How Do I Know If Good Works Are of My Flesh or of the Holy Spirit?

How can Christians know if their good works are Spirit-led or driven by the flesh? Today, Sinclair Ferguson explains how our motives and focus reveal the true source of our obedience.

NATHAN W. BINGHAM: Well, joining us this week on the Ask Ligonier podcast is Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, one of Ligonier’s teaching fellows, also the vice chairman of Ligonier Ministries. Dr. Ferguson, how do I know if good works are of my flesh or of the Holy Spirit?

SINCLAIR FERGUSON: Well, that’s an interesting question, and one on which I think we shouldn’t be overly introspective because, at the end of the day, because we are sinners, none of our works will be perfectly good. So, it’s possible to have a kind of neurosis about answering that question. But I think the fundamental principles are that good works are works that are done out of the right motive and directed to the right person. And actually, the Westminster Confession of Faith has a really helpful chapter on good works, where it expounds this in detail. So, what do I mean by that? Well, good works will be things that we do out of love for those for whom we do it and, ultimately, for the glory of God.

So, a good example, maybe, from Paul’s teaching would be the way in which he addresses those who are probably in different categories of slavery in the New Testament. And he says to them, “Now, when you serve your master, do it with an eye not first to pleasing him but to please God.” And part of the genius of that statement is the master foolishly thinks, “My slave is doing this to please me,” and he doesn’t realize that, actually, the pleasure the master is given is really being directed in the servant’s heart to the Lord. And that transforms the way in which the servant or slave does things. He could have a cruel and harsh master, and if his eye was on that master, it would be exceedingly difficult to serve well. But when your eye is on the Lord and when your heart is in tune with the Lord and the result is that you actually have compassion on this man because he’s so spiritually blind, then everything that you do for the glory of God will be a good work.

And of course, the great thing about this is that when we do things for the glory of God, we’re doing things for the glory of our Father. And I suppose every preacher has used this illustration: A child comes up to you at the end of the service and hands you a drawing that they’ve made of you while you’ve been preaching. And you actually thought you weren’t as small as that and your features weren’t quite as sharp as that. And it’s an imperfect—you know, the child is not yet Van Gogh or Leonardo da Vinci, but because you love the child—and this is true of all of us who are fathers, isn’t it?—we say, “That is absolutely splendid.” And what we are really saying is: “You did this out of love for me, and I appreciate it. And you did it to please me, so I don’t assess that on a false basis or a false standard. I assess it on the basis of your motivation in doing it out of love and your desire to bring glory to me.” And when that is true of us, however imperfectly, we know that our heavenly Father accepts what we do and rejoices in what we do for the sake of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And that’s a wonderful liberation it gives to us.