The Bible has a lot of negative things to say about “works,” especially “works of the law.” Paul stresses repeatedly that we’re justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law. Salvation is “not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8, NKJV).
But “good works” are another matter. By my ESV search, the phrase “good works” (plural) is used 13 times in the New Testament, with eight occurrences in the Pastoral Epistles. Without exception, the phrase is used in a positive, nonironic way to describe exemplary Christian activity.
Few chapters are as relentless in advocating good works as Titus 3. If someone tells you Paul and James disagree about the need for good works, point him to this chapter. Here we can identify three facets of good works: their foundation, their importance, and their definition.
Foundation of Good Works
No less a do-gooder than William Wilberforce once defined Christianity as “a scheme . . . for making the fruits of holiness the effects, not the cause, of our being justified and reconciled.” Good works are the fruit, not the root. Or to tweak the analogy, good works are what goes on in the house, but they’re not the foundation of the house.
If someone tells you Paul and James disagree about the need for good works, point him to this chapter.
This is exactly what Paul says in Titus 3:8: “The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.”
Notice that the people who are told to devote themselves to good works are “those who have believed in God.” Saving faith and good works aren’t like our two separate hands—rather, faith in God is the foundation for good works.
Paul isn’t referring to a general faith in God’s existence but rather a specific faith in God’s loving kindness for us in the gospel. Notice how he begins verse 8. Good works are the result of Titus “[insisting] on these things.” We insist on these things so that believers will do good works. But what are “these things”? What is this “trustworthy saying”? The answer is found in the immediately preceding verses:
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (vv. 4–7)
The only message that can be trusted to produce good works is the message that tells us our works can’t save us. It seems counterintuitive, but it’s the gospel. If we want a house filled with good works, we must first lay a solid foundation for them.
Importance of Good Works
Sometimes gospel-centered people can be skittish about good works. We think, Just preach the gospel, and good works will happen on their own without any sustained focus on them. But this isn’t what we see in Titus 3. Instead, Paul says things like “let our people learn to devote themselves to good works” (v. 14) and “[let believers] be careful to devote themselves to good works” (v. 8). There’s an urgency here that’s often missing in our preaching.
Good works call for our devotion. After all, they’re what we were “created in Christ Jesus for” (Eph. 2:10). We must actively “learn” to do them. The ability to do good works is infused into us when we’re born again—so the potential is there. But the actual doing of them is a learned skill (like riding a bike or reading), and part of Great Commission discipleship is teaching people to do them (Matt. 28:20).
Just as progressive, social-gospel types often want to emphasize good works to the exclusion of the gospel, gospel-centered Reformed types sometimes want to emphasize the gospel to the exclusion of urging people to devote themselves to good works. The former seeks to build a house without laying a foundation, while the latter wants to lay a foundation without building anything on it. Both are contrary to Titus 3, and neither will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior the way Paul intended.
Definition of Good Works
At this point, someone might say, “OK, I get it. Good works are important. But what exactly are they?” Thankfully, Titus 3 provides us with a basic definition. Good works are practical acts of love that meet people’s needs.
Gospel-centered Reformed types sometimes want to emphasize the gospel to the exclusion of urging people to devote themselves to good works.
I glean this definition from a couple of places in Titus 3. In verse 8, speaking about good works, Paul says, “These things are excellent and profitable for people.” Unlike “foolish controversies” and “quarrels about the law” (v. 9), good works help people. Then there’s verse 14, where Paul says, “Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need.” You see a need, and in love you try to meet it—that’s a good work. Good works are the overflow of love for Christ that meets the needs of others.
We see a concrete example in verse 13, where Paul says, “Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing.” When you send someone out from your church for the sake of the gospel, make sure all their needs are met. This is what the Philippians had done for Paul (Phil. 4:15–18), and it’s what Paul wanted the Cretan church to do for Zenas and Apollos. It’s a good work.
Good works can meet needs that are big or small, material or spiritual, and the recipient can be almost anyone. Here are a few examples:
Lost people need to hear the gospel—so sharing it with them is a good work.
A 4-year-old who wakes up at 2:00 a.m. with a bad dream needs comfort—so getting out of bed to go hold him is a good work.
Many people groups still need the Bible in their languages—so studying linguistics or learning Greek and Hebrew so you can help give them the Bible is a good work.
People who are hurting need prayer and compassion—so putting your arm around them and praying for them is a good work.
Babies need to have their diapers changed or they’ll lie in their own filth. It’s an urgent need they can’t meet for themselves. Moms and dads, go ask someone at Child Services what neglect looks like, and then remember when you change diapers and cook supper and read bedtime stories that you’re doing good works.
People need decent jobs so they can provide for their families—so using your entrepreneurial gifts to build a company and provide meaningful labor is a good work.
Companies need reliable workers—so staying sober, showing up on time, and following the boss’s orders is a good work.
Citizens need protection from violent people—so a policeman who guns down an active shooter is doing a good work, and becoming a policeman or a soldier or a lawyer or a social worker to protect the vulnerable and maintain law and order can all be good works.
Become Zealous for Good Works
It’s clear that “good works” isn’t some narrow category we have to squint to find. The fields are ripe, the need is great, and the opportunities are everywhere. “No man has a right to be idle,” said William Wilberforce. In a world such as this, you can always find “some ignorance to instruct, some wrong to redress, some want to supply, some misery to alleviate.”
Good works don’t have to be stuff you become famous for. Not every Christian gets to be Wilberforce. Most will never be remembered in this life. As the novelist George Eliot put it, “[The] good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”
But the gospel tells us that someday those tombs will be emptied and those hidden lives will be recognized before the entire universe by our heavenly Father. When that day comes, you’ll hear Jesus say,
Well done, good and faithful servant. I was hungry and you fed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was scared and you comforted me. I was soiled and you changed me. I was ignorant and you taught me. I was threatened and you protected me. I was orphaned and you adopted me. I was aimless and you mentored me. I was unemployed and you hired me. I was lost and you evangelized me. I was unpopular and you befriended me.
And you’ll know your life wasn’t wasted and your labor wasn’t in vain. This is what Jesus died to create: “a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). So let’s not grow weary in doing good. Instead, let’s learn to devote ourselves to good works.
The Gospel Coalition