Col. 1:10 ... "So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."
The ultimate goal in the life of a Christian is to conduct himself from day to day in such a manner that the Lord will be fully pleased as He looks down upon him. The standard for such noble, acceptable conduct is the one God Himself has given us in the Holy Scriptures. So, as a person increases in the knowledge of the divine word through diligent study and exercise in the application of its precepts to his life, he is enabled to progress toward that ultimate goal. When Paul addressed the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, he referred to this supreme standard which he called "the word of His grace" and proclaimed to be sufficiently powerful to reconstruct a human life to meet the requirements of God. In v.32 he declared, "And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified." It is therefore a matter of the greatest importance for a Christian to progress constantly in gaining the knowledge which God has revealed and in submitting his life to its holy precepts.
It is also important to take notice that God's word imposes the doing of good works of many kinds upon those who seek His favor and acceptance. A "good work" is specifically any deed that God requires of us, either through a direct command, an approved example, or a necessary inference. Generally speaking, it is any deed which honors God, blesses men, or perfects the soul of the one who performs it. Good works are not defined by men, and their identification is not the prerogative of men. Works of human description are the products of pride, self-trust, and self-direction. They do not honor God, but rather the one who formulates and then enacts them. They might to a certain extent bless people, but to a far greater extent they increase the pride of their performer. We are informed in Eph. 2:9 that our salvation is not "a result of works, so that no one may boast." It is part of our weakened human nature to take pride in what we accomplish, and the greater the deed the greater the pride. Such deeds do not therefore perfect the soul of the one who does them, for "pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling" (Pro. 16:18).
The individual who submits himself to the standard of God's will in the sincere desire to glorify and please God will learn the good works it teaches and undertake them to the limit of his ability and opportunity. He will not be doing them to attract attention, elicit praise, or advance his position in society. To the contrary, his motivation will be to conform to the divine purpose stated in Eph. 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Every good deed performed by a Christian is actually a fruit offering to the Lord. Its purpose is to glorify God who blesses us with the life, the energy, the resources, and the opportunity to do it. If someone could generate for himself these prerequisites to a deed, then he would be justified in claiming the glory that follows. Since that is impossible, no one has the right to strut and preen when he has performed a virtuous deed. Much the rather, a discerning Christian will lay the deed at the feet of God with thanksgiving that he has been enable to offer it. Since the fulfillment of a good deed is a fruit offering to God, every Christian should pray for himself and for his brethren that "the God of peace, who brought up from the dead ... Jesus our Lord [to] equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ," (Heb.13:20-21).
