The Lord’s Work – Part 32
The final 2 instances are the only 2 occurrences that talk about a man that “doeth good”.
3 John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
That is a big fat BUT. That BUT is the division between flesh and Spirit.
That BUT is a line. A division drawn between the righteous and wicked. You can’t do both good and evil. If you doeth one, you don’t doeth the other.
Those that doeth good are “of God” – they are born of God. Otherwise, they could not do good. Never ever, never had, never did, never could, never will.
Not David, not Noah, not Job, not Daniel, not Abraham, not Moses, not Joseph, not Elijah, not Enoch, not Josiah, nor any other man ever did true good.
They did figures and shadows of good. And the Lord did say many good things about them. But there is a reason that none of them were ever said to “doeth good”. And the reason is very simple: They were flesh, and they were not “of God”. That is why the Bible says “none doeth good, no not one”, because a man who is not born of God cannot do good in truth. A man that doeth evil.. does not doeth good.
And the 9th and final instance of “doeth good” is here:
Proverbs 11:17 The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.
First of all, that is not a statement that any particular man on the earth does good.
Maybe some people might be prideful enough to think they are “merciful men”. But truthfully, could that possibly be any man on the earth? Would you really think that is talking about you? Its not talking about me! How many times does the Bible say of the children of men, “there is none that doeth good, no not one”? And now, do we see this one verse and think, some men must “doeth good”, some times, right? Certainly the good ones do good, right? The good Samaritan is a merciful man, right?
Well if he is, then he “doeth good” and thus he is “of God”. He has no need for a Saviour. He is already perfect. He is “of God”. He “doeth good” and he does not “doeth evil”.
The good Samaritan is indeed a merciful man. But the good Samaritan on the earth is a merciful man only in figure.
Who is a true merciful man you ask? He that sheweth mercy.
Psalms 37:21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
Psalms 85:7 Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.
Who is one that sheweth mercy? Someone who gives… salvation!
A merciful man is a righteous man. A righteous man is not a sinner. But there is only 1 of those.
The Lord Jesus was a merciful man.
The merciful man is one who by shewing mercy to other men’s souls, does good to his own soul. Jesus did this.
By shewing mercy, selling all that He had and giving, to the poor, He became rich. By laying down His life, He gained our life for Himself. By leaving His house by Himself to shew mercy to us, He returned home with many sons. By going forth mercifully to sow Himself in the Earth, He brought forth much fruit. Thus, He will feast and rejoice forever in prosperity. By breaking His body open, giving food and drink to the hungry, He increased/grew His body: the church. By giving, all that He had, He purchased His bride.
By shewing mercy to us, He did good to His own soul.
And now, the saved, the sons of God, like Jesus, are merciful men. A true good Samaritan is a Christian. A true merciful man is the one who by shewing mercy to the lost, doeth good to his neighbor, and also to his own soul, in the truth, in the Spirit. Soul winners are the true good Samaritans.
We find the half dead and give them life. We find the prisoner, and set him free. We find the wounded and we heal them. We find the thirsty and give him drink. We go forth and sow in tears, but doubtless we will come again rejoicing.
Psalms 126:5-6 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
But these things are not performed in the flesh. They are not done to the flesh, they are to souls.
Proverbs 11:17 The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.
The merciful man doeth good to his own SOUL. Christians do good to souls. The earthly humanitarian, no matter how much “good” he does, or mercy he shows, when he shews mercy, he does it to flesh, not to souls.
The good Samaritan on the Earth is merely a figure, a shadow, of the true good man, Jesus Christ.
That was all 9 instances of “doeth good” in the Bible. Other than Jesus, and those “in Christ”,
Psalms 14:3 … there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
If Noah, and Job, and Joseph, and Gideon, and David, and Josiah, and Daniel, were said to “doeth good” we might have a problem. But it is never said of any particular man in the Bible.
You saw all 9 of the 9 instances of “doeth good” in the Bible. Not a single one says that a natural man doeth good.
