Article 16: Faith Alone Justifies, But Not The Faith That Stands Alone. Series

ARTICLE 16. GOOD WORKS

• THE BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH 1689. ARTICLE 16. Good Works

Good works are only those works which God has commanded in His Holy Word. Works which do not have the warrant of Scripture, and are devised by men out of blind zeal, or upon any pretence of good intentions are not good works.

Good works, performed in obedience to God’s commandments, are these: the fruits and evidences of a true and living faith. By these believers express and show 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 to perform good works, and to have fruits of holiness which lead to eternal life.

Their ability to do these good works does not in any way come from themselves, but comes wholly from the Spirit of Christ. To enable them to do good works, alongside the graces which they have already received, it is necessary for there to be a further real influence of the same Holy Spirit to cause them to will and to do of His good pleasure. But believers are not, on these grounds, to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless given a special motion by the Spirit, but they must be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them.

Those who attain the greatest height which is possible in this life in their obedience to God, are still so far from being able to supererogate, and to do more than God requires, that they fall short of much which they are bound to do in their duty to God.

We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin or eternal life from the hand of God because of the great disproportion between our best works and the glory to come, and because of the infinite distance which is between us and God. With our works we cannot profit or satisfy God concerning the debt we owe on account of our sins. When we have done all we can, we have only done our duty, and are still unprofitable servants. And in any case, in so far as our works are good they originate from the work of the Holy Spirit. Even then, the good works are so defiled by us, and so mixed with weakness and imperfection, that they could not survive the severity of God’s judgement.

Yet, quite apart from the fact that believers are accepted through Christ as individual souls, their good works are also accepted through Christ. It is not as though the believers are (in this life) wholly unblameable and unreprovable in God’s sight, but because He looks upon them in His Son, and is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere, although it is accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections.

Works performed by unregenerate men, although they may in essence be things which God commands, and they may be good and beneficial both to themselves and others, yet because they do not proceed from a heart purified by faith, and are not done in a right manner according to the Word, and because it is not their underlying purpose to bring glory to God, therefore they are sinful, and cannot please God, nor can they make a man fit to receive grace from God. And yet, for unregenerate men to neglect such works is even more sinful and displeasing to God.

MANY RELIGIOUS PEOPLE TODAY WILL ‘TALK THE TALK’ - ( PROFESS FAITH IN CHRIST ) - ( HAVE ALL THEIR THEOLOGICAL BOXES TICKED) - ( THEY ATTEND ALL THE RELIGIOUS SERVICES) - (THEY LIVE OUT A PIOUS RELIGIOUS LIFE BEFORE A WATCHING WORLD – THEY SPEAK ABOUT PEACE AND GOOD WILL TO ALL) -( THEY JUMP THROUGH ALL THE RIGHT HOOPS). BUT THE REAL ACID TEST IS NOT WHETHER WE SIMPLY ‘TALK THE TALK’ BUT WHETHER WE ‘WALK THE WALK.

JEAN-FRANÇOIS GRAVELET WAS KNOWN AS “THE GREAT BLONDIN” A TIGHTROPE WALKER AND IN 1855 THE GREAT BLONDIN WENT TO THE USA . HERE HIS CELEBRITY AND FORTUNE WAS OWED TO HIS IDEA OF CROSSING THE GORGE BELOW THE NIAGARA FALLS ON A TIGHTROPE, 1100 FEET (335 M) LONG, 160 FEET (50 M) ABOVE THE WATER. THIS HE ACCOMPLISHED, FIRST ON 30 JUNE 1859, A NUMBER OF TIMES, ALWAYS WITH DIFFERENT THEATRIC VARIATIONS:

AT SOME POINT DURING HIS AMAZING FEAT HE TURNED TO HIS LARGE AUDIENCE, WHICH INCLUDED NUMEROUS REPORTERS FROM VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS, AND HE ASKED THEM, “HOW MANY BELIEVE I CAN WALK ACROSS THIS TIGHTROPE OVER THE FALLS PUSHING A WHEELBARROW?” PEOPLE CHEERED LOUDLY — THEY WERE SURE THE GREAT BLONDIN COULD DO IT. THEN HE ASKED, “HOW MANY BELIEVE I CAN PUSH A WHEELBARROW ACROSS THE TIGHTROPE WITH A MAN SITTING IN IT?” AGAIN, THERE WAS A LOUD RESPONSE. BLONDIN THEN POINTED TO ONE OF THE MOST ENTHUSIASTIC MEN IN THE AUDIENCE, AND SAID, “OKAY, YOU GET INTO THE WHEELBARROW.” NEEDLESS TO SAY, THE MAN FAILED TO STEP FORWARD.