Faith Comes Before Deeds: Trusting God and Doing His Will

Jesus uses the picture of smoke and fire to show the order God has made. Faith comes before deeds. The Holy Spirit lights faith in the heart through God’s Word, and then he fans good works into flame.

Jesus enters the temple courts with authority, and the chief priests and elders come with a question that is really an accusation. Their words ask where his authority comes from, but their hearts have already decided that he does not have it. Jesus answers their question with a question about John’s baptism, and their refusal to answer exposes what pride has done. They did know, but they decided not to know.

Jesus then tells the story of two sons. The first son says no, but later goes into the vineyard. The second son says yes, but never goes. The father is not looking for the right words. The father wants his son to do the work. The contrast exposes good-looking works that lack faith, trust, and repentance.

The chief priests and elders had plenty of outward obedience, but their deeds were built on the idea that they could earn God’s favor. John’s announcement of “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” offended that pride. Jesus says that tax collectors and prostitutes enter God’s kingdom ahead of them because those sinners repented and believed John, while the religious leaders saw the evidence and still would not believe.

Jesus makes clear that the parable is not about being perfect or doing chores for God. Faithfulness begins with repentance and faith in the one God sent. Jesus answers the question, “What must we do?” with the work God requires: believe in the one he has sent. Faith itself is God’s work, created and strengthened through his Word, the gospel, and the sacraments.

Faith is more than knowing Bible facts, and it is more than demons knowing that Jesus is God’s Son. Faith is trust. Faith rests in the Christ who obeyed God’s law, bore accusations, died for sin, and rose again. That forgiveness brings freedom to live faithfully in the callings God has given.

The acorn becomes a strong oak because God gives it soil, water, light, and time. Faith likewise begins small, grows through God’s Word, and becomes a shelter where others can hear of forgiveness. God prepares good works for his children, and faith then walks into them.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Faith comes before faithful deeds Faith is not the reward for doing enough good things. God creates faith first, and that faith begins to bear fruit in ordinary acts of obedience. Good works are not a ladder into God’s favor, but the living result of receiving his favor in Christ. [31:07]
• 2. Pride can decide not to know The chief priests and elders were not lacking information about John or Jesus. Their pride kept them from admitting what they knew because belief would require repentance and surrender. A heart can protect its own status so fiercely that it calls deliberate unbelief uncertainty. [38:36]
• 3. God seeks trust, not good appearances The second son had the right answer on his lips but never entered the vineyard. Outward religion can look impressive while the heart refuses God’s will. God does not confuse religious language with faithful trust and repentance. [39:42]
• 4. Faith rests in Christ’s finished work Faith does not mean pulling harder on spiritual bootstraps. Faith trusts the one who kept God’s law, carried sin to the cross, and rose from death. God gives that trust through the means of grace when weak hearts return to his Word. [44:53]
• 5. Small faith grows into shelter An acorn does not look like a towering oak, yet God has placed life within it. Faith may begin small, but God feeds and roots it through his Word. A growing faith becomes a place where others can encounter the forgiveness of sins.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [29:10] - Smoke, Fire, and Faith
• [32:06] - Jesus Questioned in the Temple
• [34:16] - An Accusation About Authority
• [35:14] - Good Looking Works Without Trust
• [38:20] - Jesus Answers With a Question
• [39:20] - The Parable of Two Sons
• [42:08] - Saying “In a Minute” to God
• [43:22] - Repentance and Belief
• [44:31] - The Work God Requires
• [46:11] - Knowledge, Demonic Faith, and Trust
• [48:10] - Freedom for Faithful Living
• [49:15] - From Acorn to Oak
• [50:59] - Loving the Neighbor This Week

Bible Reading

Matthew 21:28-32
“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.” [32:23]

John 6:28-29
“Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” [44:24]

John 1:29
“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” [35:37]

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 21:28–32, how do the two sons respond to their father’s request, and which son actually does what the father wants? [39:42]
2. What reasons do the chief priests and elders give themselves for refusing to answer Jesus’ question about John’s baptism? [38:26]
3. According to Matthew 21:31–32, how do the tax collectors and prostitutes respond differently from the religious leaders?
4. In John 6:28–29, what “work” does Jesus identify as the work God requires? [44:24]

Interpretation questions

1. Why does Jesus connect the religious leaders’ refusal to answer about John with their failure to repent and believe? What does their response reveal about what was happening in their hearts? [38:56]
2. The second son gives the right answer but does not go into the vineyard. What is the difference between religious words that sound faithful and a life that grows out of real trust in Christ? [39:59]
3. John calls Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Why would that message be hard for people who believed they could earn God’s favor through their own good works? [35:37]
4. Jesus says that believing in the one God has sent is God’s required work. How does this protect people from treating faith as another achievement they must accomplish to earn salvation? [44:53]

Application questions

1. Where might pride tempt a person to “decide not to know” what God’s Word is saying—perhaps because admitting the truth would require repentance, an apology, or a change in direction? [39:07]
2. When have good-looking actions, religious habits, or the right words been used to cover a lack of trust in God? What could honest repentance look like in that area? [36:36]
3. Is there an area where the response to God has been “in a minute”—a delayed act of love, a needed conversation, forgiveness, generosity, or turning away from a known sin? What is one small faithful step that could be taken this week? [42:25]
4. When faith feels weak, is the first instinct to try harder and prove worthiness, or to return to Christ in his Word and promises? What could it look like to return to those means of grace this week? [45:13]
5. Faith is trust in Jesus, who obeyed God’s law, bore sin on the cross, and rose again. What burden of guilt, fear, or self-reliance needs to be placed more fully in his hands? [45:29]
6. In the callings God has given—at home, at work, among friends, or in the neighborhood—where is there an opportunity to serve freely because God’s favor has already been given in Christ? [48:21]
7. A small acorn grows over time into a tree that gives shelter. How might God use a small, steady act of faithfulness this week to help another person encounter Christ’s forgiveness and care? [50:17]