Divine good vs. human good

The futility of human do-goodism

I suppose that at some time or other everyone has a noble thought. Probably even the worst characters who ever lived have had some kind of a noble thought, even if only in childhood. Perhaps you can recall a time when you said, “I’d like to do something that really counts. I’d like to do something for people. Pd like to be able to help people and to help them in a permanent fashion.”

You can hardly read history without wanting to do something for people. And yet the first thing you learn from history is that even the greatest people who have ever lived have had very little influence beyond their own generation, much less forever.

One of the most brilliant men of all time, Julius Caesar, had a tremendous influence, not only on his own generation, but for nearly five hundred years thereafter. He restored order out of chaos and brought to an end civil war and bloodshed which had been going on within the Roman Republic for over a hundred years. In five years’ time, he developed a system which made it possible for Rome to continue for approximately another five hundred years. Now, here is a very rare man, one out of millions, who was able in his own lifetime to do something that had influence for several generations; yet, in spite of his genius, the Roman Empire eventually fell.

A study of the brief history of our own country will reveal some very noble and very wonderful men; yet their influence rarely extended much beyond their day — sometimes for a generation or two — after which their influence all seems to disappear. As we consider our own country today, we wonder where is all of the nobility, where is all of the tremendous thinking and the

power and the ability of those men whose concepts and ideas have complied with the Word of God and made our nation a wonderful country? And as you contemplate the entire world, you have to ask again, “Where are the people who have influenced the world the great people?”

In modern history, one or two have arisen out of the masses; but these are only one or two out of millions and billions of people. Yet there are still people in every generation who have an intense desire to help humanity and have tried to express it in various ways. One of these was Albert Schweitzer.

In his desire to help humanity, he studied many things, including medicine, through which he tried to fulfill this desire. He went to Africa; and during the course of his lifetime, Schweitzer was able to help thousands of people, as far as their health was concerned. Many of the natives of Africa almost worshipped him as if he were God, even though he was a white man. Yet today, where is the influence of Albert Schweitzer?

He was a good man; he was sincere and did many wonderful things; but he did not bring about any permanent change. The natives have gone back to their tribal fraternities; and, as before, they are waiting in jungle paths to kill other natives in other fraternities. Furthermore, they are killing off the animals; they’re killing the white man. They haven’t learned anything! Their nature hasn’t been changed.

So, here’s a white man who went to Africa and spent a lifetime out there doing many wonderful things; but he brought about no lasting changes for the Africans. In fact, the passage we are going to study compares him

to a flower of the field. As far as we can tell from the study of his life, his good was “human good.”

It is a rather discouraging world for altruistic people. There are those who would sincerely like to be helpful; also there are many frustrated people who are trying to help but have only succeeded in messing things up because they don’t know how to help.

For example, thousands of people today would like to abolish poverty. Let’s assume for a moment that the “War on Poverty” is sincere (a debater’s assumption, meaning it isn’t necessarily true). In their sincere desire to abolish poverty, those planning the program propose giving money to everyone whom they consider to qualify under the category of poverty. It sounds like a noble idea, until you look at it from the divine perspective, for Jesus said, “ . . ye have the poor always with you . . .” (Matt. 26:11). “Always” means that poverty cannot be abolished. But let’s say it is a beautiful idea and look at it from its altruistic concept. How does it work?

Well, you refloat the money, the money invariably goes into the hands of a few, and soon everyone else is poverty-stricken. What do the poor do when they get the money? They spend it! And where does it go? It goes to a small group of people who will become wealthier than ever. Soon someone runs out of the pork barrel or the job setup, and there is more poverty than ever. But it’s a noble idea! So you can see it’s a very frustrating world for people who want to do good.

Now, there are a lot of places where good can be done, but nothing seems to come from all of this doing good. There are some sincere people in the world right now who are trying to abolish warfare. “Let’s get everyone to give up his weapons and have world peace,” they say. So when you take guns from the nations that have a sense of responsibility and disarm them, all you do is to turn the whole world into a jungle.

There are mothers who march on Washington every year or so in the hopes of abolishing war. Well, this, too, is a beautiful thought, because no one really wants to go to war, with the possible exception of a few romanticists who have read too many war books or seen too many war movies that glamorize war. But once you get to war, it’s no fun at all. The food is terrible; the pay is worse. And even more than that, you might lose your life any day on the job! So you can see that war is really no picnic, even though it has been romanticized in some ways.

But no matter how good the idea of abolishing war may seem, the Bible declares that there shall continue to be “wars and rumors of wars,” and that “nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matt. 24:

6,7); men shall say “peace, peace, when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14; Mic. 3:5); and “when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them” (1 Thess. 5:3). Only Jesus Christ can bring peace (Psa. 46:9; Hag. 2:9), and He will when He returns to earth (Isa. 2:4). Until then, it is utter folly to try to “turn the swords into pruning hooks”!

There are also very altruistic people who are trying to abolish crime by getting rid of guns. Even now, they are attempting to pass gun legislation in Congress whereby guns will be taken out of the hands of law-abiding citizens; and they imagine that this will solve all the problems. Actually, it will only make it easier for the criminals, and both criminals and crime will increase!

Gun legislation won’t solve anything, nor will world disarmament nor an international court! But all the ‘do-gooders” have these ideas. In fact, there is one great religious organization in this country that has as one of its basic tenets: “let Red China into the United Nations, and this will solve the world’s problems.” Although no doubt they are sincere in what they want, such action will only compound the world’s problems.

The trouble with all these do-good projects is that they do not line up with the Word of God, even though many times the people are sincere. (And we’re not even considering here the ones who are not sincere, such as do-goodism in politics, which has made hypocrites out of thousands of people). But the sincere do-goodism of our day has complicated everything. Instead of helping people for any length of time, much less for eternity, it is actually making conditions worse, because all this is human good, which in the long run accomplishes nothing. So, as I say, it is a frustrated world; and because it is a frustrated world, I should like to propose to you the answer which was given by God to Isaiah back in 700 B.C.

Do-goodism in Judah

The do-gooders were very much in evidence in those days, and, like today, they were all frustrated. We hear a familiar strain from these do-gooders of Judah, for they said in effect, “Let’s abolish our cavalry.” And when they abolished the Jewish cavalry, the Rabshakeh of Assyria stood up in front of the walls of Jerusalem and challenged: “Look, my king has several thousand extra horses from his cavalry; we will even supply you horses, if you can provide riders for the mounts and then well whip you!” Isa. 36:8,9).

