For good works...

Speaking about evangelicals’ single-minded focus on evangelism, my Dad used to say: “Evangelicals only want to see people saved. After they’re saved, they think the person might as well die and go to Heaven because it’s all over.”

Is there a purpose to our lives after we’re saved?

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

According to Scripture, being saved is not the end of our lives, but the beginning of the work God has prepared for us to do...

Certainly, the work of evangelism is one of those “good works,” but there are many more. We are called to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and the pillar and foundation of the truth. We are commanded to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely, and give the thirsty something to drink. We are told to love one another so that all men may know we are Jesus’ disciples. And all through the New Testament, the list goes on.

We have been given spiritual gifts for the good of the Church. We are not to bury those gifts, but to use them to produce fruit for the Lord.

Of course, fruit doesn’t save us—we are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, and our faith itself is the gift of God. But God has determined that our fruit will not only glorify Him; it will also reassure us that we belong to Him.

Satan is the Great Deceiver and he will lie to us, telling us we don’t really belong to Jesus because our sins are too horrible to be covered by His blood and righteousness. Good works inoculate us against his lie.

Jesus put it this way: “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8).

When we “bear much fruit,” God the Father Almighty is glorified and we prove we are truly Jesus’ disciples. Don’t miss out on the great opportunity you have to bear fruit for God! He called you to Himself that you might bear fruit—fruit that will last. And that fruit will be your greatest glory when you stand before Him on the Last Day.