We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin, or eternal life at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come; and the infinite distance that is between us and God, whom, by them, we can neither profit, nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins, but when we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants: and because, as they are good, they proceed from His Spirit; and as they are wrought by us, they are defiled, and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection, that they cannot endure the severity of God's judgment.
What makes a "good" work good? Goodness comports with God's character; who he is defines the good. So any truly good work must conform to God's will, spring from a godly heart, be done in the name of Christ, and be done for the glory of God and not for selfish motives such as to earn God's favor or man's applause. By this standard even our most noble charities are "splendid sins," to use Spurgeon's phrase, for they always fall far short of the standard. Some are better than others, to be sure, but none are perfect--indeed, all are so imperfect that it is hardly worthwhile making comparisons between them.
Thanks be to God that our works do not provide the basis for our salvation. If they did, we would be utterly without hope.
Tomorrow: The acceptability of our good works.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Of Good Works, XVI:4
They who, in their obedience, attain to the greatest height which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to supererogate, and to do more than God requires, as that they fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do.
"Supererogation" refers to the performance of that which is above and beyond requirement, such that duty is fulfilled, payment is met, and there is more to spare. According to the Confession, not even the most obedient, faithful, and righteous man is able to do more than God requires. This is contrary to Roman Catholic doctrine, which teaches that certain persons (the officially-designated saints) have surpassed God's requirements for righteousness and have merit and more to spare. This excess merit, not needed by the saints for their personal use, may be applied to less worthy sinners as if withdrawn from a merit bank. Indeed, Rome claims that there exists a "treasury of merit" that is available for rank-and-file believers. All this the Confession denies. Only one person has ever completely fulfilled all righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ has alone provided satisfaction sufficient for everyone.
So far from being able to supererogate, we actually fall far short of God's requirements. None of us by his own efforts may expect God's reward. Instead, we are driven back upon Christ. We must rely entirely on him. We boast only in the cross.
Tomorrow: Our unprofitability.
"Supererogation" refers to the performance of that which is above and beyond requirement, such that duty is fulfilled, payment is met, and there is more to spare. According to the Confession, not even the most obedient, faithful, and righteous man is able to do more than God requires. This is contrary to Roman Catholic doctrine, which teaches that certain persons (the officially-designated saints) have surpassed God's requirements for righteousness and have merit and more to spare. This excess merit, not needed by the saints for their personal use, may be applied to less worthy sinners as if withdrawn from a merit bank. Indeed, Rome claims that there exists a "treasury of merit" that is available for rank-and-file believers. All this the Confession denies. Only one person has ever completely fulfilled all righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ has alone provided satisfaction sufficient for everyone.
So far from being able to supererogate, we actually fall far short of God's requirements. None of us by his own efforts may expect God's reward. Instead, we are driven back upon Christ. We must rely entirely on him. We boast only in the cross.
Tomorrow: Our unprofitability.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Of Good Works, XVI:3
Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ. And that they may be enabled thereunto, beside the graces they have already received, there is required an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit to work in them to will, and to do, of His good pleasure: yet are they not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless upon a special motion of the Spirit; but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them.
Truly good works, in the sense that God calls a work good, do not originate from men. Indeed, they cannot, for men are unable by nature to do the works that God wills. This idea is a great offense to men, who take great pride in their charities. We compare ourselves one to another and expect recognition and reward for doing things we admire. That Christians are able at all to do good works is credited solely to the Spirit of Christ working in and through us. No one will be able to stand before the Lord on the last day and boast of anything he has done. Yet in his grace God finds gold and silver amongst the hay and stubble--gold and silver he has put there himself.
But no Christian should therefore become complacent or lazy; we are not to neglect the doing of good works, but to recognize their source and the basis of our empowerment to do them. We are not to loll about waiting for some subjective feeling that we are being moved by the Spirit to do such-and-such. Instead, we diligently search the Scriptures for our marching orders and we keenly observe our surroundings for opportunities to obey. And we pray--for direction, for guidance, for encouragement, for a good swift kick (if necessary). And in the end we protest that we are but unprofitable servants.
Tomorrow: Are good works meritorious?
