Articles on the Westminster Confession
by Gordon H. Clark
The Word of God (WCF 1)
Creeds
Knowledge and Ignorance
The Trinity (WCF 2)
A Hard Saying (WCF 3)
Providence (WCF 5)
Creation (WCF 4)
Healthy, Sick, or Dead? (WCF 6)
The Covenant (WCF 7)
Christ the Mediator (WCF 8)
Justification (WCF 11)
Sanctification (WCF 13)
Free Will (WCF 9)
Effectual Calling (WCF 10)
Adoption (WCF 12)
The Law of God (WCF 19)
Assurance (WCF 18)
Saving Faith (WCF 14)
Repentance (WCF 15)
Good Works (WCF 16)
Christian Liberty (WCF 20)
Perseverance (WCF 17)
Worship and Vows (WCF 21, 22)
The Sacraments (WCF 27)
Baptism (WCF 28)
The Church (WCF 25)
The Civil Magistrate (WCF 23)
The Lord's Supper (WCF 29)
Censures and Councils (WCF 30, 31)
Resurrection and Judgment (WCF 32, 33)
Many people in the pews, and not merely liberal ministers in the pulpits, express a distaste for doctrine and theology. They want something practical. Well, who can deny that good works are practical?
Unfortunately for those who dislike theology and a detailed confessional statement, there cannot be much progress in good works unless it is known what works are good and what works are evil. And who can deny that a definition of good works is theological, doctrinal, and creedal? The popular disjunction between doctrine and practice, between theology and life, between knowing and doing, is a false one. The theory of practice must precede the practice of theory.
What then are good works? Are they those actions a benevolently intentioned gentleman may happen to enjoy? Is a substantial donation to an orphanage, hospital, or church a good work? Strange as it may seem to non-Christians, and even to uninstructed Christians, the answer is that these actions are not necessarily good. They may be good; but again they may not be. What then makes a work or action good?
Two requirements must be fulfilled before an act can properly be called good. The Confession says, "Good works are only such as God hath commanded in his holy word, and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men out of blind zeal, or upon any pretense of good intention."
The first part of this section teaches that unless we had the Bible, it would be impossible to know what is good and what is evil. To be sure, the heathen know that there is a distinction between right and wrong; and they regularly violate their consciences; but they do not know in particular what acts are right because their consciences are unenlightened. The Biblical revelation is essential to a knowledge of what works are good.
The second part of this same section teaches the same truth in a negative form. Without the warrant of the Bible an act done with good intentions is not a good work. Similarly, the blind zeal and arrogant authority of Romanism imposes practices, such as genuflection, crossing oneself, using holy water, kissing the big toe of St. Peter's image, which are not good works at all. Since they are beside the commandments of God, they are superstitious practices that God abominates. These are the things Paul had in mind in Col. 2:18,23, where he speaks of the sins of voluntary humility and will worship.
Thus the first requirement for a good work is that it be commanded by God. But why was it said that a donation to an orphanage may not be a good work? Surely God commands us to take care of the widows and orphans in their affliction. This paradox is removed by considering the second requirement for a good work.
"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; yet because they proceed not from a heart purified by faith, nor are done in a right manner according to the word, nor to a right end, the glory of God; they are therefore sinful and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God. And yet their neglect of them is more sinful and displeasing unto God." (sec. vii) .
Because a good work must proceed from a heart purified by faith, it follows that men's "ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ. And that they may be enabled thereunto . . . there is required an actual influence of the Holy Spirit to work in them to will and to do of his good pleasure" (sec. iii). Thus while good works are done voluntarily and not against our wishes and desires, they are not the result of a "free" will independent of God. God in his sovereign grace changes our desires and makes us willing.
In conclusion, for these articles must be extremely brief, no matter how great the totality of our good works, they do not merit pardon for sin or eternal life. Contrary to the modernist and Romanist theories of salvation by works, Calvinism teaches that when we have done all we can, we are still unprofitable servants. The Roman notion that some men can do actually more than God requires, and that the extra merits earned by these men avail for other less energetic sinners, is a Satanic delusion. Christ alone has satisfied the justice of his Father, and he has satisfied it perfectly. Deo soli gratia.