When the Assyrians finally came, all that the Jews had left in their disarmament program were their fortifications, which slowed down the Assyrians for one year. Now, the Jewish state department not only abolished the military, but they also had a “foreign aid program”; they made certain economic concessions to the Assyrians (2 Kgs. 18:14-16). For five years before the Assyrians invaded, Hezekiah sent millions of dollars of the taxpayers’ money to them.

Every Jew actually paid two-tenths of his income as a tax: one-tenth for the upkeep of the Temple (Lev. 27: 30-33), and one-tenth for the priesthood (Num. 18:21). Every third year, one-tenth went to the poor of the land (Deut. 14:28,29). Although today it is called “tithing,” it was actually a system of taxation for believer and unbeliever alike in the land of Judah. Offerings were the spiritual giving of the believer (Deut. 16:17), over and above the tithe.

But what happened to a large portion of their taxes? Hezekiah took them out of the Temple treasury and hustled them over to the Assyrians. A lot of people involved in these programs then, as well as today, were sincere. We must give them at least that much credit. They think they are doing a good thing; but whether it is in the field of politics, or statesmanship, or even in Christianity, human do-goodism is not the answer!

Now actually, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and have received Him as your Savior, you can fulfill the principle of doing good, of doing permanent good, of having something that will count for all eternity. In fact, the believer is the only one who can!

Divine good begins at salvation

The message of John the Baptist, whose ministry was parallel to Isaiah’s, provides the background of our subject. In Isaiah 40:3, Isaiah prophesies- concerning John the Baptist. From 700 B.C., Isaiah looks down the corridors of time to 29 A.D. when John the Baptist would be preaching his message that would accomplish permanent good.

John the Baptist was represented merely as a “Voice,” which puts the emphasis on the message rather than on the man. It was John’s message that change lives for time and eternity. The “voice” communicates doctrine, which endures after the voice is silent. John is gone, but the Word abides forever.

What was his message? “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” The first part of his message is the means of doing good on a permanent basis, and it gives us our first clue as to how we can join Isaiah and John and other great men of the past who have had permanent good come out of their lives.

“Prepare ye the way of the Lord” is simply the message of salvation, It’s the message of the Gospel. “Be prepared,” John kept crying! Now, how can you be prepared for time and for eternity? How canyon have a preparation that will meet every exigency of life, whether living or dying, as well as the problem of eternal salvation. The answer is, first of all, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:31). We know from Acts 19:4 that John preached this Gospel.

. . John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should BELIEVE ON HIM which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

People are trying to meet problems today by saving money, by making good investments, by making the right friends, by gaining influence, by developing power, and even by sublimation! All of these can be classed as a certain preparation for problems in time. BUT … NONE of these is the real answer to the problems of time, much less to the problem of eternal salvation.

How can you be prepared for eternity? There is only one way:

He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life . . (1 John 5:12,13).

That is the only way to be prepared; and when you are prepared for eternity, you also have preparation for time, “Be prepared for the way of the Lord!” The “way of the Lord” is God’s plan for the human race: Phase I — salvation; Phase II — the believer in time; Phase III — the believer in eternity. And all of the preparation begins in a moment of time. In that moment when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God provides for time as well as for eternity.

Jesus Christ meets every need in this life; He meets every need of the future; He provides in living, in dying and after death. When John stood before the people and cried, “Be prepared … be prepared,” he was doing the best thing he could do for those people. He was dealing with them as individuals and with their problems as individual problems; he was “snatching brands from the burning” (Zech. 3:2), and doing permanent and eternal good for them.

No production apart from rebound

Then John continues: “… make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” This part of his message indicates the need for confused believers to get straightened out. Some of you met many of the people who came forward in the Billy Graham Crusade. John the Baptist’s ministry was parallel in one way to this Crusade: the majority of people who came forward were sincere seekers; they were “bom-again,” but they were ignorant of Bible doctrine.

Many of them had guilt complexes; many of them thought that they had lost their salvation; many of them, knowing their lives were not counting for the Lord, wanted answers. What they needed first of all was rebound — 1 John 1:9.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Then they needed to understand some of the techniques (rebound, the filling of the Spirit, faith-rest, living in

the Word and occupation with Christ) which God has provided for the believer in time. While they might have come forward to “dedicate” or “rededicate” or “reaffirm their faith”) or to make sure they were saved, all of this added up to one thing — CONFUSION!

John the Baptist had the same type of ministry. Thousands of confused people came all the way from Jerusalem. For many of them, their problem was the issue of the cross: to believe in Jesus Christ is eternal life; to reject Him is eternal condemnation.

John (the Baptist) answered and said. ..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 3:27,36).

Then John (the Baptist) had a message to the great numbers of believers who were out of the ‘’bottom circle” that is, out of fellowship with God (1 John 1:3). “Make straight,” John told them; and the only way to “make straight” is to move back into the bottom circle where they can produce DIVINE GOOD.

The top and bottom circles

Let’s let two circles represent John’s twofold message — the top and bottom circles.

Those who needed ami heeded the message of salvation began at the cross where Jesus Christ would die for their sins. They received Him by faith (John 1:12) and were immediately placed into two positions: in Christ (top circle - eternal fellowship), and in temporal fellowship (bottom circle). In the bottom circle is also the place of the filling of the Holy Spirit, by means of which we produce divine good.

When the believer is out of fellowship, he is under the control of his old sin nature, and that means that he will produce “X” number of sins, as well as a certain amount of human good. The big problem is that any good done while out of fellowship is human good and does not count with God. Only DIVINE GOOD counts. You have to be “in the bottom circle” in order to produce divine good.

Basically, then, the combination of John’s message was that first of all, people must be saved by believing in Christ; secondly, while they produce only human good when they are out of fellowship, they can go from human good to divine good by means of 1 John 1:9. Now this was the message that John the Baptist would preach 700 years after Isaiah. But in the meantime, this is the message that Isaiah must preach. Isaiah must be a “voice”; he must have doctrine in his frontal lobe as well as in his human spirit; and as he disseminates this doctrine to the people, there are going to be permanent results.