Truly good works, in the sense that God calls a work good, do not originate from men. Indeed, they cannot, for men are unable by nature to do the works that God wills. This idea is a great offense to men, who take great pride in their charities. We compare ourselves one to another and expect recognition and reward for doing things we admire. That Christians are able at all to do good works is credited solely to the Spirit of Christ working in and through us. No one will be able to stand before the Lord on the last day and boast of anything he has done. Yet in his grace God finds gold and silver amongst the hay and stubble--gold and silver he has put there himself.
But no Christian should therefore become complacent or lazy; we are not to neglect the doing of good works, but to recognize their source and the basis of our empowerment to do them. We are not to loll about waiting for some subjective feeling that we are being moved by the Spirit to do such-and-such. Instead, we diligently search the Scriptures for our marching orders and we keenly observe our surroundings for opportunities to obey. And we pray--for direction, for guidance, for encouragement, for a good swift kick (if necessary). And in the end we protest that we are but unprofitable servants.
Tomorrow: Are good works meritorious?
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Of Good Works, XVI:2
These good works, done in obedience to God's commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith: and by them believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto, that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end, eternal life.
This paragraph enumerates several characteristics of good works in the life of the believer in Christ:
1. Firstly, they are done out of obedience. Space does not permit any lengthy discussion about the so-called lordship controversy, but it would seem to be self-evident that if God commands a thing be done the Christian should be the first one to do it. That we are so often lax in our obedience says much about the seriousness with which we take our professions of faith.
2. The performance of good works is the outworking of saving faith. Something is wrong with a fruit tree that bears no fruit. Similarly, the quality of the fruit borne speaks to the health of the tree.
3. Believers manifest thankfulness to God by doing the good works he has prepared for them to do. We demonstrate our love and gratitude for God and for his salvation by obeying him.
4. Good works are even a testimony to ourselves that we truly believe and are in Christ. We know that the natural man has no power within himself to do the things of which God approves. So when we find ourselves doings these things we have assurance that we really are children of God.
5. Other Christians benefit from our good works; they are encouraged and built up by the visible demonstration of God's life in us.
6. The hoary old saying, "Preach the gospel, and if necessary use words," (often ascribed to Francis of Assisi) goes to the idea that the living of the Christian life before the world is frequently a more powerful testimony of the truth of our beliefs than the words we say.
7. So many times the complaint of the unbeliever is that the church is full of hypocrites. True enough--it is a hospital for sinners and not a hotel for saints (in the conventional sense of the word). But this complaint could be stopped by a conscientious obedience to the commands of Christ.
8. Our good works glorify God, in that they testify of his power and love that have transformed sinners' hearts.
9. Without holiness no one will see the Lord. Our good works, being a means and outworking of sanctification, are the fruits of holiness. The faith and new life within that work themselves out in good works achieve the goal of eternal life in the end.
It is a wonder that more Christians do not do more and greater good works.
Tomorrow: The source of good works.
This paragraph enumerates several characteristics of good works in the life of the believer in Christ:
1. Firstly, they are done out of obedience. Space does not permit any lengthy discussion about the so-called lordship controversy, but it would seem to be self-evident that if God commands a thing be done the Christian should be the first one to do it. That we are so often lax in our obedience says much about the seriousness with which we take our professions of faith.
2. The performance of good works is the outworking of saving faith. Something is wrong with a fruit tree that bears no fruit. Similarly, the quality of the fruit borne speaks to the health of the tree.
3. Believers manifest thankfulness to God by doing the good works he has prepared for them to do. We demonstrate our love and gratitude for God and for his salvation by obeying him.
4. Good works are even a testimony to ourselves that we truly believe and are in Christ. We know that the natural man has no power within himself to do the things of which God approves. So when we find ourselves doings these things we have assurance that we really are children of God.
5. Other Christians benefit from our good works; they are encouraged and built up by the visible demonstration of God's life in us.
6. The hoary old saying, "Preach the gospel, and if necessary use words," (often ascribed to Francis of Assisi) goes to the idea that the living of the Christian life before the world is frequently a more powerful testimony of the truth of our beliefs than the words we say.
7. So many times the complaint of the unbeliever is that the church is full of hypocrites. True enough--it is a hospital for sinners and not a hotel for saints (in the conventional sense of the word). But this complaint could be stopped by a conscientious obedience to the commands of Christ.