“doeth right*” – again, 3 times
1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1 John 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
If you doeth good, you are of God. And if you doeth righteousness, you are righteous, even as righteous as Jesus Christ. The only way to doeth good or to righteousness is to be born of God.
Otherwise, all our righteousnesses are man’s righteousness, the righteousness which is of the law, carnal righteousnesses, which are as filthy rags: FAKE.
The final instance of “doeth righteousness” in the whole Bible – and the only one in the OT.
Psalms 106:3 Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.
3 times. What do they reveal about doing righteousness?
If one doeth righteousness he is born of God and just as righteous as Jesus Christ. He cannot sin, because he is born of God. And … he doeth righteousness, at all times. They that do righteousness, “doeth righteousness at all times”. There is no other way this phrase is used. It describes a completely perfect man. One can’t doeth righteousness some times. One can’t doeth righteousness for a while. One can’t doeth it only while alive on earth. It must be at all times. True righteousness is done at all times. One must do righteousness from eternity past to eternity future, from everlasting to everlasting (Jesus Christ). Or from birth to eternity future (Christians, the sons of God). But if at any time you do evil, then you don’t “doeth righteousness”, and you’ve never done righteousness. Because he that doeth righteousness, does it at all times.
Now, I would say, that for a Christian, “doeth righteousness at all times” is not necessarily that every Christian does a lot of good, or constantly does good. He may be spiritually asleep. He may be resting, not working, not doing anything. But WHEN What time he does, a Christian does, he does right. What time he goes, he goes right. Every time. At all times.
“doeth good” – 9 times.
“doeth right*” – 3 times.
The only men that doeth good or doeth right, do it spiritually.
The only men that doeth good or doeth righteousness are those that are completely perfect and cannot sin, they are as righteous as Jesus Christ, because they are born of the Spirit, born of God.
“Doest Good” – 1 time
“Doest Right” – 0 times
Psalms 119:68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
Only the Lord God is ever said to “doest good”. No man “doest good”.
Btw, only 2 other instances of “art good”.
Psalms 86:5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
1 Samuel 29:9 And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.
“Doing good” – 1 time
“Doing right*” – 0 times
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Jesus Christ is the only one that is ever said to have went about “doing good”.
Not Abraham, not David, not Solomon, not Job, not Noah. No mere man. There is no man on the earth that is going about “doing good”. None doeth good, no not one.
Ahh.. but there is one. For The Lord God Himself became a man.
Mark 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
First of all, you can’t do the things Jesus did on the earth. Unless you have Apostolic power, you can’t. Heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, raise the dead, walk on water. If you can do those things, then you can tell me that you “do what Jesus did”, and you go about on this earth “doing good”.
Preach the word of God without error. Expound ever riddle and ever parable. Answer every question and put the hypocrites to silence. Then you can tell me that you go about “doing good” like Jesus did. I’ll wait. But I’ll die waiting.
Secondly, of the Lord, the Bible says, all His works are done in truth (Psalms 33:4).
The carnal things that Jesus did on Earth were the shadows of the true good things He also did in the Spirit, to our souls, in our hearts, in heavenly places. He did good on the Earth, at all times, He did only good on the Earth. But, those earthly works (which you can’t even do) were only the figure of the true. But all His fleshly works are also done in Spirit and in truth.
That is the way I see Jesus’ earthly ministry. That is the way I divide it. He did good after the pattern on the Earth, and He also did good in truth.
Now, could you possibly say that Jesus’ fleshly works were true good works simply because Jesus did them, and He was in God, and He was God, and He was the true light, and He was the way and the TRUTH, and the life?
Luke 6:19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
When there went virtue out of Him to heal the sick, was that true good? Maybe.. but they could still sin. So they still got sick again and died.
John 5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Mark 8:23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
John 9:6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
Was this true good? I mean, that is the fountain of living water, applying his water to a man.