The first category of permanent results: people will believe in Jesus Christ and be eternally saved; second category: believers will learn how to handle their sins; and then as a result of this doctrine, they will be free from their guilt complexes, free from worry about past sins, free from the bondage of trying to do penance for sins, and free from all the accompanying emotionalism. This freedom brings home the fact that they are still alive and still under grace, that God has a purpose for their lives, and that they can accomplish permanent results!

Production of divine good under pressure

In Isaiah 40, verse 4, we have one brief message from Isaiah:

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.

God told Isaiah (in effect) what to preach. “Go tell the people that the time is coming when they will suffer the Fifth Cycle of Discipline (dispersion - Lev. 26); yet because of this same doctrine — Bible doctrine pertaining to the Gospel and rebound, Bible doctrine which gives inner peace and happiness and inner power — this Bible doctrine will eventually result in the removal of the ‘Fifth Cycle of Discipline.’” Verse 4 anticipates its removal.

“Every valley shall be exalted . . .” The valleys have to do with the sad things of life, the tragedies, the heartaches, the pressures. The Jews at this time are down in the valley because the Assyrians have invaded. The Assyrian invasion put tremendous pressure on the people, for they knew something of the terrible cruelty of the Assyrians. But there will come a time when “every valley shall be exalted.” In other words, you can be in the pressure cooker with the fire turned on full blast, and at the same time have great inner happiness; and that happiness will come from Bible doctrine in your human

spirit!

Before there is relief for the Jews, before the Assyrian army is destroyed by Jesus Christ (2 Kgs. 19:35), there will be one year of pressure. Now, how are the people going to live during that year? Some of them are going to live under the techniques of the Word of God; they are going to mix the promises of God with faith, and they are going to be relaxed and have inner happiness, even in the valley. As a result, “they will be exalted.” This word “exalted” is the first of several words in this context for divine good.

When you are down in the valley of pressure or sorrow or tragedy, there is exaltation. Exaltation means that you can have inner peace and happiness. As you face the Christmas season, many of you may anticipate parties and pleasures and fun; but for some, it is going to turn on you — it’s going to turn out to be as miserable a day as there is in the year. In the first place, it is a time of gift giving, and you always get the wrong thing; so there’s that disappointment.

Secondly, it is a family day and for many, that is a time when families get together and fight! Thirdly, it is a holiday time when people do not have enough to do, so they start to grumble. Oh, it is a miserable day! For some, it is even a nightmare. There is that “Christmas cheer” build-up; and when it doesn’t materialize, they block the day out by getting “stoned,” But of course that isn’t the answer, either.

I want to invite you to a “B.Y,O,H,” party bring your own happiness! Now, how can you carry your own happiness around with you? You can grow a permanent Christmas tree inside and have Christmas every day! I like to call it the “edification complex of the soul.” (2 Cor. 10:8; 13:10; Eph. 4:12,16,29; 1 Tim. 1:4; Jas. 1:4). When doctrine is coming daily into the frontal lobe in the filling of the Spirit and is transferred BY FAITH into the human spirit (Eph. 3:17) from which it can be used and applied (the grace apparatus for perception — 1 Cor. 2), the believer begins to build in the soul a beautiful structure, which is the reflected glory of God (Psa. 119:130; Gal. 4:19; Eph. 5:8,9; 1 John 2:8).

This structure is made up of grace orientation, relaxed mental attitude, inner happiness, capacity to love (God, opposite sex and friends), and the mastery of the details of life. These all add up to divine good. Some of you are going to have the best Christmas you’ve ever had because you are steadily taking in doctrine and building an edification complex in your soul. It’s marvelous beyond description because you have your own happiness inside!

You see, this is what Isaiah is to tell the believers of his day: “Now look, the Assyrians are going to conquer 47 fortifications; they are going to defeat our allies, the Egyptians; there’s going to be bad news, bad news, bad news! Yet while you’re down in the valley in the midst of all this, you can have exaltation . . . ‘the valley shall be exalted.’ You can have inner happiness; you can have inner peace; you can have inner blessing (based on the edification complex), and absolutely nothing will change it. You can sit on the walls and laugh at the Rabshakeh!”

Can you do that today, believer? Can you look at your own life and say, “I bring my own happiness; everywhere I go, I take it with me; I take it to parties, I take it to business, I take it to pleasure, I take it to recreation’) ?Well, you can! This is the whole point of Bible doctrine. However, it is impossible to carry around your own happiness unless certain things are true. What these things are begins in Isaiah 40, verse 6.

Confidence through doctrine

“The voice said. Cry . . .” (Isa. 40:6). Cry forcefully (literally). PREACH DOGMATICALLY! The “voice” is the voice of God here, and God says, in effect, to Isaiah: “If you’re going to help people on a permanent basis, you must have confidence yourself; everything you say has to be absolutely true, and you have to give it as though you yourself believe it to be absolutely true.”

When you preach truth, you don’t say, “Now maybe it could mean this, and maybe it could mean that. There are five different views of this, and dear Brother So-and-so holds this view, and Brother So-and-so holds that view, and I think maybe they all have a little truth in them.” That’s for the birds — not for people! People need something absolute; people need something that is dogmatic!

So God is saying to Isaiah, “When you stand up before those people, don’t you say, ‘Well, the scribes say this, the Pharisees say that, and the chief priests say this.’ It can’t mean three different things it doesn’t mean two different things — this is it! This is absolute, this is dogmatic, this is doctrine; so you speak dogmatically!”

But Isaiah is still stalling: “What shall I preach dogmatically?” he asks. Isaiah has already had his first lesson from the Baptist’s message. What did he preach dogmatically? One, Christ died for sinners — therefore, believe on Christ and be saved. Two, when a believer sins, he confesses his sin, and he is forgiven immediately now he is to forget it and move on! If your life as a believer is ever going to count, if you’re going to take your own happiness wherever you go, then this is the lesson, beginning in the middle of verse 6.

Dead works

“All flesh is grass . . ..” Do you realize that you are just a blade of grass? And you know, it is rather interesting that God should use this analogy to teach the point. Just what is grass? I have asked myself this many times as I have faced a jungle in my yard. What is this grass? Well, first, grass is something that appeals to the eye because it is green. I suppose you know that green is the easiest color on the eyes. You look at this green grass and it looks fine.

