THE NATURE OF GOOD WORKS

By Gary Ray Branscome

Because “No living person is righteous” in the sight of God, because no one “Will ever be justified in God’s sight by the deeds of the law,” and because “All of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” in the sight of God; the only people who can do works that are truly good in the sight of God are those who trust in Christ, those whose sins have been washed away through faith in His blood (Psalm 143:2, Romans 3:20, Isaiah 64:6, 1John 1:7). And, unlike the law, which motivates by fear, faith “produces works through love” (Galatians 5:6).

Those who seek righteousness through the law know that they fall short, although they usually try to block it out of their mind. Sometimes they delude themselves into thinking that God will somehow overlook their shortcomings because of their intent or effort. However, Joshua warned them saying, “God… will not overlook your transgressions or your sins” (Joshua 24:19). And, the words, “Whoever keeps the whole law, yet fails in one point, is guilty of all,” add another warning (James 2:10). They need to seek God’s mercy instead of deluding themselves. For God assures us that, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1John 1:9). And, David said, “I have trusted in your mercy; my heart will rejoice in your salvation” (Psalm 13:5).

One important part of our sanctification involves training our conscience in order to bring it into agreement with the Word of God. This is important because our “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,” (Jeremiah 17:9). And, because the heart is deceitful, people are more likely to rationalize their sin than seek God’s forgiveness. The words, “Do not be conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” tell us that we need to stop making excuses for sin (Romans 12:2). On the other hand, the words, “The entire law is summed up in one command, You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” warn us against twisting God’s law into an excuse to be mean (Galatians 5:14). For example: I once was talking with a young man when an obese woman walked by. At that moment he said, “Boy is she fat” in a voice loud enough for her to hear. When I asked him why he would say such a thing, he replied, “We are supposed to be honest”. That kind of “honesty” is totally unchristian. God does not want us to deceive each other, but He does not want us to be rude and unkind either.

The words, “By one offering He [Christ] has perfected for ever those who are sanctified,” tell us that every thought, word, and deed of believers who walk in love, having “a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith,” is a good work in the sight of God (Hebrews 10:14, 1Timothy 1:5). As it is written, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). And, again, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Romans 4:8).

The following passages testify to the importance of a clean conscience before God. “To the pure everything is pure: but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; both their mind and conscience is defiled” (Titus 1:15 see 3:9). But, “We… have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not resorting to craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by clearly speaking the truth we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2Corinthians 4:1-2). And, “Our rejoicing is this, our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves, in the world and especially toward you, in sincerity and singleness of heart, not in accord with fleshly wisdom, but in accord with the grace of God” (2Corinthians 1:12). “Holding the mystery of the faith in a clean conscience,” // “which some by disregarding have made shipwreck of their faith” (1Timothy 3:9 and 1:19).

Furthermore, as Christians, Scripture is to be our sole source, standard, and judge of what is right and what is wrong in the sight of God. The words, “Do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left,” warn us not to add to or take from what the Bible says (Deuteronomy 28:14). I stress this because there are many outside influences working to twist, distort and pervert our ideas of right and wrong. At the time of Christ, the Pharisees boasted of being “the strictest sect” of the Jewish religion (Acts 26:5). Yet the words, “You load men down with burdens they can hardly bear, and you yourselves do not touch those burdens with one of your fingers,” reveal the fact that whenever keeping the law was inconvenient, the Pharisees rationalized sin (Luke 11:46). Jesus gave one example of that, when He said, “You hypocrites… You completely invalidate the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition. For Moses said, Honor your father and mother; and anyone who curses his father or mother, let him be put to death: But you say, If a man will say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is a gift, by which you might profit by me; he shall be free. And you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of no effect through your tradition,” (Mark 7:6-13). And, just like it was then, there are many today who want to “load men down with burdens they can hardly bear,” by making righteousness depend on works (Luke 11:46). At the same time, there are others who justify, rationalize and encourage wickedness, including all manner of sexual sin and perversion. Such rationalization is totally anti-Christian, and training the conscience includes totally eradicating that kind of thinking from your heart.

Christ accused the Pharisees of “Making the word of God of no effect,” by their rationalizations (Mark 7:13). And, they made it of “no effect” by teaching men to excuse sin, rather than repent. Because the law was given as a “schoolmaster to bring us to Christ,” excusing sin rendered it ineffective (Galatians 3:24). That is why contradicting God’s Word, or trying to get around what it says, is such a serious matter.

By rationalizing sin the Pharisees, “Rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the most High,” and in the eyes of God, “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and defiance is as iniquity and idolatry” (Psalm 107:11, 1Samuel 15:23). By exalting their own word over the Word of God, the Pharisees were usurping God’s authority, in effect deifying themselves. And, all who add to God’s Word by teaching made-up doctrines [such as theistic evolution etc.] as the Word of God, or explaining away what the Bible plainly says, are guilty of the sin of self-deification. Of this sin Luther said:

"Scripture calls it a most horrible sorcery, idolatry, and idol-service not to listen to the Word of God, but to purpose to do something without or against God's Word; and this is indeed a most dreadful verdict, especially when you see how common this is and how much it is done in the world." (Martin Luther, St. L., I, 866.)

At the same time, as long as we are not being told to do something wrong, we need to go along with what our leaders say. This is important, because having a clean conscience is important. That is why we are told to be subject to rulers, “Not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake” (Romans 13:5). Furthermore, in the past, evil rulers have used rebellion on the part of some Christians as an excuse to persecute all Christians, and that is the devil’s work. However, we always need to beware of those who would make God’s favor depend on what we do, or rationalize and excuse sin. And, the words, “We ought to obey God rather than men,” tell us that whenever man’s word contradicts God’s Word, we are to obey God (Acts 5:29).

With the words, “Observe and practice whatever they tell you; but do not do what they do: for they do not do what they say,” Jesus told His disciples to go ahead and comply with the rules required by the Pharisees (Matthew 23:3). That was good advice for Jewish believers, not only for conscience sake, but because non-compliance would only become an excuse for persecution. At the same time, they were not to pervert the rules the way the Pharisees did, by imagining that rule keeping would bring God’s favor, or by excusing sin.

The words, “Listen to those who lead the congregation, and follow their guidance: for they watch for your souls, as men who must give account, so that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for that is not to your advantage,” tell us to comply with the leaders of the congregation (Hebrews 13:17). That is important for those who are spiritually immature, because they are not going to learn if they ignore what they are being taught. At the same time, those who are spiritually mature need to set a good example, and not hinder the work of the congregation with unnecessary controversy. However, the words, “Beware of false prophets,” and “We ought to obey God rather than men,” warn us that when congregational leaders teach or do what is contrary to the Word of God we must take action. And, in most cases that will involve following the steps of Matthew eighteen, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone: if he will hear you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not listen, then take one or two others with you, so that every word may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church: but if he refuses to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen man and a publican” (Matthew 18:15-17). Or the words, “I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say,” and “Reject a man who is a heretic after the first and second warning” (1Corinthians 10:15, Titus 3:10).