Titus 2:14

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We are a holy people. God's holy nature indwells us. So to not walk in holiness is to be living a lie. That's a hypocritical and fake life.

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Bless God, for we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Our spirit is eternally perfect and righteous before God. But guess what? Men cannot see this. They can't see your spirit. Many of them don't even understand what righteousness by faith is. But you know what they understand? GOOD WORKS. Hence, the Scripture instructs us to do good works and get rid of bad works.

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"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" Matthew 5:16

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"Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness" 2Peter 3:11

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"All scripture is given by inspiration of God...that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" 2Timothy 3:17

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"The night is far spent, the day is at hand, therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light" Romans 13:12

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"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them" Ephesians 5:11

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Our works have no effect on our justification before the Father, but it has absolute effect on our walk on the earth, and as long as we are still in this mortal body, we had better do good works according to our good nature.

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Dearly beloved, and partaker of the Grace of God, my task today is to remind you that good and holy nature of your Daddy indwells you and His Holy Spirit is living in you. You have no excuse to not walk right. I know you are accepted in Christ Jesus, but I also know that God is interested in your good works. I know that you are not justified by works, but I also know that you are saved to produce good works.

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Doing good works isn't a struggle for you. Because the good nature of the Father is in you. Just let it out and walk in the consciousness of it.