What are good works for?

Dr. Martin Luther, Reformer

Here's a frequently raised objection against the reformed doctrine of Justification by Faith and how Christians should respond to it:

Question:
If Salvation is attained through faith alone, and if works of charity are completely unnecessary and superfluous, why then does the Bible exhort Christians to be holy in all their conduct (1 Peter 1:15-16)? What for if it doesn't have any bearing to one's eternal destiny?

Answer:
First of all, it is not true that doing service to God or performing acts of charity are completely unnecessary and superfluous. According to Jesus Christ, it is through our obedience to God's law that we evince our love for Him (John 14:21, 23). However, these works won't save us because no amount of human works can suffice to reach God's glorious standard of perfection (Matthew 5:48; Romans 3:20, 23; James 2:10; Revelation 21:27). The psalmist writes, "If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" (Psalms 130:3); and again, "Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you" (Psalms 143:2; cf. Romans 3:10).

Do we then by grace make void of free will?

St. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430)

St. Augustine | Do we then by grace make void free will? God forbid! Nay, rather we establish free will. For even as the law by faith, so free will by grace, is not made void, but established (Rom. 3:31). For neither is the law fulfilled except by free will; but by the law is the knowledge of sin, by faith the acquisition of grace against sin, by grace the healing of the soul from the disease of sin, by the health of the soul freedom of will, by free will the love of righteousness, by love of righteousness the accomplishment of the law. 

Accordingly, as the law is not made void, but is established through faith, since faith procures grace whereby the law is fulfilled; so free will is not made void through grace, but is established, since grace cures the will whereby righteousness is freely loved. Now all the stages which I have here connected together in their successive links, have severally their proper voices in the sacred Scriptures. 

The law says: "Thou shall not covet" (Exo. 20:17). Faith says: "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee" (Psa. 41:4). Grace says: "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (Jn. 5:14). Health says: "O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me" (Psa. 130:2). Free will says: "I will freely sacrifice unto Thee" (Psa. 54:6). Love of righteousness says: "Transgressors told me pleasant tales, but not according to Thy law, O Lord" (Psa. 119:85). 

How is it then that miserable men dare to be proud, either of their free will, before they are freed, or of their own strength, if they have been freed? They do not observe that in the very mention of free will they pronounce the name of liberty. But "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Cor. 3:17). If, therefore, they are the slaves of sin, why do they boast of free will? For by what a man is overcome, to the same is he delivered as a slave (2 Pe. 2:19). But if they have been freed, why do they vaunt themselves as if it were by their own doing, and boast, as if they had not received? Or are they free in such sort that they do not choose to have Him for their Lord who says to them: "Without me ye can do nothing" (Jn. 15:5); and "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed?" (Jn. 8:36).

~ On the Spirit and the Letter, Ch. 52 [XXX]

My Lord I did not choose You

This contemporary song by Matthew Smith is based on the classic Lutheran hymn "Lord, 'Tis Not that I did Choose Thee" by Josiah Conder (1789-1855). Became my instant favorite the first time I heard it because of its theological soundness. I'm pretty sure many reformed folks out there would love it, too. The song reminds us of whose choice is it that initiated and eternally secures our Salvation (Jn. 15:16; 1 Jn. 4:19), taking us back to the greatness of God's mercy.

Here's the video with the lyrics below:

My Lord I did not choose You
by: Matthew Smith

I.
My Lord I did not choose You
For that could never be
My heart will still refuse You,
Had You not chosen me

II.
You took the Sin that stained me,
Cleansed me, made me new
Of old, You have ordained me,
That I should live in You

III.
Unless your Grace had called me
And taught my op'ning mind,
The world would have enthralled me
To heav'nly glories blind

IV.
My heart knows none above You,
For Your rich Grace I thirst
I know that if I love You,
You must have loved me first

-Jeph

The Arminian Prayer

C.H. Spurgeon | But I tell you what will be the best proof of that; it is the great fact that you never did meet a Christian in your life who ever said he came to Christ without Christ coming to him. You have heard a great many Arminian sermons, I dare say; but you never heard an Arminian prayer—for the saints in prayer appear as one in word, and deed and mind. An Arminian on his knees would pray desperately like a Calvinist. He cannot pray about free-will: there is no room for it. Fancy him praying,

"Lord, I thank thee I am not like those poor presumptuous Calvinists. Lord, I was born with a glorious free-will; I was born with power by which I can turn to thee of myself; I have improved my grace. If everybody had done the same with their grace that I have, they might all have been saved. Lord, I know thou dost not make us willing if we are not willing ourselves. Thou givest grace to everybody; some do not improve it, but I do. There are many that will go to hell as much bought with the blood of Christ as I was; they had as much of the Holy Ghost given to them; they had as good a chance, and were as much blessed as I am. It was not thy grace that made us to differ; I know it did a great deal, still I turned the point; I made use of what was given me, and others did not—that is the difference between me and them." 

That is a prayer for the devil, for nobody else would offer such a prayer as that. Ah! when they are preaching and talking very slowly, there may be wrong doctrine; but when they come to pray, the true thing slips out; they cannot help it. If a man talks very slowly, he may speak in a fine manner; but when he comes to talk fast, the old brogue of his country, where he was born, slips out. 

I ask you again, did you ever meet a Christian man who said, "I came to Christ without the power of the Spirit?" If you ever did meet such a man, you need have no hesitation in saying, "My dear sir, I quite believe it—and I believe you went away again without the power of the Spirit, and that you know nothing about the matter, and are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." Do I hear one Christian man saying, "I sought Jesus before he sought me; I went to the Spirit, and the Spirit did not come to me"? No, beloved; we are obliged, each one of us, to put our hands to our hearts and say—

"Grace taught my soul to pray,
And made my eyes to o'erflow;
'Twas grace that kept me to this day,
And will not let me go."

~ Excerpt from Spurgeon's sermon entitled, Free Will - A Slave

The Peace and Harmony of the Universe

St. Clement of Rome (fl. 96)

St. Clement of Rome | The heavens, revolving under His government, are subject to Him in peace. Day and night run the course appointed by Him, in no wise hindering each other. The sun and moon, with the companies of the stars, roll on in harmony according to His command, within their prescribed limits, and without any deviation. The fruitful earth, according to His will, brings forth food in abundance, at the proper seasons, for man and beast and all the living beings upon it, never hesitating, nor changing any of the ordinances which He has fixed. The unsearchable places of abysses, and the indescribable arrangements of the lower world, are restrained by the same laws. The vast unmeasurable sea, gathered together by His working into various basins, never passes beyond the bounds placed around it, but does as He has commanded. For He said, "Thus far shall you come, and your waves shall be broken within you" (Job 38:11). The ocean, impassable to man and the worlds beyond it, are regulated by the same enactments of the Lord. The seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, peacefully give place to one another. The winds in their several quarters fulfil, at the proper time, their service without hindrance. The ever-flowing fountains, formed both for enjoyment and health, furnish without fail their breasts for the life of men. The very smallest of living beings meet together in peace and concord. All these the great Creator and Lord of all has appointed to exist in peace and harmony; while He does good to all, but most abundantly to us who have fled for refuge to His compassions through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory and majesty for ever and ever. Amen.

~ First epistle to the Corinthians, Ch. 20

R.C. Sproul: The Total Sovereignty of God