Word of Salvation – Vol.32 No.46 – December 1987

 

Lord’s Day 24 (DG)

 

Sermon by Rev. D. Groenenboom on Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 24

Reading: Galatians 3:1-14

Singing: 89; BoW.S.39; 230; 311; 493

 

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

One of the most central teachings of the Reformation was that salvation is by grace, through faith.  Anything a person does cannot contribute one bit toward that salvation.  But the confession of “by grace alone” went hand in hand with “by Christ alone”.  And that’s why Lord’s Day 23 says that the only way of being right with God is by faith in Christ.

Now that causes a lot of people problems because they think that their own deeds – the good things they have done through their life – give them a right to enter heaven when this life comes to its end.

I think that’s borne out by our experience with others.  There probably aren’t all that many who believe in Jesus Christ as their only Saviour.  But there sure are a lot who believe that they will go to heaven when they die.  They suppose that they haven’t been such bad people, so God will have no real reason to refuse them entry into His presence.

1. Good Works Cannot Save

But good deeds cannot save anyone.  If anyone here thinks that God will let them into heaven because they’ve been good and not really bad, then they’ve missed the whole point.

For they will not argue with the fact that if heaven belongs to anyone, then it belongs to God.  But here they are setting themselves up as the judge of who should get in and who shouldn’t.  Yes, of course it’s God’s heaven, they say.  But don’t tell me that I don’t qualify!  As far as I’m concerned I do!

Instead of God being the judge of all goodness, they put themselves in that position.  But we say that if it’s God’s heaven, then HE is the one who sets the standards.  And God’s standard, the qualification he sets for all is one of absolute and total perfection.  Flawless conformity to the way He says we should live.

Now that’s pretty different to the way people often think.  They think in terms of being “good enough”, or “getting in”, or reaching some imaginary “pass mark” in goodness.  As it you only have to reach 50%, and after that you are just better than some of the others who manage to pass.  And the criminals, unbelievers, etc., well they’re down in the tens and twenties.  They haven’t got a hope of passing, you know: “Go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200.”

Well, we do have something to say about that.  God sure does have a pass mark, but it’s 100%.  No buts.  Perfection.  Our idea of what the pass mark should be just isn’t up to God’s standard.

Listen to what the Catechism says:

“The righteousness which can pass God’s scrutiny must be entirely perfect and must in every way measure up to the divine law.”

Even if we have amassed a long list of outstanding achievements and works of service to humanity, it will never be long enough or, in fact, good enough to find approval with the God of heaven and earth.  No matter how good, you won’t make it.

Just suppose that we were all in a swimming race.  And the contest was to see who could swim from Port Campbell, or Lady Bay, over to Ulverstone in Tasmania.  We all line up, the good swimmers with the bad.  All get ready to dive in.  BANG goes the gun and we’re off.  Some of us don’t even get the first 100 metres.  Others are going like Grant Kenny and Lisa Curry; they’re already 2000 meters in front of the others.  But five or six hours later, few are left.  Most are drowned, and the next morning, they’re all dead.  Because you can be the very best of swimmers, but no-one will ever swim from Victoria to Tasmania.  It is just impossible.  And the only way that any of them could ever have made it would be if a boat picked them up and took them the rest of the way.

In the same way, you can be the very best of sinners, but your own effort will never bring you to heaven.  And it’s not as it God won’t accept perfect deeds.  He will certainly do that.  But the point is that nothing we do is perfect.  Nothing we do will in every way measure up to His divine law.

The Catechism says that is so because even the very best we do is imperfect and stained with sin.  And sin, even in the very slightest degree, is something that God will not tolerate.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been talking with a person, and all of a sudden he starts to swear like a trooper.  It’s as if a garbage dump in the middle of summer started to pour out of their mouths.  It offends us immensely, all those four-letter words.  But did you know that there are “four-letter verses” in Scripture?  Why don’t you look up Isaiah 64 with me, and have a look at verse 6.

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”

Now I don’t think it’s proper to make a big thing of it, but I should tell you (especially those who think that their good deeds will open up the gates of heaven, and I only feel free to say it because the Bible says it) that here the Bible makes a direct comparison between your very best deeds and a menstrual cloth.  God is as offended by the best thing you do as we are by menstrual cloths.

Now I believe the offence is not so much in the image that is used here, it is not just that our “off” things are bad in the sight of God, but the fact that even the very BEST we can manage is abhorrent to Him.  Unclean, filthy deeds are all that we can manage, even when we do our very best.

