The Struggle Between Doing and Being.
Most believers at some point wrestle with this question: Am I really pleasing God?
We want to live right, pray right, give right, and love right - yet sometimes it feels like we’re chasing approval instead of resting in relationship.
I once met a young man who told me, “I’m trying to get my life together before I get closer to God.”
His words revealed a mindset many of us carry: that we must behave correctly before we can belong.
But God’s order is the opposite, He invites us into relationship first, and it’s that relationship that reshapes our behavior.
That’s why understanding the difference between grace and works isn’t just theology - it’s freedom.
Scripture Foundation:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8–9 (NKJV)
1. Relationship Comes Before Behavior
We are not saved by our behavior. Salvation begins with relationship accepting Jesus into our hearts and allowing His Spirit to renew us from within.
Behavior is important, but it must flow from relationship, not replace it.
Paul wrote:
“If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
1 Corinthians 3:12–15 (NKJV)
This shows that our works will be tested not to determine salvation, but to reveal what was truly built on Christ. Salvation is by grace alone, but the quality of what we build still matters to God.
2. The Difference Between God’s Righteousness and Man’s
The righteousness of man is built on effort, performance, and pride.
The righteousness of God is built on surrender, faith, and transformation.
When we trust in Jesus, we receive His righteousness as a gift. It’s not earned it’s imputed. God sees us through the righteousness of His Son, not through our failures.
Supporting Verse:
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)
3. Why Grace and Behavior Can Be Confusing
Grace is not permission to live without discipline. It is the power to live right.
Many believers confuse grace as an excuse for careless living, while others reject grace and rely on performance. Both miss the truth grace transforms behavior, but behavior does not create grace.
We obey not to earn God’s love, but because we already have it.
Supporting Verse:
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.”
Titus 2:11–12 (NKJV)
4. Faith That Works
James confronted believers who said they loved God but showed no actions to back it up.
Faith without works is dead because real faith produces fruit. You cannot truly love God and ignore the needs around you.
If you walk past a homeless person starving and feel nothing, something in your faith connection needs revival. The evidence of a renewed heart is compassion in action.
Supporting Verse:
“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? … Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
James 2:14,17 (NKJV)
5. A Heart That Reflects Relationship
When the Holy Spirit regenerates your heart, your behavior begins to change naturally. Love replaces judgment. Generosity replaces greed. Forgiveness replaces bitterness.
Relationship with God becomes the foundation for everything else and behavior becomes the reflection of that relationship.
Supporting Verse:
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 36:26 (NKJV)
Final Thought
We are saved by grace through faith, not by works. But faith that’s alive always shows itself through action. True righteousness is not in what we do for God, but in what God has done in us. Let your works be built on Christ, not human effort so when they are tested by fire, they’ll stand as gold refined in His presence.
Closing Prayer
Lord, help me build with gold and silver works that reflect Your heart and endure the fire of testing. Teach me to live from relationship, not religion. May my actions flow from a heart transformed by grace. Amen.
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