TODAY’S VERSE:  

Matthew 7:17 “Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.”

How would you define or what do you think of when you hear the term “good works”? If you asked people in the world (unbelievers), they would probably answer something like, “to obey authority (parents, teachers, police) and to do nice things for others”. Is there anything wrong with these things? Of course not. What is important, though, is how God defines good works. What do you think the Lord values when it comes to good works? Is it the deeds themselves or is it something else?  

Jeremiah 17:10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

When it comes to good works, God values the heart. What does that mean? What He considers important is the motivation or the reason why people do good things. What does the Bible have to say about the heart of people?

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”

So, how do people, then, do good works in the sight of God if their heart is not good?

Luke 6:45 “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

Ok, so how do we get a good heart? How do we become a good person in God’s eyes?

John 3:3 “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’”

Ezekiel 36:26-27 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

First, we must be born again. How does this happen? God shares the Gospel of Jesus Christ with His children, which  is: God, the Son, became a man and lived a sinless life. He bore the judgement for the sin of His children and died on the cross. Then, He was resurrected (brought back to life). When we hear the Good News, in humility repent of our sin, and by grace believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ, we are born again. This means that God makes us new- He gives us a new heart.

Once we are born again and saved, we seek to have a relationship with God who saved us. As we learn more about Him, through reading our Bible and praying every day, we begin to love Him more and more. We then obey His commands because we WANT to- because we want to please Him. Because we have been made new in Christ, with a new heart, we are then able to do good works in the sight of God.

Colossians 1:9-10 “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”