But this was the application of living water to the flesh. Maybe this was just like putting new wine in old bottles. Maybe this was as if Adam were to eat of the tree of life. It could give eternal life, but only if one kept drinking of it. But every time one sinned, one would get sick and begin to die again. So instead, one needs to put new wine in new bottles. What does that mean? It means you need a new body to put that new blood in, and then both are preserved. Luke 20:36 says of the children of God, “Neither can they die any more”.
But I think we have to say that Jesus’ fleshly works were only a figure of the true. Because if that was true good, then that may allow that a man, doing the same things, can do true good. When a doctor radiates the mess out of a cancer patient and removes the cancer, did he do good? When a surgeon slices open a man’s chest for a heart transplant to extend a man’s life by 20 years, did he do true good? That is similar to Jesus’ works, right? But the cancer can come back, and the “new” heart can fail as well.
This isn’t much different than some of Jesus’ works. So can you really define doing good according to the fleshly works?
When Jesus healed a man’s flesh, they could still die. They could still get sick again. They could even get WORSE things.
John 5:14 … sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
No matter what goodness and righteousness and virtue, no matter if he put living water in your flesh, your flesh would still sin, and it would still die.
Your flesh must DIE. Your flesh must be CHANGED, TRANSLATED. Your carnal flesh itself needs to be changed into a spiritual flesh.
The point.. is that no fleshly work, done to fleshly man is truthfully “doing good”. But this is the pattern of “doing good”.
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Only 1 time in the whole Bible. Only applied to the Lord, and used as a very important figure of the true.
Jesus healing flesh, resurrecting bodies, opening eyes, casting out devils, freeing the prisoners, loosing the tongue of the dumb, giving light to those in darkness. Spiritually. Eternally. This is “doing good” in truth.
–
“Done good” – 2 times
“Done right*” – 2 times
2 Chronicles 24:16 And they buried him [Jehoiada the Priest] in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.
From what we’ve seen up until now, no man has even come CLOSE to doing good. But here, we may have our first bit of difficulty. Now we finally have something to pause on, something to assess a bit closer.
Now, before we start making some huge jump from this ONE SINGLE VERSE, to saying that a man can do true good under the law, in the flesh, let’s assess what we have here.
This is ONE verse. ONE time. How incredibly rare this is!! One time, in the entire Bible. Lets skip ahead to the other occurrence for a quick second so you know that this is indeed the only one.
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
They that have done good are the children of the resurrection, that is, the children of God. And we have to draw the line between good and evil: if you’ve done evil, then you will have damnation and not life.
This is a classification of people at the judgment. This is not said of any individual men. And it is certainly not true of any natural man.
But…
2 Chronicles 24:16 … he had done good in Israel, …
This is said of Jehoiada and NO ONE ELSE. That alone, is cause for pause. This alone is cause for extreme caution! Because, if you want to have the resurrection of life you have to have “done good”. And Jehoiada is the one and ONLY reference, the only example, we have here.
This is not said of any other prophet, saint, king, prince, patriarch, apostle or disciple, in the whole Bible. But do you think that you have “done good”? Do you think you are better than all of those men? Knowing that NONE of them received this honor, do you think your Pastor, your child, your grandfather, your sweet aunt Sally, or ANY of your heroes and icons, your champions, your rock stars, your beautiful actors and actresses, your motivational speakers, your political activists, your elected officials, your religious leaders, or anyone that you feel love from, or care towards, or respect for, in this world today has “done good”? Can you identify one single person, who is more righteous than every single other Biblical figure, and deserving of this title: “he had done good”, equal to Jehoiada?
No, you can’t. So let’s slow your roll, before you “do greatly err”. Lets pause and humble ourselves, before we begin to lift ourselves up.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Daniel 4:37 … those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
So instead of throwing out the rule established in the entire rest of the Bible for this one outlier in order to justify ourselves, or to teach what we want to believe, let’s instead see if we can understand the one outlier we have.
