Justin Johnson
The law demands good works be done. If they are not done, then there is punishment.
Grace does not demand; grace gives. Good works under grace are not required, because we are not under the law, but grace teaches that we should do them anyway out of gratitude and charity toward others (2 Cor 5:14-15).
Grace received is free (Rom 4:4). Grace given takes work (1 Thess 2:9).
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” – Eph 2:10
There are more lazy grace takers than grace ambassadors working to minister grace to others.
We become unashamed ambassadors of grace when grace stops being about what we can receive, and starts being about what we can give freely to others.
This describes the good works that should be done by God’s grace.
Here is a list of good things that Paul said we should be doing. The list is not exhaustive. The same Paul said we are not under the law. Good works are done by grace today.
What We Should Do
- Should walk in newness of life – Romans 6:4
- Should not serve sin – Romans 6:6
- Should bring forth fruit unto God – Romans 7:4
- Should serve in newness of the spirit, not in the letter – Romans 7:6
- Should not be ignorant – Romans 11:25, 1 Cor 10:1
- No flesh should glory in his presence – 1 Cor 1:29, Gal 6:14
- Should not stand in the wisdom of men – 1 Cor 2:5
- Should provide for preachers of the gospel – 1 Cor 9:10
- Should not lust after evil things – 1 Cor 10:6
- Should not have fellowship with devils – 1 Cor 10:20
- Should be no schism in the body – 1 Cor 12:25
- Should care for other members of the body – 1 Cor 12:25
- Should not trust in ourselves, but God – 2 Cor 1:9
- Should not live unto themselves – 2 Cor 5:15
- Should be blameless – 2 Cor 8:20
- Should do that which is honest – 2 Cor 13:7
- Should remember the poor – Gal 2:10
- Should obey the truth – Gal 3:1, Gal 5:7
- Should be holy and without blame – Eph 1:4
- Should be to the praise of God’s glory – Eph 1:12
- Should not boast in our works – Eph 2:9
- Should do good works – Eph 2:10
- Should not be moved by afflictions – 1 Thess 3:3
- Should be sanctified and abstain from fornication – 1 Thess 4:3
- Should know how to possess ourselves in honor – 1 Thess 4:4
- Should work to provide our own food – 2 Thess 3:10
- Should live soberly, righteously, godly – Titus 2:12
- Not to think of yourself higher than you ought – Rom 12:2
- Should bear the infirmities of the weak – Rom 15:1
- Parents ought to provide for their children – 2 Cor 12:14
- Men ought to love their wives – Eph 5:28
- Ought to speak boldly of the mystery of Christ – Eph 6:20, Col 4:4
- Speech seasoned with salt, to know how to answer every man – Col 4:6
- Should behave decently and do things orderly – 2 Thess 3:7, 1 Cor 14:40
- Should know when to be silent – 1 Tim 5:13
- Should silence others who teach wrong things – Titus 1:11
- Should walk worthy of our position in Christ – Eph 4:1
- Should be longsuffering when others offend – Eph 4:2
- Should keep the unity of the Spirit with others in Christ – Eph 4:3
- Should speak the truth in love – Eph 4:15
- Should supply to other members of the body – Eph 4:16
- Should not walk as the unsaved in vanity, ignorance, blindness, insensitive, loose, unclean, and greedy – Eph 4:17-19
- Should be renewed in the spirit of our mind – Eph 4:23
- Should not lie – Eph 4:24, Col 3:9
- Should not sin when we are angry, nor go to bed angry – Eph 4:26
- Should not give place to the devil – Eph 4:27
- Should not steal, but give to him that needs – Eph 4:28
- Should edify others and minister grace with our mouths – Eph 4:29
- Should be kind one to another, forgiving – Eph 4:32
- Should walk in love – Eph 5:2
- Should not covet – Eph 5:3
- Should reprove unfruitful works, not fellowship with them – Eph 5:11
- Should walk circumspectly with wisdom – Eph 5:15
- Should redeem the time – Eph 5:16
- Should understand the will of the Lord – Eph 5:17
- Should not be drunk – Eph 5:18