Of course, there are other views about lawns. My first preference is to pave the entire yard; then if you have to have green, just paint it! But I’ll tell you something else about grass: grass contains misery. Did you ever see beautiful grass that you had a desire to roll in? I did that once — and the grass was full of chiggers! You see, grass contains misery! You often see the dogs and other animals rolling in the grass; but just watch what they do

afterwards. They scratch!

Now, grass is misery for another reason: it requires continual care. I understand a lot of people enjoy fooling around with grass and plants and flowers and that’s fine; to each his own! But no matter how beautiful and green the grass is, do you know what always happens to grass? Someone comes along with a mower and chops it down. And then what happens? It is dumped into a garbage can, the green grass dies and turns brown and is either discarded or burned. Now, isn’t that an awful life? Beautiful for a moment, then chopped down, and it’s all over!

“All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.” Grass in this passage is different from grass as we know it. As you know, there are certain things we call flowers, and all of these flowers have some kind of a stem. With most of these flowers, the stem is originally green. The stem of the flower is also grass here; and it goes on to say that it has “goodliness.”

Now we have arrived. What is this goodliness? The Hebrew word is actually “good” — good works — human good! Now, I’m out of my field, but I think I have observed enough to say that flowers are beautiful for a moment, but then they shrivel up and they’re gone. In the springtime in the mountains of Arizona, there are wild flowers of every color and description as far as you can see. The same thing is true in Texas and many other parts of the world at certain times of the year. Carpets of flowers stretch for miles and miles, and it’s beautiful! But then you come back a couple of weeks later and it is all gone.

These “flowers” refer to human good . . . the good deeds that you do in the energy of the flesh . . . the things that come from your old sin nature. Everyone performs a certain amount of human good, but it doesn’t last. Just think of all the do-gooders today. Think of all the men of the clergy who are a part of the World Council of Churches and who are trying to do good. They’re trying to get rid of all our arms; they’re trying to get Red China into the United Nations; and they think all of these things are going to help.

Think of Schweitzer’s devoting the greater part of his life and expending all of his energy in Africa — and what happened? Why, the natives are reverting to all of their old ways! All that human good has accomplished no lasting good. And yet today the world is filled with people trying to perform some type of human good.

The source of human good

Why are all these good deeds simply “dead works” (Heb. 6:1) and unacceptable to God? Why does He condemn all human good in the believer (Rom. 8:8; 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:13-15), as well as in the unbeliever (Isa. 64:6; Eccl. 12:14)? No matter from whom it comes, it all emanates from the OLD SIN NATURE (Rom. 6:6; 7:17,18). Let’s take a look at the old sin nature. It is called by various terminology in Scripture. In Ephesians 4:22 and Colossians 3:9, it is called the “old man,” because it originated with Adam (Rom. 5:12). It is sometimes called the “flesh,” as in Romans 7:18, Ephesians 2:3 and Galatians 5:16, because it resides in the human body. The “heart” occasionally refers to the sin nature, as in Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 15:19, 12:34 and Mark 7:21. In the New Testament, as mostly in Romans, the word “sin” in the singular and in the noun form refers to the old sin nature.

Now, the sin nature has two areas, the area of weakness and the area of strength. It also has two trends. It may have a trend toward asceticism or a trend toward lasciviousness, although these sometimes change in an individual. From the area of weakness comes personal sins; from the area of strength, human good.

When Christ died on the cross. He bore the sins of the entire world, and therefore, He solved the sin problem. Sin is no longer an issue in salvation. At the same time, Christ rejected human good, because His work on the cross was divine good. Therefore, the issue in salvation is the work of Christ (divine good) versus human works (human good). A lot of people are doing good simply because they want to go to heaven: they’re giving money in order to buy their way to haven; they’re performing good deeds kindly deeds; they are trying to help humanity, they are being sweet to people in traffic, they are even joining certain churches (which are good-deed houses) so they can go to heaven I They are trying everything … and they’re working, working, working, WORKING! Trying to get to heaven!

But the Bible says it is “not by works of righteousness (human good) which we have done . . .” (Tit. 3:5). Later on, Isaiah preaches a message on human good, and he denounces our righteousness as “filthy rags” in God’s sight (Isa. 64:6). All the human good that all the people in the world can perform is as filthy rags in the sight of God. God rejects human good. There is no place in the plan of God for human good (2 Tim. 1:9):

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to HIS OWN PURPOSE AND GRACE, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

I want to emphasize again the sins of the old sin nature were judged at the cross. “Christ bore our sins in his own body on the tree” (2 Pet. 2:24). Every sin that man has ever committed or ever will commit was judged at the cross. According to the law of double jeopardy, sins have been judged once and thus can never be judged again. The door of heaven is open to all members of the human race. Through a simple act of faith in Christ, we can have eternal life; we can be born again; we can become children of God. “For ye are . . . the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus’ (Gal. 3:26).

BUT the do-gooder doesn’t want to go the way of faith minus works for salvation. He rejects salvation by grace because he does not want to depend upon the good work of someone else. He doesn’t want to be saved simply by faith in Christ; he wants to work; he wants to help God . . . he wants to boast of his own good deeds (Luke 18:9-12).

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 (Eph. 2:8,9).

The judgment of the unbeliever’s human good

For the do-gooder, here is the message: human good is going to be judged just as certainly as, in the past, sin was judged at the cross. All of our sins were poured out upon Christ: every sin — past, present and future — that has been committed in the human race was judged in Him. For he (the Father) hath made him (Christ) to be sin for us, who (Christ) knew no sin; that

we might be made the righteousness of God in him (Christ). (2 Cor. 5:21).

The sin problem has been solved, and that is why the Bible says, “Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life’’ (John 3:16).

But human good has yet to be judged by God. Turn to Revelation 20, verses 12 through 15, and notice for a moment this passage: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God . . .” The word “stand” is in the perfect tense, indicating a resurrection. Here is the second resurrection, composed of people who have rejected Christ as Savior. They have refused to believe in Him. In other words, when a person rejects the cross no matter who that person is he must stand on his own

human good.

Rejection of Christ as your Savior means you prefer your own good deeds to the good deed of Christ on the cross. When a person faces the cross, as all must sooner or later, he sees Christ dying for his sins. He sees Christ doing the work. The unbeliever says, in effect, “I reject the work of Christ; I am going to stand on my own good works for salvation.” So we have the resurrection for do-gooders, where the “flower of the field” and “all the goodliness thereof” is displayed.

