The Works That God Enjoins upon Man
By D. T. Bourdeau
SAVING FAITH, OR THE FAITH THAT WORKS. NO. 2.
The Works That God Enjoins upon Man.
THE works that God enjoins upon man in his word are, (1) those that are primary, and (2) those that are remedial. By primary works I mean those works which were good before the fall of man, that are good now, and that will be good eternally. These works are, in the highest sense, reflective of God's moral character, and are enjoined by the law termed moral, by the law of Ten Commandments. It is disregarding these works, or doing works that are contrary to them, that constitutes sin, which is by Inspiration declared to be “the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. It was because these works had been disregarded that the plan of salvation was devised; and one great object of faith, which occupies so prominent a place in the plan of salvation, is to enable man to do these works, which still have the sanction of Heaven. By remedial works we mean those works which grow out of the fact that divine love and divine wisdom have appointed Jesus as a remedy against sin. Prominent among these are prayer, baptism, the Lord's supper, etc. We call these works remedial, not because we think that there is virtue in them, separately considered, to remove sin, or to heal the wounds that sin has made, but because they grow out of, and relate to, the precious truth that heaven has provided us a Saviour. These works were not known before man sinned. They never would have been known or enjoined if man had not sinned. They are conspicuous in the plan of salvation, and will cease to be obligatory upon man when the object of that plan shall have been met. But then, and during the endless cycles of eternity, shall primeval works—the works of righteousness wrought by those who will have accepted and conformed to the plan of salvation—be a sure and blessed indication of holiness of character, and a tribute of love and gratitude to God and to his divine Son. Primary works are the same in every age. But not so with some of the remedial works. For instance, works by which it was formerly shown that a Saviour was to come (as the offering of sacrifices, etc.), have been replaced by works by which it is shown that a Saviour has come (as the celebration of the Lord's death by partaking of the Lord's supper, Matt. 26:17–29; 1 Cor. 11:23–26). All the works that God enjoins upon us are embraced in these two kinds of works, and are clearly pointed out and defined in the Holy Scriptures, of which Paul says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, THOROUGHLY FURNISHED UNTO ALL GOOD WORKS.” 2 Tim. 3:16, 17. If the man of God is thoroughly furnished unto all good works by the Holy Scriptures, is it not clearly evident that those works which the Holy Scriptures do not prescribe are not good works? And if they are not good works, what are they? Man's Inability to Merit Pardon, Justification, and Salvation by His Works.
“Whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” and “without faith it is impossible to please God.” These are positive declarations of Holy Writ. See Rom. 14:23; Heb. 11:6. Imperfection and sin are stamped upon every work of ours that is not wrought through faith. In order that works may be agreeable to God, they must be accomplished through love for God and love for man; but this can not be done without that faith which works through love. Gal. 5:6. Our works—works that are not wrought by the help that comes through faith—must necessarily savor of self. They are marked by selfishness, which is a most heinous sin in the eyes of God and of all holy beings. How, then, can we think of meriting pardon, justification, and salvation by our own works, which are “as filthy rags”? Isa. 64:6. How can we even harbor the thought that it is possible for us to merit these inestimable blessings by faith as a mental action, or by works wrought through faith? To see the futility of such a thought, let us place ourselves at conversion and answer the following questions: Can we by a mental action of one moment, or of a few moments, involving the recognition of guilt, of grievous sins committed, merit the pardon of sins against God and man that we have been years in committing? Can we by such a brief act merit to be pronounced as righteous by the Lord as we would have been had we always done the works of righteousness? Can we by this brief mental act merit to be saved from sin and its sad effects? And can we, in truth, be said to merit any blessing that God may bestow upon us, by works of faith, by works wrought through God's grace, or unmerited favor? It is Jesus, the ever blessed Jesus, who has merited for us these blessings of priceless value, and he has merited them for us because we could not merit them for ourselves. How inconsistent, then, it would be to cherish the thought that sinful mortals can earn their pardon, justification, and salvation by their prayers, by