Can You Pass This Quiz About Good Works?

If you grew up in a Christian environment, this quiz should be easy. Answers may be found at the very end of this post if you want to grade your work.

PART A. These questions have two-word answers (hint: the words appear in the title of this blog).

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your _____ _____ and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for _____ _____, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to _____ _____. These things are excellent and profitable for people. (Titus 3:8)
They are to do good, to be rich in _____ _____, to be generous and ready to share, (1 Timothy 6:18)
So also _____ _____ are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden. (1 Timothy 5:25)
And let our people learn to devote themselves to _____ _____, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. (Titus 3:14)
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every _____ _____. (Titus 3:1)
Comfort your hearts and establish them in every _____ _____ and word. (2 Thessalonians 2:17)

PART B: These questions have one-word answers (hint: each answer is a word from the title of this blog).

So also faith by itself, if it does not have _____, is dead. (James 2:17)
And let us not grow weary of doing _____, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do _____ to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:9-10)
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from _____ is dead. (James 2:26)
Do not neglect to do _____ and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:16)
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have _____? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have _____, is dead. (James 2:14-17)
Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done _____ to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (John 5:28-29)

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PART C: These miscellaneous questions you’ll just have to figure out on your own.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the _____, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
So whoever knows the right thing to _____ and fails to _____ it, for him it is sin. (James 4:17)
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit _____ and _____ in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the _____. (James 1:27)
Though I bestow all my goods to feed the ____, and though I give my body to be _____, but have not _____, it profits me nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:3)
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you _____ _____ _____; I was thirsty and you _____ _____ _____; I was a stranger and you _____ _____ _____; I was naked and you _____ _____; I was sick and you _____ _____; I was in prison and you _____ _____.’” (Matthew 25:34-36)

How did you do? Pretty well, I’ll bet. Don’t stop – you’re on a roll!

REVIEW:

What does God prioritize in the life of a believer? _____
What does Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25 indicate is needed to make believers pleasing to God and welcome into the Kingdom? _____
Is faith alone enough to please God? _____

Get ready. Things are about to get complicated!

TRICK QUESTIONS:

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by _____, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
He saved us, not because of _____ done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)

Many folks who grew up in the church are familiar with many of the verses from this quiz. How is it that we still insist that good works don’t matter?

This is a box we’ve been in, in many cases all our lives. But we didn’t know it was a box – we thought it was Gospel Truth. We know all of those bits of Scripture, but we believe the only one that truly matters is Ephesians 2:8-9.

We’d rather ignore all the other verses, or make up some kind of hyper-spiritualized explanation for the inconsistency, than simply accept that God’s greatest desire for us is nuanced. God doesn’t merely want us to enjoy God forever in heaven. God doesn’t view a transaction of mental assent (“belief”) as the end of the road.

What God absolutely desires – to the point that Jesus tied this action to our eternal reward – is for us to spend our lives in love and service.

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FEATURED IMAGE: Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash

Quiz answers:

PART A: