ἐργάζομαι

ἐργάζομαι (ergázomai) means to work, do, practice, or carry out. Its moral force depends on the work named. Jesus warns that some who call Him Lord are workers of lawlessness, directs hearers not to work merely for perishing food, speaks of doing the works of the One who sent Him, and receives deeds of love. Paul contrasts wages owed to a worker with grace credited apart from works.

The verb therefore neither despises ordinary labor nor makes labor a path to self-justification. Christians work because God made embodied service meaningful, because love serves neighbors, and because Christ sends His people into His Father's purposes. Yet no amount of work earns the gift of righteousness or replaces the Son's gift of eternal life. A faithful study asks: what work is being done, under whose authority, and is the text speaking of vocation, evil practice, Christ's mission, loving service, or wages and grace?

The distinction is especially important for those whose lives are crowded with work. Jesus does not invite indifference toward food, family, vocation, or neighbor. He exposes work that treats temporary provision as the ultimate good, and He directs attention to the Son who gives life. Paul likewise can honor labor and still refuse the conclusion that righteousness is a wage.

The church should therefore receive ordinary work as a place for love, justice, skill, and witness, while resisting both workaholic self-worth and spiritualized neglect of practical responsibility. In that posture, labor becomes a grateful response to God rather than an altar on which identity, family, health, and mercy are sacrificed.

ἐργάζομαι can describe lawlessness, ordinary work, divine mission, loving action, and labor related to wages. The selected passages refuse both idleness that neglects love and performance that seeks to earn God's gift.