You may have saved people’s lives, put your own life at risk for other people.  You may give a large proportion of your wages to a great number of charities; you may give all your spare time for community or church work; but it’s all powerless to bring you to heaven because it is all tainted with sin, and because of that it is offensive in the sight of the God of perfection.

Sin, you see, is a matter of human nature.  It pervades every aspect of man’s being.  It stains and scars even the deeds we would regard as wholesome and lovely.

So if you want to earn entry into heaven by your own goodness, you really are fooling yourself.  You may as well give up right now.  Because the closer you get to the God of holiness, the more you will be haunted by your own un-holiness.  The more you see of God’s purity, the more you will see your own stinking filth that won’t wash off.

If anyone wants to get into heaven because of their goodness, they must realise that all it will bring is a curse!  The law can never save; it can only damn forever, for it calls for total perfection always.  And that is one thing you can never do.

God’s word says:

“All who rely on observing the law (to get into heaven) are under a curse, for it is written, ‘cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the Law’.” (Gal.  3:10).

2. But Good Deeds Are Natural For Those Who Are Saved

Of course, the classic reaction to the statement that good deeds will not open the gates of heaven for us is: “Well, why bother doing anything good anymore?  Why try and please God if nothing we can do will please Him anyway?”

And if we look beneath the question, then the real motive appears.  People are only interested in doing things that will please God as long as they will get something out of it!  At the heart of the question is the root sin of man, that of self-seeking pride, “what will I get out of this obedience?”  “What’s in it for me?”

Such a reaction only arises out of unbelief.

But for the Christian, it’s a whole new ball game.

They don’t ask, “what will I get out of it?” but “how can I show my thanks to Christ for all the love and forgiveness He has freely given me?”

That’s the thing about good deeds.  They cannot get you into heaven, but they still play a very important role in the Christian’s life.

We mentioned before that if anyone wants to win the swimming race from Victoria to Tasmania, what they need is someone to take them in a boat.  Nothing they will do can ever get them there.

Now that’s exactly what Jesus has done for the Christian.  Through his death on the cross, Christ suffered and died for the sins of all those who love Him.  His resurrection showed that God had accepted His sacrifice.  So that means that the imperfection, sin and guilt of a person is removed when he believes in Christ as Lord and Saviour.  And there is just no other way of being cleansed from your sin and evil.  It can only be done through the Lord Jesus Christ, and your believing in him.  Salvation comes through FAITH.  It is God’s grace in Christ which has opened up the doors of heaven.

But the Christian looks at the self-giving love of the Saviour and cannot help but do good deeds in response.  It is, as we read in Rom.12:1,2 done as a thankful response to the mercy of God.  When Christ suffered to that extent for me, it’s only natural that I show my gratitude by doing deeds He’s called me to do.

But I say “is that really so?”  Is that what you really think?  Does the love of Christ make good deeds flow from your life?

Why is it that we get so tired of doing good?  Why is it that the church always has such a hard task trying to convince people that they should get their priorities straightened out?  Why is it so hard to make the second service, or to get to Bible Study, or to read the Bible, or to give faithfully to the church?

Hey!  Have you become tired of the blessing of God?  Aren’t you thankful for what He’s giving you?  Forgiveness of all your sin and guilt; eternal life in Christ; the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit.  Don’t you want to be thankful for that?

Then why are you often too tired to thank God with works of gratitude?  I think it often happens that way because we do not allow ourselves to be reminded of what God has done for us in Christ.  We neglect our reading of God’s word, and then wonder why our faith seems to lack something.

And I think it takes something like Lord’s Day 24 to get us back in gear again.  For if good deeds, the fruit of gratitude, are the only possible reaction, the only natural reaction for those who are truly grafted into Christ, then we’ve been engaging in some pretty abnormal behaviour!

It is impossible for those grafted into Christ by true faith not to produce fruits of gratitude.

So how can we tire of doing the things God calls us to do; how can we become weary in offering up a life of service in thankfulness?  Service is the only possible response for those who truly know the love of Jesus Christ!

It is both an honour and a privilege to do so.  God has given us the gracious gift of eternal life in His Son.  And He has also provided a beautiful way we can show our thanks to Him.  And it is the way of Christian service.

Good deeds will never be enough to open up the gates of heaven for anyone.  But once Christ has opened up those gates through the good work of His death and resurrection, our good deeds become the only possible and natural response to God for His boundless mercy.

Amen.