A Summary by the Old School Baptists on the Bible's teaching on Good Works
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 intentions.
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 glory God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ
Jesus thereunto, that having their fruit unto holiness they may have the end
eternal life.
3. Their ability to do good works is not all
of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ;10 and that they may be
enabled thereunto, besides the graces they have already received, there is
necessary an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit, to work in them and to
will and to do of his good pleasure;11 yet they are 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.
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.
5. 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 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
punishment.
6. Yet notwithstanding the persons of
believers being accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in
him; not as though they were in this life wholly unblamable and unreprovable in
God’s sight, but that he, looking upon them in his Son, is pleased to accept
and reward that which is sincere, although accompanied with many weaknesses and
imperfections.
7. Works done by unregenerate men, although
for the matter of them they may things which God commands, and of good use both
to themselves and to others; yet because they proceed not from a heart purified
by faith, nor are done in a right manner according to the Word, nor to a right
end, the glory of God, they are therefore sinful, and cannot please God, nor
make a man meet to receive the grace from God, and yet their neglect of them is
more sinful and displeasing to God.
(Chapter 16 of the 1689 CoF)
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Good works are first and foremost owed to the
LORD our God; then to those of the household of faith, and fellow men.
Matthew 22:
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all
the law and the prophets.
Galatians 6
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us
do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
