New Life

Romans 2:10 - "but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

Have you ever wanted "glory, honor and peace” in your life? Here Paul gives the answer to those desiring these life-gifts; I call them "life-gifts" because they release life to us. The issue here is not whether you are obeying a set of laws or that you have no grid, such as the law, to follow. The concept here is whether Jew or Gentile, because of your relationship with the Lord you are one "...who works what is good...". An example of someone without the law is the Roman soldier Cornelius (Acts 10:1); he did not know Christ but an angel appeared to him because of his prayer and good works. The angel said to him, "Your prayers and your gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial before God..." (verse 4).

We know that as a disciple of Jesus Christ (a disciple means one who follows daily and interacts with Christ), doing good things out of fear because you might not go to heaven is not Christ's intention for you. The reason why you are one who works good, meaning goodness towards people flows unobstructed from you is because of how you have come to know Christ as your Savior.

What you do is not out of compulsion but out of revelation. Doing good, or what is the right thing to do is because of Who lives in you, Jesus Christ. It is not because there are rules and a law by which you abide. When doing good is by a law or out of fear, it becomes performance based which eventually will lead to the expectation of a reward and if there is no reward, disappointment sets in. Paul believed that when one does good, glory, honor and peace will come our way. History shows that where people "do good" eventually that good will prevail and the reward will come. The Bible also says in Galatians 6:7, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap". I do believe that God sees what we do with what He has given us to do: work what is good!