“ .. . I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened . . .” (Rev. 20:12). Now, immediately, I want you to notice that the word “books” is in the plural; it is books that were opened not simply one book, but BOOKS! And that means two sets of books. The first set of books is the “books of good deeds.” The books of good deeds are a record of all human good in the unbeliever.

Mentioned also in this passage is another set of books, the “book of life.” The book of life simply contains the names of all who are believers in Jesus Christ. Actually, the Lamb’s book of life originally had the names of all people born into the world; but when a person dies without accepting Christ as Savior, that person’s name is blotted out (Deut. 29:20; Rev. 3:5). So, in eternity, the book of life contains the names of believers only.

Both sets of books are opened; but the books of works are in focus in verses 12, 13:

. . . and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their WORKS. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their WORKS.

I want you to get the picture: a man comes before God; he is resurrected; he is an unbeliever. He has performed thousands of good deeds. Now what will God do about these good deeds? Well, his good deeds are mentioned every kindly act, everything that could be construed as human good. His sins will never be mentioned since they have already been judged. All of his good deeds will be the basis of his indictment. Why? They will not add up to perfect righteousness. In order to be saved, we must have the righteousness of God.

For what saith the scripture? Abraham BELIEVED God (Lord — the Son), and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned by grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his FAITH is counted for righteousness (Rom. 4:3-5).

All the good deeds of the entire human race are not enough to save one person. Only the work of Christ can save. Human good cannot do it. “They that are in the flesh cannot please God.” Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in His sight. Our human good is no good to God. It is “not by works of righteousness which we have done.” The Bible recognizes works of righteousness, or human good.

In Hebrews 6:1, human good is called “dead works.” Dead works simply cannot save. If you are ever going to count in life, you must get rid of human good. Human good simply will not cut it! The unbeliever cannot get rid of his human good because he is depending upon it for salvation. So God judges the human good of the unbeliever at the last judgment.

The judgment of the believer’s human good

Well, what about certain believers, you wonder? What about the person who accepts Christ as Savior, but never learns any doctrine? The Holy Spirit in his life is constantly quenched and grieved (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19), and he is therefore controlled by his old sin nature, which cranks out nothing but human good. His life is not counting, and he is no different from any unbeliever because he is producing only human good. There is no impact . . . there is no contest. So what happens? This human good has to be judged.

Remember, human good is analogous to flowers in Isaiah 40:6. I think this is why I have never particularly appreciated flowers. But just as there are all kinds of beautiful flowers from all of the stems which come up, so there are all kinds of human good. There are many ways in which you can perform good deeds. There are many ways in which a person in this life can be a wonderful person; but if it is all human good, it is all non-acceptable. Furthermore, as the flowers fade and the

stems are cut down, so human good will be judged in the believer. Let’s see the development of this in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.

“For or other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (verse 11). That’s SALVATION! That’s the way of eternal life; that’s the way of entering the plan of God. Now, after you enter the plan of God, “if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble” (verse 12).

There are two categories in this verse: the category of divine good is “gold, silver, precious stones”; the category of human good is “wood, hay, stubble.” The believer in time either produces divine good or human good, depending on who controls his life. If the Holy Spirit controls his life a maximum amount of time, he produces divine good; if the old sin nature is in control a maximum amount of time, he produces human good. This is the issue that has to be faced in the Christian life: good versus good human good versus divine good!

You are either progressing or retrogressing in the Christian life (2 Cor. 13:10). You are either building the edification complex and therefore producing divine good, or you are building “scar tissue” on your soul (Eph. 4:17,18) and producing human good. This human good will have to be judged. The time is coming when . . .

The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:16,17).

This is the Rapture of the Church (all Church Age believers in Jesus Christ). The first thing that happens in the Rapture is that all believers receive a resurrection body. At the same instant the old sin nature is eradicated. Then the works of that old sin nature — human good are — judged and burned.

Now, here again is what God thinks of human good. As far as the unbeliever is concerned, it is judged; it is the basis of indictment at the last judgment. As far as the believer is concerned, every bit of human good we have ever developed in our lifetime will be removed, for God cannot live with human good in eternity. Here’s the story in 1 Corinthians 3:13:

Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

“Every very man” refers to the believer. “Work” here is the believer’s production. Every believer’s production shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it (the day of the judgment seat of Christ, 2 Cor. 5:10); and notice again: “every man’s work” appears twice in verse 13 and again at the beginning of verses 14, 15. This passage is dealing with the BELIEVER’S WORKS human good.

The fire is going to test (evaluate) the believer’s works and will destroy all the wood, hay and stubble (human good). The fire is divine judgment, “If any man’s work abide . . .” (verse 14). This is divine good; this is everything the believer does when filled with the Spirit; this is everything performed in the power of the Spirit, “If any man’s work abide which he hath built there upon, he shall receive a reward.” Just think! The edification complex is the result of the GRACE apparatus for perception given to every believer (doctrine going into the mind through the filling of the Spirit, transferred by faith into the human spirit, and exhaled out the left and right banks of the soul toward God and toward people) — no works actually; and yet we receive a reward which will glorify God!

Divine good is recognized by God, divine good is pleasing to God, and divine good is rewardable. BUT … “If any man’s work shall be burned (this is the wood, hay and stubble), he shall suffer loss (loss of reward): but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by (through, literally) fire” (verse 15). In other words, all human good is going to be judged. When the believer arrives at the judgment seat of Christ, the first thing that happens is that all of the human good of his lifetime is destroyed! No believer can live in eternity with any human good.

The means of producing divine good

The next verse follows in this context very logically: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Cor. 3:16)? It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to produce divine good. But there are certain things which can be either divine or human good, depending on the means by which they are performed.

One of the greatest tragedies in the Christian life is that, as believers, we are so often doing things which we think are divine good, and should be divine good, but our ignorance or our deliberate carnality (as the case may be) is rendering them only human good. For example, the giving of money: you can give money to a church and everyone says it is a virtue. Or you can offer prayer, and people say, “Oh, isn’t that wonderful! He prays so beautifully.” You can attend church, and someone will tell you, “That’s great!” You can even witness for Christ, and do many other things, and they are all considered good.