being baptized, by celebrating the Lord's supper, or by doing (or trying to do) any other work that God enjoins upon us, whether it be moral or remedial in its character! And if we can not earn these blessings by performing works that God has ordained, how can we expect to earn them by doing works that God has never ordained, and which may be safely pronounced sinful, because they owe their origin to that wisdom which exalts itself above God's wisdom? But this is the great error into which most of our race have fallen. The hundreds of millions that compose the heathen world think that they can appease the wrath of an offended God, atone for their sins, and merit salvation, by making long pilgrimages, repeating long and meaningless prayers, and by torturing themselves before their idols. The Mohammedans make pilgrimages to Mecca, and do other works that God has never commanded them to do, and they, too, connect with what they do the idea that they can merit God's favor. And who can say that among the millions of Christians of to-day, there are none who think that they can atone or partly atone for their sins, and merit or partly merit their salvation by their works? The only remedy for all who have fallen into this serious error is to abhor and humble themselves in dust and ashes in view of their unworthiness, their moral weakness, and the multitude and enormity of their sins, and to exercise living, saving faith in Jesus Christ, who has merited for them pardon, justification, and salvation, because he knows that they could not merit them for themselves. Man Can Not Justify Himself.
Justification means the act of pronouncing just or righteous, and the moral law is the rule by which to determine whether a man is just or not. If man had never sinned, or transgressed the law (1 John 3:4), he would stand to-day unperverted, well balanced, and in his primeval strength, uprightness, and glory, and could merit justification by the works of the law. But man having sinned, the case is altered. His faculties are so perverted and unbalanced, and he is so destitute of moral strength, that he can not meet the demands of the law, or do works of righteousness that are pleasing to God. And as the law of God is a perfect rule of justice or righteousness, it is utterly impossible for those who have sinned to produce, even by the grace of God, works of righteousness that exceed the demands of the law for the present, and that can cancel his sins and replace his unrighteousness, so that he can be said to be righteous. This has ever been true since the fall. And if man has never since the fall been able to merit his justification by attempting to do the works of the moral law, was it possible for man before Christ to merit his justification by doing the works of the typical or ceremonial law? And is it possible for man since Christ to merit justification by doing the works that replace the works of the ceremonial law? It were the height of inconsistency to think that so rich a boon could be merited by works of such a character, or by any of the works we have termed remedial. Let us take as an illustration the offering of sacrifices formerly enjoined by the typical law, and partaking of the Lord's supper, and going forward in the ordinance of baptism, now required under the Gospel. Those who offered sacrifices after God's plan under former dispensations, did so for various objects, prominent among which were the following: (1) To help them humbly to repent of their sins or transgressions of the law. (2) To help them exercise faith in the Saviour to come for the remission of sins, for justification, for strength to keep God's law, and for salvation. Was there any merit in these works?—None at all. Those who performed these works properly declared themselves unworthy, unworthy, unworthy, and in perishing need of pardon, justification, of divine aid to do the will of God, and of final salvation. The same is now true of those who commemorate the Saviour's death by partaking of the Lord's supper, and who commemorate his burial and resurrection by baptism (Luke 22:15–20; 1 Cor. 11:23–26; Rom. 6:3–5; Col. 2:12), and offer prayers to God in harmony with the plan of salvation.7 We will suppose that you, reader, are the head of a family. A beggar comes to your door. He has never merited any favor from you. On the contrary, he has dishonored you by disregarding the rules of your house, by doing his utmost to lead your children to do the same, and even by insulting you to your face on various occasions. But now he falls on his knees before you, asks you to overlook his offenses, and to give him food, clothing, and some means. Your heart is touched, and you grant him his request. He then turns around and boasts that he has merited all you have given him. A thousand times more inconsistent would it be for us, poor, sinful, fallen, and perverted mortals, to pretend that we can, by our works, merit pardon, justification, and salvation.