I would like to offer some thoughts about our present controversy that have helped clarify things in my mind.

One of the points of confusion, I think, is that “salvation” can have two meanings and we use both meanings without making the distinction. The narrower meaning refers to the obtaining of new life through faith in Christ (regeneration and justification). The broader meaning also includes the manifestation of that new life (sanctification and glorification). In a sense, salvation is complete once we are reborn. If you would ask any Christian whether he is saved, the answer would be a simple “yes”; the answer is not “I am in the process of being saved.” But yet we include sanctification and glorification under the term “salvation.”

Sanctification begins after we have already received Christ’s life and righteousness (perfectly and completely) by being engrafted into him. So, what is left to be accomplished? Manifesting the new life does not mean improving it, completing it, or adding to it. The new life lacks nothing, but it is revealed only a small bit in this world. Like a man possessed by a demon, our mind and body are still controlled by our old sinful self. Sanctification is the work of the spirit of Christ in us, casting out that old man so the new life begins to “reign” in us (Rom 6:12–14).

The new life that we receive through faith is just as complete as the life Jesus gave to Lazarus. Jesus did not say to Lazarus “now if you will start breathing you will experience life”—the desire to breathe is part of life and it would not be complete without it. Jesus gave him the whole package of life and Lazarus lived it, or manifested it, “in the way of” moving and breathing. We have received new spiritual life, and that life is manifested in the way of joy, assurance, repentance, humility, obedience, thankfulness, good works… All these things occur together because they all come from the same source—the life of Christ that we received through faith. Like breathing, eating, and sleeping, they all come as one package.

“Good works” must also be defined carefully. Fundamental is the fact that they “proceed from a true faith” (HC Q&A 91). Once we have obtained the new life through faith, we have an old self and a new self. Good works are the works of that new man. They themselves are not filthy rags—a good work is a clean white cloth; the filthiness comes from our old man. The works of my new self are the works of the spirit of Christ in me—“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13). The life of the root becomes the life of the engrafted branch. Living a covenant life of good works is not something that my old self must take up and do, but it is the activity of the new life itself.

So, are good works the result of salvation or part of the process? And how about the experience / enjoyment / assurance of salvation? The answer depends on which definition of salvation you are using. All these things are both a result of the salvation already obtained but also part of the process of sanctification. We cannot separate the working of Christ’s spirit in us from sanctification—these good works and experiences are part of the manifesting (but not the obtaining) of spiritual life. Life is manifested by living.

Another question at the heart of our controversy is “why should we do good works?” Scripture shows us that we experience many personal blessings in the way of living a covenant life. Should we promote the goals of assurance, enjoyment, or subjective experience as motivation for good works? The answer is no.

A work that is done for a personal goal, even an honorable goal like assurance of salvation, is not a good work at all. A wife may increase her enjoyment of the marriage by serving her husband, but she does it out of love for him. The reason for a good work is always love—thankful love for God which extends to love for his people as well. Love is the expression of the Spirit of Christ in us and it is the basis for the entire law that guides our works (Matt 22:36–40). To suggest that someone should do good works for himself is to give works “a place and function that is out of harmony with the reformed confessions.”

Some would point out how David was chastised for his sin (Ps. 32)—God withheld his personal joy and peace until he acknowledged and repented of his sin. But his repentance was a sincere sorrow for his sin against God and his neighbor; it was not just something he did so he could sleep at night. David’s ultimate motivation was not the restoring of his personal enjoyment. If our children only learn how to avoid spankings when we discipline them, then they did not learn the right lesson. Chastisement turns us away from sin, but it is not the motivation for good works.

Trying to give Christians a motivation to do good works is like telling Lazarus to breathe. It implies a wrong understanding of both salvation and good works. The desire is already there. Our new man is the life of Christ in us—it is already 100 percent motivated to do only good. 

Of course, encouragement is a good thing—tell the loyal but battle-weary soldier that all is not lost, that the victory is ours, that this fight is a good fight, to not be weary in well doing… But do not talk to him about how much he will get paid if he keeps fighting. He is fighting for king and country, not for himself.

Do I obtain my new life (or any part of it) by good works? No! Are my good works (works of Christ’s spirit in me) normally accompanied by all the other blessings of covenant life? Yes! Is my enjoyment of those blessings the reason I do good works? No! 

The ultimate good work was done on the cross where Christ purposely severed the enjoyment and experience of fellowship that he had with the Father. I am eternally thankful that Christ did not put his own enjoyment of fellowship above his love for us.

Doug Wassink