Hebrews
6:10-12 God is not unjust so as to overlook your
work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as
you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to
have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish,
but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Good works are only those
works identified as good by God and commanded by him in his holy Word. They do
not include other works, no matter how well-intentioned in design or zealously
promoted by men.
These good works, done in
obedience to God’s commandments, are the fruit and evidence of a true and
living faith. By them believers show their thankfulness, strengthen their
assurance of salvation, edify their brothers in the Lord, and become ornaments
of all those who profess the gospel. Good works in believers silence the
criticism of the enemies of the gospel. They also glorify God by showing that
believers are the workmanship and creation of Jesus Christ, because their aim
is that holiness of living which leads to eternal life.
Believers get the ability to
do good works entirely from the Spirit of Christ. In addition to the other
particular effects of God’s grace already received, believers must be directed
by the Holy Spirit in order to will and to do what pleases God. However, they
are not therefore to grow spiritually lazy, waiting for some special guidance
from the Spirit before doing anything commanded by God. Rather, they should
diligently attempt to identify what good works God has commanded in his Word
and then try their best to do all of them, praying earnestly and daily for the
empowering and enabling of the Holy Spirit, who lives in them.
Those believers who do the
best that can be done in obeying God in this life can never do more or even as
much as he requires. Indeed they fall short of much which they are bound to do.
The Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith
