Dead Works: Built with Wood, Hay, and Straw

In one paragraph

This message was the third installment (described as "week three part two") in a series on eternal reward. Brian picked up where last week left off, working toward an explanation of what it means to build your life with wood, hay, and straw, and introducing the idea of dead works. The goal throughout was to help the congregation understand what is at stake when we fulfill God's calling in our own...

Read together

1. 2 John 1:8 warning not to lose what was worked for, receive full reward
2. Psalm 139 the book of your life listing all you were assigned to do
3. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 fire revealing the quality of each builder's work, reward or loss
4. Hebrews 6:1 repenting from dead works as a foundational teaching
5. Hebrews 9:14 blood of Christ purifying consciousness from dead works
6. Ephesians 2:8-9 salvation is a gift by grace through faith, not earned by works
7. Matthew 7:21-23 many who prophesied and cast out demons in Jesus name were told I never knew you

Talk about it

1. Brian described the judgment Christians face as more like a medal ceremony than a courtroom, where our work is reviewed against what God had assigned us. How does that picture sit with you, and does it change how you think about your day-to-day choices?
2. Moses felt completely inadequate for what God called him to do, and Brian suggested that feeling unqualified might actually be a sign you are on the right track. Have you ever felt that way about something, and what did you do with it?
3. Watchman Nee wrote that God condemns not only our bad deeds but our best deeds done apart from Christ. Can you think of a time when you were doing something genuinely good but realized afterward it was coming from your own effort rather than from the Spirit?
4. Brian drew a distinction between a work that was begun in the Spirit and then finished in the flesh, using the example of someone continuing a calling past the point God intended because of its success. What makes it hard to let something go when it is working well?
5. Jacob pushed back and said there is a danger in this teaching if people use it as a reason to do nothing, and Brian pointed to Jesus saying that even giving a cup of cold water in his name earns a reward. Where is the line between waiting on the Spirit and just getting out there and starting?