Do good deeds!

The avoidance of legalism, is to many Christians little more than a convenient excuse to hang on to patterns of behavior that are displeasing to God, and avoid patterns of behavior that are pleasing to God. By defining any inconvenience taken to please God as legalism, we have found an elegant way to even make our indifference sound spiritual. Extended prayer, avoiding ungodly entertainment, witnessing, or basically anything considered "excessively spiritual" can be the subject of this sinful tendency.

So before I introduce you to a Biblical pattern of behavior that is deeply pleasing to God, this ungrounded and suspiciously convenient fear of legalism needs to be questioned. Paul does the same in his epistle to Titus, yet in another way. Here's how he sets it up:

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently... (Tit 3:3-8a)

Paul, with his deep understanding of the workings of the human heart, makes the brilliant move of pointing out the undeserved kindness of God as the basis for what he is about to say next. He tears down the legalism excuse by saying please God because he was kind enough to save us not on the basis of our pleasing him.

So now that you're all rid of any ungrounded fear of legalism, and eager to please God in any way, regardless of how inconvenient it might be, you're probably dieing to hear how you can do it. So here it comes:

...so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.(Tit 3:8b)

That's it. Be careful to engage in good deeds. Make good deeds a common pattern of behavior for yourself. Why? Because you have to in order to be saved? Not by any means. To the contrary, do it because it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you. The spirit of him who poured himself out to do the best deed ever done to you is now living and working through you. And when you let his goodness be expressed through your dealings with the people around you, he is pleased.

So don't be satisfied just by not doing evil deeds. Aim higher! Go do good deeds!