Why Can’t an Unbeliever’s Good Works Please God?
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It’s hard for the unconverted heart to receive the truth that we are, apart from Christ, in a state of perpetual rebellion against God (Rom. 8:7). Such a notion grates against our reason, our own self-assessment, and our experience. “Surely God doesn’t despise the good things I do,” we conclude. Such an aversion to the truth of our depravity came to light in a recent gospel conversation I had with a young man.
This man had been recently attending a local church, but he had yet to hear the gospel. I was grieved to hear that he had no acquaintance with the good news because he was presently attending an evangelical church. Nevertheless, I took a few minutes to explain to him the basic truths of the gospel—the reality of God’s holiness (Isa. 6:1-3), the nature of our sin (Rom. 3:10-18), the condition of the unredeemed heart (Jer. 17:9; Eph. 2:1-3), God’s solution in Christ’s death and resurrection (Rom. 3:21-26), and the appropriate response to these truths: repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 4:17; Rom. 4:5; 2 Cor. 7:10-11).
“I have a problem with that.”
As is often the case in these gospel conversations, this young man was troubled by hearing that nothing he did apart from Christ could please God. He couldn’t countenance the idea that all the noble things he had accomplished in serving others and in being a good friend were not pleasing to God. “I have a problem with that,” he said. Indeed.
In truth, we all have a problem with such devastating news until God graciously opens our hearts to believe that, “There is none righteous, no not one….There is no one who does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:10, 12), and helps us to see Jesus as our all-sufficient Savior.
When sharing the gospel, it’s important to remember that humans are naturally religious and designed by God for worship (Rom. 1:18-25). Ever since the fall, we’ve been on an intentional trajectory away from the one true God, but worship we must, so we invent all kinds of religions and labor to soothe our consciences with self-made rituals and good works.
But when people find it difficult to grasp why God doesn’t accept their good deeds, I like to offer a few illustrations to help them better understand their standing with God and the nature of the good works. One illustration I like to use involves an estranged neighbor and my front lawn.
Good works done outside of Christ are pure presumption.
Let’s say a man who had committed a crime against me some years earlier recently moved into my neighborhood. He never reconciled with me or sought to repair any damages at the time of the incident, so we are presently estranged from one another. But unbeknownst to both of us, he now only lives a block from my home, and every morning he walks past my house for his daily exercise.
One day, out of zeal to help his unknown neighbor, he picks up some trash out of my yard. The next day he surveys my landscape, concludes that it needs some work, and trims a few hedges and prunes some of my trees.
When I see my yard the next day, however, I am upset. Why? Because I didn’t want those hedges trimmed—I wanted them to grow larger. And that tree shouldn’t have been pruned because it is the wrong part of the season. Out of zeal to help his anonymous neighbor, this man acted presumptuously, and his efforts were harmful, not helpful.
So the next day I wait on my porch for the person who had recently decided it his prerogative to care for my landscape. But when I recognize him, I say, “Friend, we have been estranged with each other for many years. Let us be reconciled. I am ready and eager to forgive your wrong to me.” Sadly, he responds, “No. I have done nothing wrong. I refuse to admit any fault,” and then continues on his way.
Over the next few days, his guilt starts to bother him. But instead of coming to my door, admitting his wrong, and asking for my forgiveness, he sets himself to really helping with my landscape. He is not presently in a right relationship with me, nor has he taken the time to learn what I want done to my yard. But because he thinks highly of himself as a helpful neighbor and skilled landscaper, and in order to ease his troubled conscience, he begins to really go to town on my yard. Trees are felled, bushes are removed and replaced, and hedges are vigorously trimmed. In truth, he is destroying my yard and aggravating the situation between us. He is far from pleasing me. But in his mind, he is helping me and making up for the wrong he committed against me few years ago.
The problem with our religious good works is that we are attempting to “serve God” or “do good things” without being in a right relationship with God and without understanding how he wants to be served. Our good works are pure presumption and cannot be the means by which we are reconciled to God. We are like that self-important, unrepentant neighbor who was unwilling to confess his sins and humbly learn how the homeowner wanted his yard to be cared for.
We need Christ, not more good works.
What we need, therefore, is not to perform more good works, but to trust in Jesus’ perfect obedience to the Father. In everything the Son did, he pleased God. The Lord Jesus Christ obeyed God the Father in his every thought, emotion, word, and deed, so that he can stand in our place as our Savior. We now have Christ’s real-time righteousness that he achieved during his earthly life. We also have Christ’s death on the cross where he died in our place to pay in full the penalty of sin that we deserve.
Once we come through the narrow gate of repentance and faith in Christ, we then can pursue genuine obedience and service to God (see Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 2:14). We will be filled and guided by God’s Spirit and directed by his Word. No longer will we be ignoring our guilt and audaciously attempting to right our wrongs with more ill-informed good works. Rather, we will rest in Christ and serve the Lord with gladness, according to his Word and will.
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This article was originally published under the title “Why An Unbeliever’s Good Works Can’t Please God: An Illustration” at withallwisdom.com.
