Young People’s Blog

“This is a faithful saying…that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:8).

Here we have a third kind of works—“good works.” This expression occurs a number of times in the Bible, and this is the kind of works that you and I can do as Christians. As we have seen, we cannot do anything right before God to earn our salvation, but after we are saved, we have a new life in Christ that wants to please the Lord. Then we are told to do good works, not in order to be saved, but because we are already saved. The works of the old sinful nature cannot be pleasing to God, but the good works produced by our new life in Christ are pleasing to God, and show to people of this world that we belong to Christ. We are to be careful to do these good works, for they are honoring to God, and show the result of our having a new life in Christ.

Good works are simply things that we do for the Lord, and we can do everything for the Lord in our lives. We will speak a little more about this tomorrow.

“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled” (Colossians 1:21).

In our verse today we have a different kind of works mentioned—“wicked works.” Yesterday we spoke about “dead works,” where people are trying to earn their way into favor with God. Here today we read about those who do not care at all about God, and who go about deliberately and willfully doing wicked things, not caring what God thinks about them. Because of these wicked works, we become alienated (that is, we are at a distance from God spiritually), and enemies of God. This is a serious condition to be in, and all of us are naturally like this before God.

However, if we have accepted Christ as our Savior, we are now reconciled to God. The word “reconciled” is a big word, but it simply means to restore friendly relations between two persons, or to make peace between two people. Through the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, God has reconciled us to Himself, so that we are no longer alienated and enemies because of our wicked works.

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14).

The Word of God describes “works” in several different ways. Works are the things that we do in our lives, and we often do these things for different reasons before God. Here in our verse today we have the expression “dead works.” What does that mean?

That expression means the works that men do in order to earn their way to heaven. In the Old Testament, God gave Israel the law, to see if man could keep it. But no one could keep the law and earn God’s favor on that basis. Even today, when the gospel has been preached in many parts of the world, Satan has persuaded many people that all they have to do is to do their best, and try to live a good, upright life. Then, supposedly, everything will be all right.

However, God calls all this “dead works,” for we all naturally have a sinful fallen nature, and cannot please God. In Isaiah 64:6, we read that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” In order to be fit for heaven, we need a new life in Christ.

“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 9:25).

In the year 1897, a group of sailors from Belgium, led by a man named Adrien de Gerlache, made a historic journey to the Antarctic to see if they could be the first ones to reach the South Pole. He and his men hoped to achieve fame, not only for themselves, but also for their native country of Belgium.

In the course of their epic journey, they spent a winter with their ship frozen into the pack ice, and endured terrible hardships. Two men died, several others suffered from insanity, and all of them aged considerably over the two years of their voyage. They did not succeed in reaching the South Pole. They went through all this simply to have their names remembered in history as great explorers. Later several of them resorted to underhanded means, and even lying, to make themselves appear more important than the others on the trip.

How different all this is for true Christians! Those men endured much for human glory, and for a reward that was limited to this world. How much better it is to use our time and energy for the Lord’s interests down here, and to look forward to a crown that will last for eternity! Also, there is no need for us to try to make ourselves look important. The Lord has the record straight, and we can rest in that.

“I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in….Give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people” (1 Kings 3:7,9).

These words were spoken by a young king named Solomon, who was less than twenty years of age. His coming to the throne followed major confusion in Israel. His brother Adonijah wanted to be king and was put to death. Then Joab, his father’s army captain, turned traitor, and he too was killed. Abiathar, the priest of long-standing, had to be taken from his position. And of course, Solomon’s coming to the throne was on the death of his beloved father, King David.

That was a lot to happen to a teenager, just anointed king! But the Lord appears to him in a dream and asks what he would like to be given. He humbly recognizes that he is weak, and just asks for wisdom to govern God’s people. We all know how abundantly this request was granted, and Solomon received so very much more.

Today, “self-confidence” is promoted as such a desirable character trait. However, confidence in God and His power and love is a better basis on which to build. We will then carry ourselves as “sons of God.” That is confidence without the “self”!

“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:21).

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they brought death into this world, and every individual born into this world since then has been subject to death. The Lord had told them that this would be the penalty for eating of the forbidden fruit, and so it happened.

But God had already planned for redemption for man, and since it was man who brought death into this world, God ordered that blessing and resurrection would also come by a Man—His own beloved Son. The Lord Jesus came into this world as a man, suffered for sin as a man, was put into a grave, and then rose from the dead as a man. He is now risen and seated at God’s right hand in heaven, and all who trust in Him will also rise with bodies of glory, when He comes back to take every true believer to be with Him. What a mighty power is His in resurrection! Every individual born into Adam’s race is subject to death, but all who put their trust in the Lord Jesus will be made alive.

“God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

Since the Lord Jesus came into this world as a man, He has revealed the heart of God in love and grace to man. God has made Himself known as a “Savior-God” in this time of His grace. As such, His desire is for all men to be saved. The gospel of His grace can now go out to the whole world, and whosoever will may come to Christ and have their sins forgiven.

However, the verse does not end here, and many seem to forget that. God not only wants all to be saved, but also wants all men to “come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Christianity is much more than simply “a fire escape from hell.” God is forming His church today, and has much more for us to enjoy than simply to know our sins forgiven. He wants us to have a personal relationship with Him, and to enjoy all the blessings He has for us in Christ.

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men: for kings, and for all that are in authority” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

When you pray, do you ever pray for the government of your country, and for the people who are in authority over us in this world? Most people in the world find many things for which to criticize their government, but probably not very many remember to pray for them.

Here in our verse for today we are reminded to pray for them. It was God who set up government in this world, and it is for our good. But sometimes governments allow religious freedom, and sometimes they persecute Christians. We are to pray for them, in order that Christians may “lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty” (1 Timothy 1:2). While God may allow persecution sometimes, He does not want to see His children suffer. We are to pray that the government may allow us to have liberty, and not only liberty for ourselves, but also for those in other countries of the world. The Christian is not to take part in government today, but we are to pray for them.

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15).

In the first chapter of this epistle to Timothy, Paul is reminding Timothy of his (Paul’s) past, before he was saved. Paul had been a wicked man, for he had been persecuting Christians. Some he had put in prison, and others he had killed. It is true that he had done it ignorantly, thinking he was doing the right thing. But because he had committed this awful sin, he could rightly call himself “the chief of sinners”. Yet the grace of God was able to save him, and make him into a preacher of the gospel. Paul was really saying to Timothy, “If I can be saved, anyone can be saved!”

This is true, and for this reason we can preach the gospel to all the world. Yesterday we mentioned men like Hitler and Stalin, who were each responsible for the deaths of millions of people. Yet if they had turned to Christ, there is enough power in His blood to wash away the sins of even all those murders. Truly the gospel we can preach today is “the glorious gospel of the blessed God” (1 Timothy 1:11).

“Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after” (1 Timothy 5:24).

Some people in this world have committed very serious sins—sins that are publicly known. Although he has been dead for more than 75 years, many people knows the name of Adolf Hitler, and the terrible things he did. Stalin has been dead for more than 70 years, yet most people know his name too. The sins of those like Hitler and Stalin are indeed “open beforehand.”

However, there are many others who are living outwardly upright lives, yet have their secret sins which others do not know about. But the Lord knows them, and has kept a careful record. Unless they repent and receive Christ as their Savior, God will judge them for those secret sins, just as He will judge those whose sins are public knowledge. We cannot hide anything from God.

How good it is to know that if we have accepted Christ as our Savior, all our sins have been washed away in the precious blood of Christ. God says that He will not remember them anymore!