1) Good works are only such as God hath commanded in
his Holy Word,a and not such as without the
warrant thereof are devised by men out of blind zeal, or upon any
pretence of good intentions.b
(a Micah
6:8, Hebrews
13:21; b Matthew
15:9, Isaiah
29:13)
2) These good works, done in obedience to God's
commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively
faith;c and by them believers manifest their
thankfulness,d strengthen their
assurance,e edify their brethren, adorn the
profession of the gospel,f stop the mouths of
the adversaries, and glorify God,g whose
workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus
thereunto,h that having their fruit unto
holiness they may have the end eternal
life.i
(c James
2:18,22; d Psalms
116:12,13; e 1 John
2:3,5, 2 Peter
1:5-11; f Matthew
5:16; g 1 Timothy
6:1, 1 Peter
2:15, Philippians 1:11;
h Ephesians 2:10;
i Romans
6:22)
3) Their ability to do good works is not at all of
themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of
Christ;j 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 to will and to do of his good
pleasure;k yet they are 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.l
(j John
15:4,5; k 2
Corinthians 3:5, Philippians 2:13;
l Philippians 2:12, Hebrews 6:11,12, Isaiah 64:7)
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.m
(m Job
9:2,3, Galatians 5:17, Luke
17:10)
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;n 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,o 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.p
(n Romans
3:20, Ephesians 2:8,9, Romans 4:6;
o Galatians 5:22,23;
p Isaiah 64:6, Psalms 143:2)
6) Yet notwithstanding the persons of believers being
accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in
him;q not as though they were in this life
wholly unblameable 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.r
(q Ephesians 1:6, 1 Peter
2:5; r Matthew
25:21,23, Hebrews
6:10)
7) Works done by unregenerate men, although for the
matter of them they may be things which God commands, and of good
use both to themselves and others;s yet because
they proceed not from a heart purified by
faith,t nor are done in a right manner
according to the word,u nor to a right end, the
glory of God,v they are therefore sinful, and
cannot please God, nor make a man meet to receive grace from
God,w and yet their neglect of them is more
sinful and displeasing to God.x
(s 2 Kings
10:30, 1 Kings
21:27,29; t Genesis
4:5, Hebrews
11:4,6; u 1
Corinthians 13:1; v Matthew
6:2,5; w Amos
5:21,22, Romans
9:16, Titus
3:5; x Job
21:14,15, Matthew
25:41-43)