Ephesians 2:8-10

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

“It’s all gooooood,” is a popular statement used among southerners as a blanket to cover up negative emotions or blatant sin. The truth is, it is not all good. God is all good, but we are not – and every thing we do is not good.

We live in an instant grit world (forgive the analogy: I’ve lived most of my life below the Mason-Dixon line). Unfortunately, the church often reflects the same worldview when it comes to doing good things. We want people to be saved, but we don’t want to take the time to help them become a disciple.

Making disciples is a deliberate, slow process.

Like making good ‘ol fashioned grits. You’ve gotta get the pan out, boil the water, add the organic stone ground grits, simmer for 20 minutes while stirring occasionally, add the butter, salt and pepper and perhaps a little red-eye gravy (I prefer mine with cheese and shrimp!).

Nope. We prefer to make instant disciples.

Just rip open the pre-packaged made-in-a-factory bag of “grits,” pour them into a plastic bowl with tap water and microwave on high for 1 minute (then we’re shocked when they don’t taste as good as what mama makes!).

Not good.

The disciples spent years….hello!?! years being prepared by Jesus before He sent them out to do good works. Sure, they served others by passing the baskets of fish and loaves to the crowd and collecting the leftovers, but they didn’t go make disciples until the Holy Spirit baptized them with His power- after Jesus died, was buried, raised from the dead and appeared to them (that took longer than a minute, right?!)

When we boast about all the good things we’re doing in advancing His Kingdom it’s a sign that we’re trying to take credit for our (and perhaps others) salvation. But when we truly believe that by grace, God saved us, we will know (not just intellectually, but in our spirit) that we are His masterpiece. And when we realize that we are His masterpiece, we will submit to Him as Creator. And when we submit to Him as Creator, He will teach us what is true, and correct us when we are wrong. And when we realize we are wrong, we’ll want to repent. And when we repent, He’ll teach us to do what is right. And when we know what is right, we will obey His commands. And when we obey His commands, He’ll know that we love Him. And then…. then, we’ll be equipped to do every good work that He planned for us long ago: go make more disciples.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

This process doesn’t happen in an instant, ya’ll. But it will happen, if we are faithful to the One who has called us by name, who laid down His life to save us, and who promises that He will refine us by the fire of His Spirit so that our lives -and our good deeds will reflect His glory.