Jan 2 2022
The Lord’s Work – Part 32
Downloadable Word document:
The Lord’s Work – Part 32
The Lord’s Work – Part 32
The final 2 instances are the only 2 occurrences that talk about a man that “doeth good”.
3 John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
That is a big fat BUT. That BUT is the division between flesh and Spirit.
That BUT is a line. A division drawn between the righteous and wicked. You can’t do both good and evil. If you doeth one, you don’t doeth the other.
Those that doeth good are “of God” – they are born of God. Otherwise, they could not do good. Never ever, never had, never did, never could, never will.
Not David, not Noah, not Job, not Daniel, not Abraham, not Moses, not Joseph, not Elijah, not Enoch, not Josiah, nor any other man ever did true good.
They did figures and shadows of good. And the Lord did say many good things about them. But there is a reason that none of them were ever said to “doeth good”. And the reason is very simple: They were flesh, and they were not “of God”. That is why the Bible says “none doeth good, no not one”, because a man who is not born of God cannot do good in truth. A man that doeth evil.. does not doeth good.
And the 9th and final instance of “doeth good” is here:
Proverbs 11:17 The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.
First of all, that is not a statement that any particular man on the earth does good.
Maybe some people might be prideful enough to think they are “merciful men”. But truthfully, could that possibly be any man on the earth? Would you really think that is talking about you? Its not talking about me! How many times does the Bible say of the children of men, “there is none that doeth good, no not one”? And now, do we see this one verse and think, some men must “doeth good”, some times, right? Certainly the good ones do good, right? The good Samaritan is a merciful man, right?
Well if he is, then he “doeth good” and thus he is “of God”. He has no need for a Saviour. He is already perfect. He is “of God”. He “doeth good” and he does not “doeth evil”.
The good Samaritan is indeed a merciful man. But the good Samaritan on the earth is a merciful man only in figure.
Who is a true merciful man you ask? He that sheweth mercy.
Psalms 37:21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
Psalms 85:7 Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.
Who is one that sheweth mercy? Someone who gives… salvation!
A merciful man is a righteous man. A righteous man is not a sinner. But there is only 1 of those.
The Lord Jesus was a merciful man.
The merciful man is one who by shewing mercy to other men’s souls, does good to his own soul. Jesus did this.
By shewing mercy, selling all that He had and giving, to the poor, He became rich. By laying down His life, He gained our life for Himself. By leaving His house by Himself to shew mercy to us, He returned home with many sons. By going forth mercifully to sow Himself in the Earth, He brought forth much fruit. Thus, He will feast and rejoice forever in prosperity. By breaking His body open, giving food and drink to the hungry, He increased/grew His body: the church. By giving, all that He had, He purchased His bride.
By shewing mercy to us, He did good to His own soul.
And now, the saved, the sons of God, like Jesus, are merciful men. A true good Samaritan is a Christian. A true merciful man is the one who by shewing mercy to the lost, doeth good to his neighbor, and also to his own soul, in the truth, in the Spirit. Soul winners are the true good Samaritans.
We find the half dead and give them life. We find the prisoner, and set him free. We find the wounded and we heal them. We find the thirsty and give him drink. We go forth and sow in tears, but doubtless we will come again rejoicing.
Psalms 126:5-6 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
But these things are not performed in the flesh. They are not done to the flesh, they are to souls.
Proverbs 11:17 The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.
The merciful man doeth good to his own SOUL. Christians do good to souls. The earthly humanitarian, no matter how much “good” he does, or mercy he shows, when he shews mercy, he does it to flesh, not to souls.
The good Samaritan on the Earth is merely a figure, a shadow, of the true good man, Jesus Christ.
That was all 9 instances of “doeth good” in the Bible. Other than Jesus, and those “in Christ”,
Psalms 14:3 … there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
If Noah, and Job, and Joseph, and Gideon, and David, and Josiah, and Daniel, were said to “doeth good” we might have a problem. But it is never said of any particular man in the Bible.
You saw all 9 of the 9 instances of “doeth good” in the Bible. Not a single one says that a natural man doeth good.
