Doing good is a call to all christians to allow the changes inside to reflect on the outside. It does not only give us an identity but also helps meet the basic needs of others (v8,14). Doing good as was exhibited in the first century church in Acts was a natural outflow of the transformation brought about by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 4).
Doing Good based on our own righteousness is like putting the cart before the horse. Rather it must be an outflow of our salvation. Because the basic human tendencies are evil, we require the following resources to be committed to doing good selflessly:
- The Grace of God (v4) – A realisation that the unmerited favour of God – having what we do not deserve - has been and continues to be extended to us should motivate us to desire to please our Saviour by doing good.
- The Indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (v5-6) – The generous outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the believer should naturally give him or her the enablement to reach out in love to others as the fruits of His indwelling are released in and through us. In order words the strength and motivation to do good must come from the prompting of the Holy Spirit that lives within as we yield our members – the whole of us to Him.
- The hope of eternal life (v7) – The fact that we are in transit should give us a balanced view of materialism and motivate us to focus on storing treasures up in heaven rather than here. As it is said, you cannot take it along but you can sure send it ahead, unaccompanied.
Lord, help me to be devoted to doing what is good (v8,14) through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ my saviour and friend. AMEN.
These are what is missing in most of our leaders today. May God gives minister the right mind to teach the undiluted word of God.