But when you do these things, they can be either human good or divine good, depending on who controls your life. “Know ye not that . . . the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” If you do these things in the power of the Spirit, they count as divine good. If you do these things in the energy of the flesh (old sin nature), they count as human good. You can give ALL your money to the poor, you can give ALL your money to the church; but if you do it in the energy of the flesh, it will not be credited to your account as divine good! It is wood, hay and stubble. And so again, it isn’t WHAT you do, but WHO CONTROLS … YOU WHEN YOU DO IT. God may use it, and He always blesses His Word; but it is not rewardable for the believer who does it in the energy of the flesh.

This is how you take your own happiness wherever you go. If you’re controlled by the Spirit, if you are taking doctrine into the mentality of the soul and by faith it is transferred into the human spirit, you’re going to carry your own happiness wherever you go, because you will have that edification complex of the soul! Whether you are at a party or find yourself in the valley of tragedy, you will be exalted; whether you are in a place of prosperity or in a place of testing, you will always have this marvelous inner happiness, which belongs only to the believer with an edification complex.

Bible doctrine, the only permanent solution

Now here is the principle of the grass and flowers of the field (Isa. 40:6): HUMAN GOOD is like the flower of the field. All of these beautiful flowers are here for a moment, and then they are gone; they make a great impression at the moment, but they do not last. And that is what life is like. People are doing things which make an impression for the moment, but their works have all disappeared. Caesar made an impression, but it has gone. The greatest men in history have made an impression through their good, but it has vanished.

But you, as a believer in Jesus Christ, can today, tomorrow and the next day and the next, do things which will count for all eternity. Long after history books have been burned and destroyed and when all history is in its true divine light from the Word of God, the divine good of the believer will be made manifest. Yet you don’t have to wait until then you can see it now; and you can make your life count!

You can make life count by being filled with the Spirit. You can make your life count by getting doctrine into your human spirit; and then your production will last. Your giving will count, even if it is only half a penny. Your witnessing and your prayer will count. Your worship will be meaningful, because to be acceptable, worship must be in Spirit (filling) and in truth (doctrine)” (John 4:24).

Now ask yourself some questions. “Am I going to have the same old frustrations, the same old disappointments (whether it is Christmas or not)? Am I going to be hilarious for a couple of moments and then miserable? Am I going to rock along as I have in the past?” All your life as a believer you’ve been cranking out human good; you’ve been sincere, but your life isn’t meaningful.

I wonder, how many of you have a thrilling, adventurous and marvelous Christian life? Do you take your Christian life to business with you? Do you take it into your social life? Do you take it everywhere you go? There is only one way in which you can and that is through doctrine taken in on a daily basis and transferred BY FAITH into the human spirit! This is the divine viewpoint. You can enjoy life or not, depending on whether you have the Word or not. Christmas can start today, and you can have Christmas all the way up to Christmas, ad infinitum, and have a meaningful and wonderful life. You can even throw New Year’s in for a little hilarity,

Or are you going to be the same old up-and-down miserable person? You get in the valley, and you are so miserable everyone can hear you howl for a hundred miles away; and the louder you shout, the poorer your testimony! When you throw a tantrum, it’s like the atomic bomb going up. Now, which way you go is entirely up to your own volition. I can’t make you get with doctrine. I can tell you it’s here, but your volition must go into action. Sometimes it’s not as easy as it sounds; you have to start learning some doctrine; you have to start using doctrine — beginning with the faith-rest technique! AND THE WORD HAS TO BE FIRST!

Do you really want to produce divine good? Do you really want your life to count? There is no short cut. It would be nice if I could say, “Look, if you want everything to go right . .. if you want to be happy . . . you need to do only two things: first, come into the office, and I will wave a magic wand three times; second, go home and stand in front of an east window, take a deep breath and then say, “It’s okay.” Then you take another deep breath, and after fifty of them, everything will be fine!”

That is the kind of solution many people want. In fact, many come to my office with just that in mind: I will wave the magic wand, and suddenly there will come over them a great feeling of happiness; then I will tell them to do something very simple such as standing in front of a window and engaging in self-hypnosis. But it isn’t that easy. lt.’s the Word, the WORD, THE WORD! Furthermore, you must get it today and tomorrow and the next day and keep on taking it in and taking it in and taking it in! The Word of God must become your life (Deut. 32: 46,47), and the Word must become reality. It must become your criterion. That is why we have verse 7 of Isaiah 40.

“The grass (people) withereth (we are here today and gone tomorrow), the flower fadeth (human good is beautiful today but gone tomorrow).” I wonder whether those of you who are interested in human good can remember some of the good deeds you did even ten years ago. They fade! Even in your mind they fade. Why? it . . because the spirit (breath, literally) of the Lord bloweth upon it . . . .” The “breath of the Lord” is judgment. Because God’s judgment blows upon it, “surely the people is grass.”

Now, here’s the point: “The grass withereth (dies), the flower (human good) fadeth: but the word of God shall stand for ever” (verse 8). The only permanent and stabilizing thing in this world is Bible doctrine. The Bible is the Word of God; the Bible stands forever. But you must take the Word from the page, and by the filling of the Spirit, transfer it to your mind, where the Spirit makes it comprehensible; then it is transferred to the human spirit by faith, where it becomes your criterion.

What the Bible says must be more real than anything else in life. If you know Bible doctrine and it is more real to you than anything else, then you can have inner peace and inner power, and you can answer that invitation not B.Y.O.B. (“bring your own bottle"), but B.Y.O.H. “(bring your own happiness” !And this means that your life is counting for God, now as well as for

eternity, because you have an edification complex through which divine good is produced.

Summary: three sources of divine good

Divine good is produced from three sources in the believer, depending upon his stage of growth: (1) from the filling of the Spirit; (2) from the exhale of doctrine from the human spirit; and (3) directly from the edification complex of the soul.

An immature, or “baby” believer can produce divine good, though not consistently; but whatever he does while filled with the Spirit is divine good. As the believer matures and becomes “adolescent,” he begins to store residual doctrine in his human spirit from which divine good is exhaled out the right bank of the soul. The mature believer with an erected edification structure in his soul consistently produces divine good from every “floor.”

During His incarnation, the Lord Jesus Christ exemplified the production of divine good from all three sources. In John 3:34 and Matthew 4:la, Jesus is said to have been filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit at all times. In Luke 2:40,52, divine good was exhaled from His human spirit; and in John 1:14, we see that He had an edification complex.

And the Word was made (became) flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory: the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The edification complex in the soul is the reflected glory of God!