“doeth right*” – again, 3 times
1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1 John 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
If you doeth good, you are of God. And if you doeth righteousness, you are righteous, even as righteous as Jesus Christ. The only way to doeth good or to righteousness is to be born of God.
Otherwise, all our righteousnesses are man’s righteousness, the righteousness which is of the law, carnal righteousnesses, which are as filthy rags: FAKE.
The final instance of “doeth righteousness” in the whole Bible – and the only one in the OT.
Psalms 106:3 Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.
3 times. What do they reveal about doing righteousness?
If one doeth righteousness he is born of God and just as righteous as Jesus Christ. He cannot sin, because he is born of God. And … he doeth righteousness, at all times. They that do righteousness, “doeth righteousness at all times”. There is no other way this phrase is used. It describes a completely perfect man. One can’t doeth righteousness some times. One can’t doeth righteousness for a while. One can’t doeth it only while alive on earth. It must be at all times. True righteousness is done at all times. One must do righteousness from eternity past to eternity future, from everlasting to everlasting (Jesus Christ). Or from birth to eternity future (Christians, the sons of God). But if at any time you do evil, then you don’t “doeth righteousness”, and you’ve never done righteousness. Because he that doeth righteousness, does it at all times.
Now, I would say, that for a Christian, “doeth righteousness at all times” is not necessarily that every Christian does a lot of good, or constantly does good. He may be spiritually asleep. He may be resting, not working, not doing anything. But WHEN What time he does, a Christian does, he does right. What time he goes, he goes right. Every time. At all times.
“doeth good” – 9 times.
“doeth right*” – 3 times.
The only men that doeth good or doeth right, do it spiritually.
The only men that doeth good or doeth righteousness are those that are completely perfect and cannot sin, they are as righteous as Jesus Christ, because they are born of the Spirit, born of God.
“Doest Good” – 1 time
“Doest Right” – 0 times
Psalms 119:68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
Only the Lord God is ever said to “doest good”. No man “doest good”.
Btw, only 2 other instances of “art good”.
Psalms 86:5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
1 Samuel 29:9 And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.
“Doing good” – 1 time
“Doing right*” – 0 times
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Jesus Christ is the only one that is ever said to have went about “doing good”.
Not Abraham, not David, not Solomon, not Job, not Noah. No mere man. There is no man on the earth that is going about “doing good”. None doeth good, no not one.
Ahh.. but there is one. For The Lord God Himself became a man.
Mark 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
First of all, you can’t do the things Jesus did on the earth. Unless you have Apostolic power, you can’t. Heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, raise the dead, walk on water. If you can do those things, then you can tell me that you “do what Jesus did”, and you go about on this earth “doing good”.
Preach the word of God without error. Expound ever riddle and ever parable. Answer every question and put the hypocrites to silence. Then you can tell me that you go about “doing good” like Jesus did. I’ll wait. But I’ll die waiting.
Secondly, of the Lord, the Bible says, all His works are done in truth (Psalms 33:4).
The carnal things that Jesus did on Earth were the shadows of the true good things He also did in the Spirit, to our souls, in our hearts, in heavenly places. He did good on the Earth, at all times, He did only good on the Earth. But, those earthly works (which you can’t even do) were only the figure of the true. But all His fleshly works are also done in Spirit and in truth.
That is the way I see Jesus’ earthly ministry. That is the way I divide it. He did good after the pattern on the Earth, and He also did good in truth.
Now, could you possibly say that Jesus’ fleshly works were true good works simply because Jesus did them, and He was in God, and He was God, and He was the true light, and He was the way and the TRUTH, and the life?
Luke 6:19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
When there went virtue out of Him to heal the sick, was that true good? Maybe.. but they could still sin. So they still got sick again and died.
John 5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Mark 8:23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
John 9:6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
Was this true good? I mean, that is the fountain of living water, applying his water to a man.
