Performing good works without proper motivation surpasses inaction, but the ideal is to act with a heart aligned with God’s will. This principle reveals the core struggle of fallen humanity before a righteous and holy God. Our efforts to meet the law’s demands fall short without a motivation pleasing to Him. Both experience and Scripture confirm that, in our fallen state, pleasing God is impossible without divine intervention.
Consider the following passages that highlight the impossibility of pleasing God apart from His transformative work:
Romans 8:7–8
“Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
A mind consumed by sinful desires opposes God and cannot please Him. Only a heart transformed by the Spirit can align with His will.
Hebrews 11:6
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Faith is foundational to pleasing God. Without trust in Him, no effort or work can meet His desires.
Isaiah 1:11–15
“‘What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams… When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts? … When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you.’”
God rejects empty rituals devoid of genuine devotion. External acts without a heart for Him are displeasing.
Proverbs 15:8
“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.”
Offerings from those in unrepentant sin are unacceptable to God, while the sincere prayers of the upright delight Him.
Colossians 1:10
“…so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work…”
This verse implies that living unworthily, without fruitful works, fails to please God.
The Holy Spirit’s role is crucial here. The Spirit regenerates a spiritually dead heart, instilling the motivation and alignment needed to fulfill the law’s righteous demands.
As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8–10
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Paul grounds salvation in grace, received through faith, as a divine gift. This grace not only redeems but also produces good works. Genuine conversion—a resurrection from death to life—enables conformity to the law that once condemned us, transforming it into a guide for the redeemed heart.
Herman Ridderbos articulates this in The Coming of the Kingdom:
The disposition of the heart is an indispensable condition of a good deed for the very reason that it is included in the precept of the law and is demanded by God in the revelation of His will. The theonomy of the gospel is subjection to the law, and any attempt to eliminate the category of law from the gospel is frustrated by the continuous and undeniable maintenance of the law by and in the gospel.
Ridderbos emphasizes that the gospel upholds the law through the Spirit’s transformative work. The law’s demands, once external, become internal, fulfilling the deeper intent of practices like circumcision. Paul expands on this in Romans 2:25–29
For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? … For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.
Paul redefines obedience as a matter of the heart, enabled by the Spirit. External compliance without inner transformation is inadequate. The Spirit empowers believers to live out the law’s true intent.
What does this mean for us? We must recognize that the law, when applied by Christ in a regenerate heart, is no longer an adversary. It becomes a tool to expose the gaps between our lives and the righteousness God provides through Jesus. Those who dismiss the law’s role risk filling the void with inadequate substitutes, unable to satisfy the soul’s yearning for God’s truth.
Jesus affirms the law’s enduring role in Matthew 5:17–20
Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus did not abolish the law but fulfilled it, revealing its true purpose. The law calls us to a righteousness surpassing mere external adherence, as seen in the scribes and Pharisees, and points to a heart transformed by the Spirit.
In summary, the law remains a vital guide for believers. Through the Holy Spirit’s work, it shifts from an external standard to an internal reality, shaping our hearts in reflection of Christ’s righteousness. Let us embrace the law not as a burden but as a gift, guiding us toward a life of good works, rooted in grace, and driven by love for God.
In these things is the kingdom of Christ manifest in this present world.
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