Good Works or Filthy Rags?

In my experience as a Calvinist, one of the most cited verses when it comes to talking about the doctrine of Total Depravity is Isaiah 64:6:

We have all become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

It is true that we are unclean because of sin and need to be made clean, but it is that second line that is important. If we come before the Lord and try to justify ourselves by our own good deeds then it is like waving used toilet paper in the face of God. 

The Second London Confession of Faith (1677/1689) summarizes well what how we should consider our good works then in chapter 16.5:

We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin or eternal life at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come, and the infinite distance that is between us and God, whom by them we can neither profit nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins; but when we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants; and because they are good they proceed from his Spirit, and as they are wrought by us they are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection, that they cannot endure the severity of God’s punishment.

Isaiah 64:6 is a great verse to cite when anyone is trying to justify themselves by their own good works. I believe it’s true that if you ask most Americans if they were going to heaven when they died, they would say yes, and the reason they would give is that their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds. But that’s not how biblical justification works. Our obedience – often cited as good deeds – is but what is required of us. It cannot as 2LCF 16.4 states:

They who in their obedience attain to the greatest height which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to supererogate, and to do more than God requires, as that they fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do.

Supererogate is a great old word which means to go above and beyond what is required. But no one is able to do that. In fact, no one can perfectly do what is required of them – that is, except for Christ. 

But I have a concern when it comes to Calvinists, such as myself, continually using Isaiah 64:6 against Christians who are in Christ and now do good works by the power and enabling of the Spirit. Notice what 2LCF 16.5 states above – and because [good works] are good they proceed from his Spirit. Elsewhere in chapter 16 on good works it states: 

Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly form the Spirit of Christ; and that they may be enabled thereunto, besides the graces they have already received, there is necessary an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit, to work in them to will and to do of his good pleasure (16.3)...Yet notwithstanding the persons of believers being accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in him;  not as though they were in this life wholly unblamable and unreprovable in God’s sight, but that he, looking upon them in his Son, is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere, although accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections (16.6).

Several places throughout scripture identify this new reality of the believer. Isaiah 64:6 is a great passage for those who seek to justify themselves by their own righteousness. It will never happen. But it is not a passage that is to be continually used against the believer who has been united to Christ and is being sanctified by the work of the Spirit. In the promise of the new covenant we see in Ezekiel 36:26–27:

²⁶And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

So the promise of the New Covenant will is that of regeneration. We are given a heart of flesh, the Spirit dwells within us, and we are caused to walk in God’s statues and obey his rules – that is, to do good works. Elsewhere, the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8–10:

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Paul is very clear here in his writing – salvation is a gift from God by grace through faith. He upholds what the prophet Isaiah had taught – no one can earn righteousness through their good deeds. But now having been saved by grace through faith, we are now able to do good works because we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. We have a heart of flesh and we have the Spirit who enables and empowers us to walk in these good works that God has prepared for us.  And our good works are acceptable and pleasing to God, as the confession states above – being accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in him;  not as though they were in this life wholly unblamable and unreprovable in God’s sight, but that he, looking upon them in his Son, is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere (16.3). 

So Christian, you are able to do good works by the power of the Spirit. And your good works are acceptable and pleasing to the Lord because they are done in Christ. This is the beauty of justification and sanctification. If you are in Christ, then you can walk in a way that is pleasing to the Lord today.