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Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 16, Section 5

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In Luke 17, the rich young ruler asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replies by saying that no one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.

The young ruler responds by saying “All these I have kept since I was a boy.”

When Jesus heard this he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.”

When the ruler heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.
Today’s confession points us to this reality… God’s perfect law demands perfect obedience. Whatever good we think do in this life to fulfill God’s perfect law is tainted with sin… every good work that we do is merely fulfilling what God requires, so nothing we do can be called extra credit or bonus points to make up for past failures or earn us future glory eternal life.

Even as the rich young ruler thought “All these I have kept since I was a boy” Jesus points him back to the perfect law. We deceive ourselves if we think we can do over and above what God requires of us. In fact, we are merely doing our duty and we fall far short of God’s perfect standard.

We are reminded again that it is by God’s Spirit that we do good works and it is our abiding by faith in the perfect work of Jesus that makes us acceptable to God, not our works by themselves.

5. We cannot, by our best works, merit forgiveness for sin or eternal life at the hand of God. This is true because of the great disproportion between our best works and the glory to come, and because of the infinite distance between us and God. We cannot benefit God by our best works nor render satisfaction for the debt of our former sins, for when we have done all we can, we have done merely our duty and are unprofitable servants. This is because, insofar as they are good, these deeds proceed from the Spirit; and, insofar as they are done by us, they are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection that they cannot endure the severity of God’s judgment.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 16 Section 3

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This section of the confession teaches us

1) The Christian’s ability to do good works is not of himself but only of the Holy Spirit who dwells in him
2) The Spirit’s constant influence in the believer
3) We should not neglect good works if we don’t “feel something”
4) We must be diligent in stirring up the grace of God in us.
John 15:5 Jesus says “without me you can do nothing”

God saves us and empowers us to do good works. “Jesus says As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
As we grow in maturity in the faith, we realize God empowers us to do good works. He conforms our heart and mind to a right attitude so that we desire to do his will, do what he commands. When we do something good, we realize it is of God and God’s spirit that has empowered us.

So the question arises: What if I don’t feel God’s spirit? Should I not do something?
The confession speaks directly against this. In most instances it is our laziness and sinfulness that brings up this issue. As Christians, our desires, our feelings will conform to God’s desires… and we will want to do what is right, what is good, what is just… and when we see ourselves getting lazy, slothful, negligent… it is a sign we are not as spiritual as we think we are. In some ways, the way we view work is an indicator of our spirituality.

God saves us to bear fruit, to do good works. This is from the Spirit of God. Let us then seek the Spirit of God.

3. Their ability to do good works is not at all from themselves, but entirely from the Spirit of Christ. And—in order that they may be enabled to do these things—besides the graces believers have already received, there must also be an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit working in them both to will and to do God’s good pleasure. This truth, however, should not cause believers to become negligent, as though they were not bound to perform any duty without a special moving of the Spirit; rather, they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them.