The following excerpt is from Graeme Goldsworthy’s Gospel & Kingdom, which is a book that brings clarity to the unity of both Testaments. As we wrap up our journey through the Old Testament this year and anticipate the New, I found this explanation of good works and grace helpful.  Goldsworthy comments:

The relationship of good works to salvation is essentially the same in both the Old and New Testaments.  In both salvation is by grace, but grace never stands alone without good works.  To put it another way we may say that no-one (in Old or New Testaments) is saved because of good works, but no-one is saved without good works.  This is one aspect of the unity of the two Testaments which makes the Old Testament so applicable to Christians.  The same unity underlines Paul’s use of the exodus situation in 1 Corinthians 10:1-12, which reads:

¹For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. ²They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

⁶Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. ⁷Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” ⁸We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. ⁹We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. ¹⁰And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

¹¹These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. ¹²So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

Many individuals who gravitate toward mercy ministry often have a works-based understanding of the gospel.  In other words, many believe that our works or deeds merit favor with God.  Do you believe the statement that “no-one (in Old or New Testaments) is saved because of good works, but no-one is saved without good works?”

Brothers and sisters, the Bible is clear that it is by grace that you have been saved – and this salvation brings about a new heart and a new life that responds to God in obedience to his holy commands (Eph 2:1-10).

The only true and enduring motivation for the ministry of mercy is an experience and grasp of the grace of God in the gospel.  If we know we are sinners saved by grace alone[1], we will be both open and generous to the outcasts and the unlovely.

There are two powerful effects that the gospel of grace has on a person who has been touched by it.

1.  Grace and Loving Outcasts.

The person who knows that he received mercy while an undeserving enemy of God will have a heart of love for even (and especially!) the most ungrateful and difficult persons[2]…He thinks:  “Spiritually, I was just like these people, though physically and socially I never was where they are now.  They are outcasts.  I was an outcast.”

God gives mercy to the ungrateful and the wicked – that is what we were.  So shall we be like our Father in heaven if we show mercy even to these.  See the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matt. 18:21-35. Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

The language of the Christian Heart sounds like the following:  “I am only where I am by the sheer and unmerited mercy of God.  I am completely equal with all other people.”  This understanding from the heart wells up compassion for all people who need the mercy of God.

2. Grace and Generosity

The second major effect that the gospel of grace has on a person is that it creates spontaneous generosity.

One of the reasons that Jesus puts the Samaritan in the parable is that he, by virtue of his race and history, has no obligations at all to stop and give aid.  Yet he stops.  Why?  Luke 10:33 tells us he was motivated by his compassion.

Mercy is commanded, but it must not be the response to a command, it is an overflowing generosity as a response to the mercy of God, which we received.

Often books and speakers tell Christians that they should help the needy because they have so much.  Of course this is true.  But this approach is very limited in its motivating power.  Ultimately is produces guilt.  The Bible does not use the guilt-producing motivation, yet it powerfully argues for the ministry of mercy.

Mercy is spontaneous, superabounding love, which comes from an experience of the grace of God.  The deeper the experience of the free grace of God, the more generous we must become.

What motivates you to love the poor?  the outcasts?  the unlovely?

Do you think of yourself as someone who is spiritually poor, a sinner, and in need of God’s mercy? Take some time to reflect on your need for God’s mercy.  Own your sin and your need of a savior.

Now, reflect on the grace of God showered upon you through the gospel.  Go and do likewise.

Much of the content of this blog can be found verbatim in the book Ministries of Mercy by Tim Keller.

[2] Romans 5:8ff