7) Faith Again: Good Deeds Will be Done

So we find that searching for a motivation for doing good deeds is a useless pursuit.  But that does not mean that good deeds do not, in a different sense, have a source.  The quotation cited above states that the source of abstinence from sin results from being dead to it, which already gives us something of a lead.  A thoroughgoing study of the New Testament reveals a recurring theme of “New Life” (Rom. 6:18, 2 Cor. 5:17, Eph. 2:4-5, 1 Pet. 2:16, 1 John 1:7, and 1 John 3:1-2); it is further asserted by the Bible that the New Life is tied closely with the doing of good deeds:

We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands.  The man who says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But if anyone obeys His word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.  This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:3-6 NIV, see also Rom. 6:1, 6:15-18, 1 John 2:9-11)

In other words, someone who is in the New Life simply will do good deeds; it’s not a question or a cause for concern, really.  Those who are reborn will act like it (in a sense, whether they like it or not, though they are quite certain to like it, since they are, indeed, reborn).  We are getting close.  If only we can find the method of entrance into this New Life, we can find the ultimate source of good deeds, and therefore better characterize their relationship to faith.  Again, the apostle John is particularly helpful on the topic:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His Child as well.  This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands.  This is love for God: to obey His commands.  And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world?  Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:1-5 NIV, see also Gal. 3:26)

In this verse, we find the entire conclusion laid out for us; the entire conundrum sorted out and tied up with a satisfyingly beautiful bow.  We know that good deeds proceed from being in the New Life, and, thanks to this passage, we now know that being in the New Life (being a “son of God” as John puts it) proceeds from faith in Jesus Christ.  It follows that good deeds proceed from faith.  If someone in the New Life simply will do good deeds, and the New Life is entered via faith, then it follows that the one with faith simply will do good deeds.  If you must, you might look at it in strict cause-and-effect terms (though the actual relationship is likely far more dynamic).  Good deeds are caused by faith – it is the character out of which they spring.