The do-gooder, an enemy of God

Now, if you have not received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you are an unbeliever and declared in the Bible to be an enemy of God (Rom. 5:10). Perhaps the greatest shock a sincere do-gooder could sustain is to hear that by Biblical standards he is an enemy of God, for this person is usually performing his good deeds to gain the approbation of God.

Yet the Bible condemns as enemies of God all members of the human race who are unregenerate, whether they are sinning or whether they are expressing the other part of their old sin nature (the performance of human good). Why? Because they are born with the old sin nature, which is the basis of enmity with God.

.. by one man sin (the sin nature) entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Rom. 5:12).

There is never a time when the UNSAVED PERSON ceases to be the enemy of God. We usually think of enemies as people who are in status hostility toward us mental or overt. But this is not necessarily true with God. You may never give God a thought; you may believe that there is no God. It makes no difference, for either way, if you are an unbeliever, you are still the enemy of God!

Now, I want to remind you again that at least fifty per cent of the unbelieving human race are nice people — very lovely people; and they perform human good. Even the people whom you do not consider to be nice people have human good in them. Some of the nicest people in the world are unbelievers . . .. the most sincere do-gooders . . . the people whose acts and deeds we admire . . . these are just as much the enemies of God as the unlovely members of the human race whose sins are personally obnoxious to you. There is no such thing, from the divine viewpoint, as an unbeliever, with all his human good, who is not the enemy of God.

Why are they enemies? They are enemies because they have a sin nature (Rom. 8:8); they have imputed sin (Rom. 3:23): they are under the penalty of sin, which is spiritual death (separation from God in time — Rom. 6:23a); they are born spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1); their good is human good and relative and therefore not acceptable as Divine Good (Isa. 64:6); they offend the perfect character of God (Psa. 24:3; Rom. 3:21,22); and they are in Adam” (1 Cor. 15:22a). In other words, the unbeliever has nothing no asset by which to gain credit with God.

There is an insurmountable barrier which totally separates man from God. Whether the unbeliever is actively antagonistic toward God or not, his very position is enmity against Him. And he remains an enemy of God until such time as he accepts Jesus Christ as Savior.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly . . . For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son . . . (Rom. 5:6,10).

The word “reconcile” means that Jesus Christ removed the barrier that stood between man and God. He has done the work; we have but to receive it.

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration (the new birth) . . . (Tit. 3:5).

Only through regeneration can you become acceptable to God. If you add any human good to faith, it is no longer faith!

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law (energy of the flesh), but by the faith of (in) Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of (by faith in) Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified (Gal. 2:16).

Faith is a non-meritorious response to salvation. The decision is up to you. “What think ye of Christ?’’

APPENDIX

The Difference Between Human Good and Sin

The question has frequently been asked, “Is human good sin?” Human good is not classed as sin because the Bible distinguishes between human good and person — all sins, even though both are obnoxious to God. The Bible speaks of our righteousness as “filthy rags.” Other phraseology for human good, as we have already seen, includes “not by works of righteousness which we have done”; “dead works”; “judged according to their works”; “every man’s work shall be tested.” What, then, is the difference in God’s sight between human good and sin, since they are both objectionable?

Human good does not involve a moral issue. For example, would anyone consider giving money to a church immoral? Or helping a person in need? You certainly would not class witnessing or worship or prayer as sinful or immoral! So, obviously, there has to be some way of distinguishing between sins and things that are generally good except when accomplished in the energy of the flesh.

Now, the question has undoubtedly arisen in your mind when you discover human good in yourself: do you confess it, or how do you handle it? There is only one way to deal with human good. You have to be filled with the Spirit; for, as we have seen, everything that you do that’s nice, or good, or moral, or right every act of kindness, any sacrificial giving, all of your prayer and witnessing and teaching Sunday School, your service in the Ladies’ Missionary Society everything that you do when you are out of fellowship is human good.

Therefore, the first answer as to how to handle human good is to avoid it by being filled with the Spirit. Under status quo grieving or quenching the Spirit, any good performed can only amount to human good. Remember, you are indwelt by both the Holy Spirit and the old sin nature. You can never sin when you are filled (controlled) with the Spirit. You have to be tempted first. You can be tempted in regard to motivation or overt sins or sins of the tongue. But you have to be tempted first, and then you have to go on negative signals. It is not a sin to be tempted. However, when you go on negative signals, you succumb to the temptation, the Holy Spirit is grieved, and then you come under the power of the old sin nature.

When you are under the control of the sin nature, you are going to commit personal sins. At the point you confess the personal sins involved, you go back to the control of the Spirit, which means that all of the good you perform until you sin again is divine good. It now comes from the Holy Spirit rather than from the sin nature. The solution begins with 1 John 1:9, but you do not confess the human good — you confess the sins.

You see, somewhere along the line you are going to know you are under the control of the old sin nature, because you will commit a personal sin. Then, when you confess that personal sin, you are forgiven the personal sin which you specify, as well as any sins you may unknowingly have committed in the meantime. You are now filled with the Spirit and no longer operating under human good. No matter what you do while filled with the Spirit whether it’s only giving a cup of cold water in the Lord’s name, or whether it’s praying and witnessing it falls into the category of divine good.

Human Good

A Satanic Concept

Since Satan was the first sinner and his sin was negative volition Isa. 14:12-14), there is an obvious conflict in the realm of good versus evil. However, many believers, as well as unbelievers, cherish the illusion that only those things which are regarded as evil by society originate from the devil. There is also a conflict of good versus good — that is, Divine Good versus Satanic Good. Dr. L. S. Chafer points this out in his theology:

“It is not the reason of man, but the revelation of God, which points out that governments, morals, education, art commercialism, vast enterprises and organizations, and much of religious activity are included in the ‘cosmos diabolicus.’ That is, the system which Satan has constructed includes all the good which he can incorporate into it and be consistent in the thing he aims to accomplish. A serious question arises whether the presence of gross evil in the world is due to Satan’s intention to have it so, or whether it indicates Satan’s inability to execute all he has designed. The probability is great that Satan’s ambition has led him to undertake more than any creature could ever administer. Revelation declares that the whole ‘cosmos system’ must be annihilated not its evil alone, but all that is in it, both good and bad.” (L.S. Chafer, “Systematic Theology,” Vol. II, p.100)

Hence, the great conflict between God and Satan is not only good versus evil, but good versus good. Satanic doctrine is promoted through such agencies as the social gospel, socialism, world peace, internationalism, economic panaceas, doing good in the name of good, and other man-made plans which seek to improve human environment without providing man eternal relationship with God.

