| Back | Contents | Next |
{Sermons on Ephesians 5:15
The Doctrine Explained
Precisians Are the Sort Who Are Upright in the Way
Two Things Added
They Dare Not Trust in Their Works or Righteousness}
Whatever Precisians have done, they dare not trust their own righteousness or be found in it. They dare not be found depending upon their own righteousness, but count all things to be loss that they may gain Christ and be found in Him (Philippians 3:7–11). They labor as zealously in the works of righteousness as they would have labored if their own labor had been their righteousness in which they would stand before the Lord. Yet, they depend solely upon Christ and His righteousness as though they had never done anything.72
Before I proceed any further, let us consider a little: of all that I have spoken about these people, where is their “folly”? Are they fools for making so wise a choice? Are they fools for choosing the better part, those true riches, that enduring substance, those everlasting treasures that are laid up in another world? Are they fools because they will not be cheated or beguiled by the devil out of this better inheritance, even by means of those toys and fooleries, the pleasures, honors, and other vanities of this present world? That is, are they fools because they are not unthinking beasts? Are they fools because they have taken the right way to obtaining and possessing that blessedness they have chosen? There are many who content themselves with idle wishes, hope for Heaven, and promise to themselves that they will not fail to attain it. But they never take the course that leads to it. Are Precisians fools for not being like them? That is, are they fools because they are mature and will listen to their rational thoughts and understandings, both of which tell them that the end cannot be attained without the means? Are they fools because they desire to be upright and they will not lie, use foul language, curse, drink, behave wildly, defraud, or oppress, but are willing to walk in all the commandments of the Lord blamelessly? That is, are they fools because they are honest people? Is this their folly: that they will not content themselves with a formal, external Christianity with only external reformation, but will take care of the heart and inside as well as the outside? Is it that they will perform spiritual duties and purge themselves from spiritual wickedness? Is it that that they will even make sure work of it by laying the ax to the root of that wickedness that breaks out in their lives and to those lusts that war in their members? That is, are they fools because they are not hypocrites? Is this their folly: that they are so free, eager, and zealous in that which is good? That is, are they fools because they desire to love God so much, fear God so much, and go on so far and fast in obedience to Him? Are they fools because they do not give up the strength of their hearts and the vigor of their desires, care, and labor to the devil and their lusts, reserving only some little for God and their souls? Are they fools because they are so wary and watchful against sin and temptations to it that they will keep themselves as far out of danger as possible? That is, is it their folly that they are not fools? Do you stand with the people of the world who charge the saints with folly? Read over all the particulars of that true description I have given of them and tell us in good earnest, if you can, in which of those particulars their folly lies. Is it that they are not unreasoning animals, that they are mature people, that they are honest people, that they are not hypocrites, or that they are not fools? For which of these do you count them as fools? If you say that these people are fools because they are so precise, it is the same as if you should say that they would be wise to be brutes, knaves, and fools. Behold here is what the wisdom of this world really is: “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20 ESV).
72Briefly: When a person trusts in Jesus Christ and is thus saved, God accounts the person’s sins to Christ, whose crucifixion paid for them. He also credits that person with Christ’s perfect righteousness; he or she is thus reconciled to God. Of ourselves, our best works and best righteousness are still thoroughly infused with our sin. But, for the believer in Christ, his or her good works, although they still fall far short of God’s holy standards, are counted as perfect by the Heavenly Father because the believer is credited with Christ’s perfect righteousness. A full theology of good works is voluminous, but first, we must do good works because we serve a good God and He commands them of us. Second, our hearts are deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9), but our works show what is inside our hearts (Luke 6:44). Thus, Scripture frequently uses our works as evidence by which to convict us of sin.
| Back | Contents | Next |