what deeds men do

Today we read from the One Year Bible in Revelation 19:1-21. We read about good deeds. Our reading today tells us that we will find our good deeds in heaven. They are the "white linen" that we will wear to the wedding feast. So are we to assume that we must perform these good deeds in order to earn our place?

Not so much. These good deeds are "given to us", John says. And that makes sense in the great debate over "faith alone" vs "deeds are necessary" for salvation. Yes, we do good deeds as a natural result of the work He is doing in us, we've talked about that in previous blogs. But here we see that even the good deeds we do are GIVEN to us. They are a gift, which we are enabled to participate in. So we have no reason to boast. Elsewhere in the Bible, it tells us that God not only gives us the deeds to perform, but He gives us the DESIRE to do those deeds.

So I think we can all agree that when God saves us, we do good deeds. And those deeds are a gift from Him, which will become our wedding garments in the great celebration in heaven, where there will be so many people, it will sound like a deafening roar of an ocean.

God, thanks for giving us good works to do, and for helping us do them.