Eph 2:10 (NIV) For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

What is being said is that salvation causes us to be created inside of Christ Jesus to be a new person. Once we are created into a new person, we are empowered by Him to do good works. If we tried to do good works before being created into a new person, it would be all human effort. Human efforts bring very temporary results.

If we feed a homeless person and don’t help them change internally, we will have to feed them tomorrow. That is what happens in a lot of ministries. They are only dealing with these physical problems and not providing spiritual transformation. We need both! If we help people solve their own problems without God’s help, they will have more of the same problems to solve tomorrow.

Good works prior to salvation will prove to be a waste of time. Plus, we could do all the caring for hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and imprisoned people and it wouldn’t get us or them into heaven. Why? Because we tried to get there without going through Jesus, the gate and the way. We actually need God-works rather than good works. This concept helps us better explain the difference between human effort good works and spiritually empowered good works.

Developing ministries that don’t work their way into spiritual transformation through salvation are works that don’t end up getting people ready for eternity. Plus, most of the people who are helped physically keep needing our help for the rest of their lives. Developing their relationship with God makes it possible for us to gradually leave them in God’s hands. Except for those Christians who are like the people in the Corinthian church, we will be able to develop leaders in their churches and small groups and then leave them with their own relationship with God.