But this was the application of living water to the flesh. Maybe this was just like putting new wine in old bottles. Maybe this was as if Adam were to eat of the tree of life. It could give eternal life, but only if one kept drinking of it. But every time one sinned, one would get sick and begin to die again. So instead, one needs to put new wine in new bottles. What does that mean? It means you need a new body to put that new blood in, and then both are preserved. Luke 20:36 says of the children of God, “Neither can they die any more”.
But I think we have to say that Jesus’ fleshly works were only a figure of the true. Because if that was true good, then that may allow that a man, doing the same things, can do true good. When a doctor radiates the mess out of a cancer patient and removes the cancer, did he do good? When a surgeon slices open a man’s chest for a heart transplant to extend a man’s life by 20 years, did he do true good? That is similar to Jesus’ works, right? But the cancer can come back, and the “new” heart can fail as well.
This isn’t much different than some of Jesus’ works. So can you really define doing good according to the fleshly works?
When Jesus healed a man’s flesh, they could still die. They could still get sick again. They could even get WORSE things.
John 5:14 … sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
No matter what goodness and righteousness and virtue, no matter if he put living water in your flesh, your flesh would still sin, and it would still die.
Your flesh must DIE. Your flesh must be CHANGED, TRANSLATED. Your carnal flesh itself needs to be changed into a spiritual flesh.
The point.. is that no fleshly work, done to fleshly man is truthfully “doing good”. But this is the pattern of “doing good”.
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Only 1 time in the whole Bible. Only applied to the Lord, and used as a very important figure of the true.
Jesus healing flesh, resurrecting bodies, opening eyes, casting out devils, freeing the prisoners, loosing the tongue of the dumb, giving light to those in darkness. Spiritually. Eternally. This is “doing good” in truth.
–
“Done good” – 2 times
“Done right*” – 2 times
2 Chronicles 24:16 And they buried him [Jehoiada the Priest] in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.
From what we’ve seen up until now, no man has even come CLOSE to doing good. But here, we may have our first bit of difficulty. Now we finally have something to pause on, something to assess a bit closer.
Now, before we start making some huge jump from this ONE SINGLE VERSE, to saying that a man can do true good under the law, in the flesh, let’s assess what we have here.
This is ONE verse. ONE time. How incredibly rare this is!! One time, in the entire Bible. Lets skip ahead to the other occurrence for a quick second so you know that this is indeed the only one.
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
They that have done good are the children of the resurrection, that is, the children of God. And we have to draw the line between good and evil: if you’ve done evil, then you will have damnation and not life.
This is a classification of people at the judgment. This is not said of any individual men. And it is certainly not true of any natural man.
But…
2 Chronicles 24:16 … he had done good in Israel, …
This is said of Jehoiada and NO ONE ELSE. That alone, is cause for pause. This alone is cause for extreme caution! Because, if you want to have the resurrection of life you have to have “done good”. And Jehoiada is the one and ONLY reference, the only example, we have here.
This is not said of any other prophet, saint, king, prince, patriarch, apostle or disciple, in the whole Bible. But do you think that you have “done good”? Do you think you are better than all of those men? Knowing that NONE of them received this honor, do you think your Pastor, your child, your grandfather, your sweet aunt Sally, or ANY of your heroes and icons, your champions, your rock stars, your beautiful actors and actresses, your motivational speakers, your political activists, your elected officials, your religious leaders, or anyone that you feel love from, or care towards, or respect for, in this world today has “done good”? Can you identify one single person, who is more righteous than every single other Biblical figure, and deserving of this title: “he had done good”, equal to Jehoiada?
No, you can’t. So let’s slow your roll, before you “do greatly err”. Lets pause and humble ourselves, before we begin to lift ourselves up.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Daniel 4:37 … those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
So instead of throwing out the rule established in the entire rest of the Bible for this one outlier in order to justify ourselves, or to teach what we want to believe, let’s instead see if we can understand the one outlier we have.
By Pastor • Christian Doctrine, Good Works • 0