Yes, because Christ, having redeemed us by His blood, also renews us by His Spirit; so that our lives can show love and gratitude to God; so that we may be established in our faith by the fruits; and that others may be won to Christ by our godly behavior.
1 PETER 2:9-12
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may proclaim the wonderful works of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. You were not even a people before, but now you are God's people; Before they had not received mercy, but now they have received it. Dear brothers, I beg you as strangers and pilgrims in this world to turn away from sinful desires that fight against life. Maintain such exemplary conduct among unbelievers that, even if they accuse you of doing evil, they will observe your good works and glorify God on the day of salvation.
CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON
So, dear friends, these good works must be in the Christian. They are not the root, but the fruit of your salvation. They are not the path to a believer's salvation; They are his walk on the path of salvation. When there is healthy life in a tree, the tree will produce fruit according to its kind; so if God has made our nature good, the fruit will be good. But if the fruit is bad, it is because the tree is what it always was—a bad tree. The desire of men who have been born again in Christ is to get rid of all sin. Yes we sin, but we do not love sin. Sometimes sin gains power over us, and when we sin it is as if we experience a kind of death; but sin does not dominate us, since we are no longer under the law, but under grace; and therefore we must conquer it and obtain victory.
LIGON DUNCAN
If salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone—if we are saved and forgiven and accepted because of what Jesus did for us, and not because of our good works—is there still a place for good works and obedience in the Christian life? The Bible gives us an emphatic answer: yes.
First, there is room for good works because, in salvation, we are saved not only from the punishment of sin, but also from the power of sin. In salvation, through the work of Jesus Christ, we not only find forgiveness but we also find transformation. We are made new creatures in Jesus Christ. He frees us from the dominion of sin in our lives. And therefore, salvation by grace does not mean that change or growth is unnecessary in the Christian life. It means that change and growth are now possible because God is working in us through His Holy Spirit.
Yes, what role does obedience to the Word of God, the law of God, play in the Christian life? Gratitude, security and testimony.
In the Christian life, all of our obedience is an act of gratitude to God for the grace He has shown us in Jesus Christ. Remember what Paul says in Ephesians 2: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; This is not from you, but is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (v 8-10). Did you see what Paul said here? He didn't say we were saved by good works. In fact, he clearly said that is not the case. But he did say that we were saved for good works. So the role of works in the Christian life is not to save us. They are not to make God love us. It is to express our gratitude to God for the love he has shown us in Jesus Christ and for the salvation he has freely given us in Jesus Christ. So all of our obedience to the Word of God in the Christian life is an act of gratitude.
Secondly, good works done in faith also give us security. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul explains that he knows that they are God's chosen ones (1Thes 1:3-5). That is awesome. How would you know who God's chosen ones are? In verse 3, Paul speaks of the Thessalonians' works of faith, their labor of love, and their perseverance sustained by hope. Essentially he is saying, “I see the work of the Holy Spirit in your lives and that lets me know that you are children of God.” And then he explains how that serves to give them security (v 5). We are given security in the Christian life when we see God working in us to transform us, and that is expressed in our obedience to God's commandments.
A third way in which the law, good works, and obedience work in the Christian life relates to the area of testimony. When we obey the Word of God, when we do good works, we glorify our heavenly Father. And we give those who watch us a reason to glorify our heavenly Father. Peter explains this when he tells us that he wants us to live exemplarily before the world so that they will observe us and glorify our heavenly Father, who loved us and saved us by grace (1P 2:12).
So, although we are saved by grace, we are saved to live a life of good works and obedience. Not so that God loves us, but because God loves us and because we want to be like His Son, who said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work” (John 4:34).
