Salvation is 100% God’s work. If you are a Christian, to Him be the glory.
But He doesn’t save us and then just leave us to live our lives like they were before we believed. Nor does He take us to heaven the moment we believe. No, He saves us and we remain on this earth until it is our time for glory because He has a purpose for our lives.
We are “created in Christ Jesus for good works…”
God’s purpose for you and me is good works. They are essential and flow from true faith. We are called to bear fruit because we have been transformed. You are no longer a thorn bush but you are joined to the True Vine (John 15:5).
But good works are not achieved by human strength; they are empowered by our relationship with Jesus. We are created “in Christ Jesus.” It is His power by the Holy Spirit that enables us to do good works. So we depend on Him to walk (live) godly lives.
Only a Christian can truly do good works. People who don’t believe can do good things but they can’t do good works. Good works are done for the glory of God. They flow from faith in Christ, because we have been transformed; we no longer “walk… following the course of this world…” (Ephesians 2:2). Instead, the Christian believes the gospel and wants to please the Lord.
However, our good works are work in progress. We haven’t arrived yet, fruit takes time to grow. In Ephesians 5:8, Paul called the church to “walk as children of light” because they still needed to grow in godliness.
So encourage yourself today that He has begun His work in you and you are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), but let’s also challenge ourselves to grow. We have been transformed, and we are being transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).
The best is yet to come 