8. Our good works glorify God, in that they testify of his power and love that have transformed sinners' hearts.
9. Without holiness no one will see the Lord. Our good works, being a means and outworking of sanctification, are the fruits of holiness. The faith and new life within that work themselves out in good works achieve the goal of eternal life in the end.
It is a wonder that more Christians do not do more and greater good works.
Tomorrow: The source of good works.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Of Good Works, XVI:1
Good works are only such as God has commanded in His holy Word, and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men, out of blind zeal, or upon any pretence of good intention.
In the gospel of grace there is most certainly a place for good works. As we move through this chapter we will get a better appreciation for all that is entailed, but right at the outset the mere fact that the Confession contains a chapter devoted to this subject should get our attention. Many evangelicals wrongly associate works with Roman Catholicism or some other form of legalism. Yet God has created us for good works (Ephesians 2:10). And it should then come as no surprise that good works are God's idea. Furthermore, only God knows what truly constitutes a good work. These he has commanded in his word. It is not up to the cleverness of man to devise works that he thinks are good and then expect that God will recognize them. It matters not whether a man has zeal or even "good" intentions when he follows his own thinking and not that of God. We must search the Scriptures to find out what God intends for us to do.
Tomorrow: The place of good works in the life of the believer.
In the gospel of grace there is most certainly a place for good works. As we move through this chapter we will get a better appreciation for all that is entailed, but right at the outset the mere fact that the Confession contains a chapter devoted to this subject should get our attention. Many evangelicals wrongly associate works with Roman Catholicism or some other form of legalism. Yet God has created us for good works (Ephesians 2:10). And it should then come as no surprise that good works are God's idea. Furthermore, only God knows what truly constitutes a good work. These he has commanded in his word. It is not up to the cleverness of man to devise works that he thinks are good and then expect that God will recognize them. It matters not whether a man has zeal or even "good" intentions when he follows his own thinking and not that of God. We must search the Scriptures to find out what God intends for us to do.
Tomorrow: The place of good works in the life of the believer.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Summary Comments on Repentance
Martin Luther, in the very first of his Ninety-Five Theses, wrote, "Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance." The Confession does a pretty fair job of fleshing that statement out. Repentance is a somewhat neglected subject in American evangelicalism, at least in my experience (personal and otherwise). We seem to be more comfortable in and with our sins than we really ought. There is such a thing as excessive introspection--Luther himself was guilty of it, to the exasperation of his superiors during his monastic years. Yet it was the intense realization of his utter sinfulness before God that eventually drove him to the foot of the cross and the brilliant realization that the gospel really is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16-17). Blessed is the man to whom God has given true repentance. Doubly blessed is the man who realizes the fruit of repentance.
Tomorrow: The start of good works.
Tomorrow: The start of good works.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Errors Concerning Repentance
1. Roman Catholic penance--According to the Roman Catholic penatential system, baptism provides original justification for the observant member (or, as is more often the case, the infant of members, observant or otherwise). Mortal sin "kills" the grace of justification, forcing the person onto the second plank of justification, which is penance. Penance is both an internal virtue, meritorious and therefore "worthy" of recognition and reward by God, and an external sacrament, which is a good work, consisting of contrition, confession, satisfaction, and absolution. Indeed, through acts of satisfaction (usually a painful or burdensome task) the sinner can and must pay for his own sins and win God's favor. Through proper penance, the observant Roman Catholic is restored to a state of grace with God--he has regained justification.
2. Evangelical Arminian repentance--According to this scheme, repentance precedes regeneration and lies therefore within the ability of natural men. The natural man, truly repenting and placing faith in Christ, is rewarded by God with eternal life. This concept gets the shoe on the wrong foot and inadvertantly turns the gospel of grace into a gospel of works. Man repents and believes and is rewarded for these good works by God.
Tomorrow: A summary of biblical repentance.
2. Evangelical Arminian repentance--According to this scheme, repentance precedes regeneration and lies therefore within the ability of natural men. The natural man, truly repenting and placing faith in Christ, is rewarded by God with eternal life. This concept gets the shoe on the wrong foot and inadvertantly turns the gospel of grace into a gospel of works. Man repents and believes and is rewarded for these good works by God.
Tomorrow: A summary of biblical repentance.
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