Most people long to live lives which have some kind of significance, yet many people are struggling to locate any meaningful reference point for it. Many people find themselves wondering if they can make any difference to the world at all …
Some atheists write that you have no free will, no genuine agency, that you just dance to the tune of your DNA. It can make for pretty bleak and depressing reading! Equally there are forms of theism that hold that everything is predetermined by God so that we have no agency or responsibility whatsoever. Such religious systems understand the sovereignty of their god in stark fatalistic terms.
Against that backdrop we gospel-bearers have a wonderful thing to offer people! The Bible says that, when we are saved, we are saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ, not anything of ourselves that we can boast (Eph 2). We are saved exclusively and entirely by the grace of God. But Paul also goes on to say in those verses that “we are saved with good works prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 5:10). That is actually a quite remarkable thing: it means that our salvation – when we come to Christ – also leads to partnership with God in bringing about His kingdom, doing good in this world, achieving things of everlasting significance.
That in turn propels us forward as Christians in evangelism. It does so, not simply because sharing the gospel is itself a ‘good work prepared in advance for us to do’, but also because it enables us to say to people: “Do you ever feel lost? Are you drifiting through life wondering if you can make a difference? Let me show you something of genuine value. Do you worry that you have no agency in this world? If you come to Christ, He will give you good works prepared in advance for you to do, things of eternal significance. You want to make a difference in this world? Come home to Christ, put yourself in the hands of Him, because He has got good things, things of eternal consequence that you can achieve.”
What an offer!
Good works prepared in advance for us to do is not just about doing evangelism, it’s also about the content of our message, telling people they will find their purpose and their agency when they come home to Christ.
Prayer: Thank you Father that we are saved by grace alone. Thank you that in your grace you also have given us works of genuine significance to do for you on this earth. Help me to share this good news with others this week. Amen.