Are Good Works Required? Why We’ve Been Remade by God

Kyle Robinson cares deeply about helping people follow Jesus faithfully. That’s a big reason Wooddale has spent the last few weeks in What’s in the Water?, a series on baptism by immersion.

Baptism doesn’t save us. It’s how we publicly profess our faith in Jesus and picture the salvation we’ve already received. In week one Kyle explained why we go under the water: Jesus died in our place to take the punishment for our sin, and we consider our old way of life dead and buried. In week two he explained why we come up out of the water: as Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve received new life in Him.

That leads to the question at the heart of this final message. If God made us new, what did He make us new for? And where do good works fit in? Are they required for salvation? If not, do they matter at all?

What does it mean that we’re God’s handiwork?

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

The Greek word behind “handiwork” describes something handcrafted. God didn’t watch you come off a production line from a distance. He shaped you the way an artist shapes a piece of pottery.

The verse also bookends the passage. In verse 2 the Apostle Paul says we “used to live” in our sins, which literally means we used to walk around spiritually dead. In verse 10 he says we’ve been created to do good works, which literally means we’ve been made to walk around in good deeds. We used to walk the wrong way. Now, because of Jesus, we get to walk a new way.

Kyle keeps a piece of kintsugi pottery on his desk. In this Japanese art form, broken pottery is put back together with gold, silver or platinum. The finished piece is arguably more beautiful than before. It’s also stronger than it was before it broke.

That’s our story. God made us, and we broke ourselves. We disobeyed Him and pushed Him out of our own story because we wanted to be in charge. Instead of throwing the pieces away, God put them back together. In Jesus we’ve been remade for a specific purpose.

Are good works required for salvation?

The answer is an emphatic no. Just two verses earlier, in Ephesians 2:8, the Apostle Paul writes, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

So why do people get confused? Because James, a leader in the early church and a half brother of Jesus, wrote this: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” (James 2:14).

Some people read that and start picking sides, as if it were Team Paul against Team James. Others say it proves the Bible contradicts itself. Kyle is clear that it doesn’t. God used many human writers across many languages and centuries, but Scripture has one author. The Holy Spirit inspired all of it, and God doesn’t contradict Himself. Paul and James agree. We just need to understand what James is saying.

What is James actually saying?

James gives an example. If a brother or sister has no clothes or food and you say, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but do nothing to help, what good is that?

Kyle brings it closer to home. Imagine your neighbor’s house burns down on a weekend. They have nowhere to stay that night, so they’re curled up in a jacket on their driveway as the sun goes down. You walk over and tell them how sorry you are and that you really hope they stay warm tonight. Then you go inside, close the garage door and walk past your empty guest rooms and a closet full of extra blankets on your way to bed. You fall asleep thinking you’re a really good neighbor.

If you truly cared, you’d do something about it. That’s James’s point: “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” He even issues a challenge: “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

Last week Kyle compared faith to sitting in a chair. Saving faith means trusting Jesus with your whole weight, not a little of you and a lot of God. Now imagine Kyle trying to prove he believes a chair will hold him. He could write a statement of belief or a poem about the chair. He could even sing a song about it. None of that would convince you. The only real proof is to sit down.

The principle is simple: our behavior is always downstream from our belief. If you really believe Jesus has saved and transformed you, your life will look different because of it. That’s exactly what Paul says too. Good works aren’t required for salvation. They result from it.

Why can’t good works save us?

Kyle puts it even more strongly: good works can’t save us. They’re the wrong currency. We broke God’s good creation, and no amount of being useful with the broken pieces will put it back together. He gives two reasons.

Our debt is unpayable. Imagine you took out a terrible business loan and now owe a billion dollars. Then you work hard and earn $100 million. That’s an incredible achievement that would put you in very rare company. It’s also only 10% of what you owe. Our good deeds don’t come close to covering the debt our sin has created with God.

We can’t be sure our good works are really good. The next time you help someone, ask yourself why you did it. Was it purely out of worship for what Jesus has done for you? Or was it partly because helping feels good or you want people to see you as generous? Maybe it eases some guilt about your past. We can’t fully know our own motives.

Kyle learned something about that from his kintsugi pottery. When he ordered pieces as Christmas gifts for Wooddale’s executive team, the first one he unpacked looked flawless. Then he flipped it over and found it was a fake. Someone had painted gold lines on it to look like repaired cracks, and the paint stopped halfway down. He sent them back and bought real ones. He kept the fake in his office as a reminder that something can look good on the surface without being real.

Good works painted over our lives can’t make us God’s handiwork. We have to be remade. When we’re saved, God makes us a new creation, and good works flow from that new life.

What if my behavior doesn’t match my faith?

Every follower of Jesus has moments when they notice their behavior doesn’t line up with how God calls them to live. Some of us start to wonder if that means we aren’t really saved.

Kyle puts it plainly: if you can’t be saved by your good works, you won’t be unsaved by a lack of them. Salvation isn’t based on our works. Period.

The same principle explains what’s going on: our behavior flows from our belief. When our actions don’t line up with Jesus, it’s because we believe something that isn’t true.

Take gossip. If you gossip, you probably believe that other people’s opinions of you matter more than God’s. Trying harder not to gossip usually ends in more guilt. Instead, go back to what’s true. You’ve been saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone, and your salvation is secure. If you can trust Jesus with your salvation, you can trust Him with your acceptance. You don’t need other people’s approval to know you’re worth something, because Jesus says you’re worth everything. When you truly believe that, your behavior will change.

What does baptism have to do with being made new?

Baptism celebrates that we’ve been made new. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Think of coming inside after a day of yard work and taking a shower. You feel like a new person. Baptism pictures that newness.

Kyle points to Lydia in Acts 16. She was a successful businesswoman near Philippi. When the Apostle Paul and his companions shared the good news of Jesus, she put her faith in Him and was baptized. Then she told them, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.”

That was a lot more than asking them to come over and hang out. Lydia was offering to host and support Paul’s ministry in Philippi, at a great cost to herself. She did it gladly. Her belief had changed, so her behavior changed too.

What’s your next step?

Kyle’s practical challenge is to look for opportunities to serve and bless others. Do it as a reminder of what you believe and what Jesus has done for you, not to earn anything.

Wooddale has partnered with local organizations in the Twin Cities that serve people in need, and serving opportunities are coming up on November 3, 6 and 7. Bring your family, your small group or a few friends. Learn about the work these groups are doing and try serving alongside them.

We’ve been remade in Christ Jesus to do the good works God prepared in advance for us to do. Every time we see a baptism, we remember that story.

Watch the full message above, download the Life Group questions to talk it through with others or learn more about baptism at Wooddale.