Can we do any good?
The battle of flesh and spirit
The only good work we can do is believing in the One who He sent.
Every other good thing we do is merely a product of the faith we have in Jesus.
So we can take all of our good ideas, all of our good intentions, load them into a garbage bag and leave them at His feet. Its kind of crazy to think how every second of our self righteous lives we are sinning in the flesh while simultaneously being perfectly atoned in the Spirit. Its a paradox of conviction and grace battling between freedom and condemnation every moment of our lives.
How do we know He is with us?
Its tough to read books like 1 John and not feel convicted of keeping His commandments or measuring our love for God and people. It would seem apparent that the desire to be right with God is proof of the Holy Spirit working inside us. That painful prick of the heart that points out our infatuation with the things of this world. Things of the world could be anything from coffee to family, success and even ministry. Anything from this life that we put before Him even good works.
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” – Isaiah 64:6
So lets start by accepting that nothing good can come from us. Zip, zero, nada, nothing! And humbly ask Him to give us a faith that will allow us to give up our lives in order to be made perfect in Christ. If God is perfect love and we receive His love then we will automatically reflect His love out to others. So can we do any good? Apart from Him no but with Christ all things are possible.