1 Kings 2:3
"And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:"
At first glance it may appear that David is promising Solomon the blessings of God in his life if he does all these "good works". In this New Testament of grace that we are blessed to live in, this idea seems repugnant since we all know it is by grace that we are saved and receive God's favor. We know all our righteous works are like filthy, disgusting rags compared with God's true righteousness.
But take a closer look and it will become apparent that this is not what David means at all.
In this" game of life " that we all play, who made the rules? God did of course. He laid out commandments and judgments for us to follow. And just like any game, those who follow the rules will succeed. Can an unbeliever reap the benefits of honesty? Of course. What about faithfulness? Or compassion? An unbeliever can exhibit these qualities, following God's rules, and gain benefit from doing so.
So as a believer, doing good, following God's commands, is not done to curry favor, but out of love, and rewards are reaped. An unbeliever, perhaps even unwittingly may follow a command of God and also reap these benefits, not even knowing why.
continued...
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