Dead Works
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Twice in Paul’s epistles he refers to
“dead works”. In Hebrews 6:1 he writes about “repentance
from dead works”, while in Hebrews
9:14 he declares that the blood of
Christ avails to “purge the conscience from dead works to serve the
living God”.
Mark well, these references are not to
wicked works but to
dead works. These
“dead works” are the so-called “good works”
(whether moral or ceremonial) which men did — and still do — to
make themselves acceptable to God. They are “dead” because they
are not the product of regeneration or spiritual life, but the mere attempt
on the part of unregenerate sinners to justify themselves before God.
Paul himself, once zealously religious, but wholly unsaved, had to
repudiate his “dead works” and count them “loss” to
find salvation in Christ, through whom alone he could produce good works
which God could accept. (See Philippians 3:4-9).
This is why he later declared by divine inspiration: “For by grace
are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast, for we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works…”
(Eph.2:8-10).
“Dead works” are not only unacceptable to God, but an evil
substitute for the faith He desires, “for without faith it is
impossible to please God” (Heb.11:6). But “he that believeth on
the Son of God hath life” and this life is bound to bear
fruit– the good works with which God is truly pleased.
The difference between the “good works” of the unregenerate
man and the “good works” of a true believer, then, is that the
former are “dead works” while the latter are the precious fruit
of life possessed.
No man can please God while he denies the truth of His Word or rejects
His Son, so graciously given to die on the cross as our Saviour. To try to
win His favor by “good works” while rejecting Christ is like
sending a gift to a man whose beloved son you spurn and despise.
“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His
hands. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that
believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on
him” (John
3:35,36).
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To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by
Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of
these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this
word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two
Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so
that local, national and international events are discussed as if they
occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles,
we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt,
would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand
that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in
these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are
timeless.