Satan’s power is described in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 as “dunamis” (Greek) power (dynamic or inherent power):

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power (“dunamis”) and signs (miracles) and lying wonders (e.g.., speaking in tongues).

One of the greatest “dunamis” powers is in the field of thought. Satan’s power of thought is religion (false doctrine — 1 Tim. 4:1). Satan is constantly trying to reach us through thought pattern, particularly in the field of religion. Bible doctrine is our only protection.

But since all people cannot be reached through religion, he has other dynamic systems, one of which is the field of politics. This isn’t to imply that politics are all Satanic. His system goes in for panaceas. Remember, he has a fantastic plan which has been in operation since he took over the world. Satan is trying to bring order out of chaos; he is trying to create perfect environment.

When the devil came into the newly created Garden, he saw perfect environment, and he didn’t like it. Furthermore, he saw that an inferior creature had been given the perfect environment which he formerly possessed. In his jealousy, he formulated a plan whereby he might remove man and woman from this perfect environment. After succeeding, he fully expected another “tohu wa bohu” — an earth waste and void (Gen. 1:2). But upon discovering that it was not God’s plan to take man off the earth, he made up his mind to “show God” — to set up his own perfect environment on the earth. This is the plan he has been working on ever since.

Satan would like to establish a Millennial reign, with himself as ruler. He would like to beat Jesus Christ to the jump — to get there first! To do this, Satan must get the world straightened out. Consequently, a tremendous area of good deeds, social action, and many similar panaceas and solutions to man’s problems are Satanic in nature.

Jesus “twitted” Satan now and then. Knowing Satan would like to stop war, He said (in effect), “There will be wars and rumors of wars until I come.” War is very embarrassing to Satan in view of his attempt to institute perfect environment on the earth. Satan would like to eliminate poverty; but Jesus said, ‘"The poor ye have always with you.” Satan is in the “do-good” business! Therefore, we need to be extremely careful to line up with Biblical principles and not with Satanic dynamics.

Satan’s objective is to counterfeit genuine good which is produced by the Holy Spirit. But what do we have today? Program Christianity! Do. .. do ...do ...get everyone to work . . . find a job for everyone . . . create organizations so that everyone is doing something! “Mediocrity” can pastor a church with a good program because everybody is working, everyone belongs, everyone feels wanted, everyone is “making brownie” points with God, and it is all one big, happy family! This is taught in seminaries today. “Don’t bother with doctrine — just get with the program!”

Satan also has a dynamic “love .At best, however, it amounts only to pseudo-love no matter how lovely it may appear on the surface. This is probably one of the greatest invasions that Satan has made among believers: the “love everybody” concept — the “neo-pseudo-love-ism.” When believers are ignorant of or neglect Bible doctrine, they have to have a substitute, and the “Love everybody” concept moves in.

Now, the “love-everybody” cult produced a reaction that Satan didn’t count on because it brings with it a guilt complex. The order of the day is to “love” some person or race or group who is obnoxious to you in order to assuage the guilt complex. And this has infiltrated Christianity. Believers ARE commanded to love THE BRETHREN; but it can only be a genuine love when it is done in the power of the Holy Spirit. No matter how sincere you may be, if your Christian life is not operating in the filling of the Spirit, it is PSEUDO!

The 2 Thessalonians 2:9 passage also mentions miracles. People today, as in every generation, are impressed with “miracles.” We have those who are trying to produce the miracles of the pre-canon period. What are they doing? They are lining up with Satan’s program. What is God’s program? Miracles? Miracles were simply to focus attention on the message of the Gospel until

the canon of Scripture was completed. When miracles were dropped, God had provided something better, something greater — the Word of God in writing, which “liveth and abideth forever.”

How long does a miracle last? Suppose God heals you of an incurable disease at age 20, and you live for 80 years. How long did that miracle last? Sixty years I How long is eternity? It’s the Word of God which lives forever.

God has a plan for your life which begins the moment you are saved. The plan is divided up into days one day at a time and He provides living grace for each day. Now, if God wants to take you out of this life by a painful, terminal disease, He has provided something greater than a miracle: dying grace for each day you are dying; and this is greater than any miracle ever performed.

Our perspective is wrong: we always think in terms of making it stop hurting . . . or of finding someone who can wave a magic wand and make it well. What is the matter? We are lined up with Satan’s do-good program. Our lack of doctrinal orientation makes us prey to every emotional gimmick that comes along, and there is no better or quicker way to check your happiness!

Since Satan is a creature and the author of sin, his plan must fail. But it can succeed with you if your “grace apparatus for perception” is not functioning and you do not have an “edification complex’’ of the soul! Satan cannot counterfeit the edification complex!

The Concept of Morality

Distinction should be made between morality and human good. Christianity is not a morality, but a relationship with God through Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Morality is a byproduct of Christianity (Eph. 5:3), although it has no spiritual dynamics (Gal. 5:16). The dynamics of Christianity are in the Spirit-controlled life (Rom. 8:2-4; Eph. 5:18).

Morality is absolutely essential for the orderly function of the human race under the Divine Institutions (volition, marriage, family, nationalism). For this reason, morality is for the entire human race. The unbeliever is capable of being moral, but morality can neither provide salvation nor spirituality (Gal. 3:2; Tit. 3:5). It is designed by God for the perpetuation and survival of the human race in the angelic conflict, and protects human freedom as the basis for response in evangelism.

Morality is not the distinguishing factor between the believer and unbeliever, for morality is outward, overt or superficial. Morality without spirituality in the believer produces legalism, religionism, self-righteousness and hypocrisy. The manifest distinctions are inner functions in the soul and spirit of the believer: the filling of the Spirit, the function of the “grace apparatus for perception,” the exhale of doctrine from the human spirit, the erection of the “edification complex” of the soul.

Only the overt manifestation of the inner life can be observed. The production of sin and human good are manifestations of the first birth with the old sin nature, which causes spiritual death at the moment of physical birth. The production of divine good from both the filling of the Spirit and the edification complex manifest inner righteousness. Failure to produce divine good, plus mental attitude sins, are signs of relationship with the devil by the first birth (1 John 3:10) and identification with his cosmos system.