Wake Up Call (2)
to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share 1 Timothy 6:18
Good Works – Did you think that doing good (yesterday on agathoergeo) was good enough? Not quite. Paul adds another qualification with the phrase “good works.” The problem is that we don’t see the difference in translation because we don’t realize that this is a different Greek word. When Paul speak of being rich in good works, he uses the words ergois kalois. You will recognize ergois (works) in relation to agathoergeo, but what about kalos? It’s not the same as agathos and the difference is important.
Yesterday we discovered that working good is about benefiting others. Paul’s first wake up call is a question about the object of our efforts. If what we do does not result in direct benefit to someone else, then we haven’t understood God’s distribution plan. This part of the wake up call confronts everyone who thinks that they will become generous after they have taken care of themselves. If I am not engaged in blessing others from the beginning, my proxy attitude is probably not going to change.
But what is good is not only what benefits others. That’s why we need kalos. This is the second wake up call. If you hit the snooze button at the first alarm, then this one is for you. Kalos is what is intrinsically good. To be rich in good works is to fill my heavenly saving account with actions that are good in and of themselves. This is what is ethically pure, honorable, morally upright and of good conscience. This is what is virtuous, righteous, beautiful and orderly. This is what shines because it has the quality and characteristics of a diamond, not because someone gives it external value. If I am going to fill my spiritual bank I must make deposits with holy script. If working good is about my relationship to others, then being rich in good is about my character. One without the other is bankruptcy.
This, of course, leads us directly to a great spiritual problem. You see, we are not diamonds in the rough. We are filthy rags (even at our best) because the standard for diamonds is the Holy One of Israel. Frankly, we don’t measure up and we will never measure up. There is no currency in my life that I can deposit in the heavenly treasure vault because all my currency is stained with sin. The answer is not more dirty efforts. The answer is currency laundering. Jesus has to wash me clean before any of my character qualities meet the holy standard. It is Yeshua’s righteousness that I deposit in my account, not mine. When Paul exhorts me to be rich in good works, he has another verse in mind: “For me to live is Christ.”
Now we see that none of Paul’s admonition can be considered works righteousness. Doing good in order to get grace is simply impossible. The only way I can fulfill the test of working good and being rich in good works is to live a life of Christ in me, the hope of glory. Altruism is useless. Charity is pointless. It is Yeshua or nothing.
The wake up call points to our insufficiency and His abounding grace. It demands transformation in action and character. It’s not a program. It’s a profession.
Topical Index: Good
