Good Works

Let me start off by saying that this blog, although it may seem like it at first, does not contradict my last post. In my last post, I meant to be speeking of the result of the holy spirit being in you; which is doing good works. But in this post, I will be talking about whether or not good works can save you apart from belief in Jesus Christ, as this seems to be a popular belief amongst human beings today.
The idea that good works apart from belief in Jesus christ is by no means being set from a biblical point of view. In the book of Galations, Paul adresses this issue:
Galations 2:16 "yet we know that a person in not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."
This states quite clearly that a person is saved by the belief in God and not by good works or "works of the law." Not only this, but it impossible for someone who does not accept God as their savior and Lord to please him:
Romans 8:8 "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
Therefore, if we cannot please God if we don't accept him as our savior, then a person who lives a life full of good works but doesn't love God will fail carelessly to please him. Like I talked about in my last post, good works is the evidence of our salvation, not the cause:
Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
As you can see in ephesians, God planned out and prepared beforehand what good works his followers were going to perform. Hence, why it is the evidence of our salvation. Furthermore, when something is our workmanship, it is the representation of what we are able to create. Therefore, if we are God's workmanship, then we have a responsibility to do good works so that others will see that we are honoring God. For it is dishonoring to God if we do not do good works, because as his creation, we are responsible to honor God in everything we do.
Titus 2:7 "Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works and in your teaching, show integrity, dignity."
Not only are we dishonoring God when we don't do good works as he commands, but we also dishonor ourselves. We should show dignity when teaching and doing good works so that no noe can condemn us or judge us when they see us do something that is against God's law. So, although works are not what make us recieve salvation, we are still commanded to commit them. How will others know that we are regenerated by Christ if we are not walking in good works. In order to honor God, we must be living a life where we are attempting to live for him with our best ability. We are not expected to live like Jesus did, but we are expected to try.