- Should be filled with the Spirit – Eph 5:18
- Rejoice evermore – 1 Thess 5:16
- Pray without ceasing – 1 Thess 5:17
- In every thing give thanks – 1 Thess 5:18, Eph 5:20
- Submit to one another for their growth – Eph 5:21
- Wives should submit to their husbands – Eph 5:21, Col 3:18
- Husbands should love their wives – Eph 5:25
- Children should obey their parents – Eph 6:1, Col 3:20
- Fathers ought not to provoke children to wrath – Eph 6:4
- Servants should obey their masters – Eph 6:5
- Masters should not threaten their servants – Eph 6:9
- Should be strong in the Lord – Eph 6:10
- Should put on the armor of God, to stand against, and wrestle – Eph 6:11
- Should approve things that are excellent – Phil 1:10
- Should be sincere and without offence – Phil 1:10
- Should be filled with the fruits of righteousness – Phil 1:11
- Our lives should be fitting to the gospel of Christ – Phil 1:27
- Be likeminded, of one accord, and one mind – Phil 2:2
- Do nothing through strife or vainglory – Phil 2:3
- Esteem others better than yourselves, looking on their things – Phil 2:4
- Should have the mind of Christ – Phil 2:5
- Should do all things without murmuring and disputing – Phil 2:14
- Should hold forth the word of life – Phil 2:15
- Should rejoice in the Lord – Phil 3:1, Phil 4:4
- Should forget the past, and reach toward to the future – Phil 3:13
- Should follow Paul and others who walk like him – Phil 3:17, Phil 4:9
- Should stand fast in the Lord – Phil 4:1
- Should be moderate – Phil 4:5
- Should be full of care for nothing – Phil 4:6
- Should think on these things – Phil 4:8
- Should give to the necessity of others – Phil 4:14
- Should set our affections on things above – Col 3:1-2
- Should mortify our earthly members – Col 3:5
- Should put on charity – Col 3:14
- Should let the peace of God rule in your hearts – Col 3:15
- Should sing with grace in our hearts – Col 3:16
- Should do all in the name of the Lord – Col 3:17
- Should not defraud our brother – 1 Thess 4:6
- Should love one another – 1 Thess 4:9
- Should work in our business quietly – 1 Thess 4:11
- Should comfort one another with the words of the Lord’s return – 1 Thess 4:18
- Should watch and be sober – 1 Thess 5:7
- Should esteem them that labour among you – 1 Thess 5:12-13
- Should warn them that are unruly – 1 Thess 5:14
- Should comfort the feeble, support the weak, and be patient – 1 Thess 5:14
- Should not render evil for evil – 1 Thess 5:15
- Should not quench the Spirit or despise prophesyings – 1 Thess 5:19-20
- Should prove all things (judge all things) and hold to the good – 1 Thess 5:21
- Should abstain from appearance of evil – 1 Thess 5:22
- Should teach no other doctrine – 1 Tim 1:3
- Should read Paul’s epistles – 1 Thess 5:27
- Should reject heretics – Titus 3:10
- Should be subject to principalities and powers – Titus 3:1
- Should not speak evil or brawl with men – Titus 3:2
- Should not falsely accuse – Titus 2:3
- Should teach good things – Titus 2:3
- Young women should be discrete, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands – Titus 2:4-5
- Young men should be sober minded, responsible – Titus 2:6
- Should be uncorruptible in doctrine – Titus 2:7
- Should have sound speech that cannot be condemned – Titus 2:8
- Should be faithful in work not purloining – Titus 2:10
- Should fulfill the law of Christ – Gal 6:2
- Should walk according to the rule that Jew or Gentile avails nothing – Gal 6:16
- Should walk in the Spirit – Gal 5:25
- Should communicate with them that teach – Gal 6:6
- Should avoid those who teach contrary doctrine – Rom 16:17
- Should restore a brother in fault – Gal 6:1
- Should greet the brethren – Titus 3:15
- Should show ourselves approved unto God as workman – 2 tim 2:15
Top of the Page
Article Index
Published: January 4, 2014
Last Modified: June 12, 2022
Receive articles like this in our weekly email update sent free to subscribers.