Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. Colossians 3:23-25 (NIV)
The power of godliness remains in those who give themselves fully to the discharge of their duty in their work for the Lord. And He has works for all His children to walk in. God’s people have always been responsible to fulfill their obligations to Him. We are not our own. We have been bought with a high price and we are to honor God through the works of our hands and the words of our mouths as well as our whole beings. It is a contradiction to profess to know Jesus yet continue to deny Him by our works and words. If you are a Christian, be a Christian. Why bother to claim faith if we remain unwilling to be about His bidding? If we are not walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel in our workplaces and in our homes yet proclaim that we are, we bring much shame to His Name. Showing ourselves to be a terrible witness. Nothing goes past His all-seeing eye. We never fool God when we hide behind a mask of piety – it is hypocrisy at its worst and it brings much disgrace to the work and body of Christ – as common as it is.
Faith in Jesus by way of repentance determines one’s standing with God, not our works or our lineage. Yet, a true believer will always demonstrate his faith by works. As James 2:17B stated: “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Workless faith is worthless faith. It is a mere verbal assent. Even the thief on the cross touted Jesus to the other thief and by this demonstrated His faith. Hypocritical and false claims are silenced by evidence. Also, obedience to God brings forth ultimate blessing while disobedience to God brings forth disaster and defeat. God created us for a purpose – to do good works which He prepared in advance for us to walk in – wherever and whatever that should look like. Be about His business. We will never be disappointed in following hard after Jesus, doing His works for His glory and for our ultimate good. Do not judge as the world judges as God does not and we will all one day be answerable to Him.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)