This episode provides the reason why most unbelievers consider themselves good people capable of doing good works. As a consequence of the great exchange, where all people exchange the truth of God for a lie and worship and serve themselves, "good" and "bad" is primarily measured by service/disservice to the object being worshipped. Mankind becomes the measure, and this idolatrous thermometer leads to assessments in which men commend themselves by themselves. (2 Cor: 10:12) This faulty assessment of course misses the true standard of God in which God is the object of worship. The episode closes with an exhortation to do good works by embracing the standard of God in the person of Christ.
Re-defining ‘Good’ to Serve Mankind
This episode elaborates on the great exchange of Romans 1:18-23, in which mankind exchanges the glory of God for an image in the form of himself. This exchange is critical to understanding unbelievers' basis for doing good works. Morality and "good works" are ultimately defined by the object they serve. Mankind is the fundamental god of unbelievers and "good works" describe the relationship of man's works to man's god, i.e. himself. So not surprisingly, man commends himself when his works serve himself, even calling his evil works "good." Isaiah commented on the disconnect between divine morality and man-made morality: "woe to those who call evil good, and good, evil." (Is 5:20) The last part of the episode explains how the great exchange is reversed by following Christ.
The god behind the ‘Good Works’ of Unbelievers
This episode addresses the root reason why unbelievers are often adamant about their ability to do good works. Works can be described as "good" in so far as they serve some purpose. Since mankind was created for God's glory (Isaiah 43:7), but has nevertheless fallen short of that glory (Romans 3:23), his works can not logically be described as "good." But if man rejects his purpose, that he was created for God's glory, and even exchanges that glory for man's glory, then the works of man are evaluated based on their service to the glory of man. Morality itself becomes a social construct ultimately aimed at the glory of man. Romans 1:18-25 traces the descent of exchanging the glory of God for an image in the form of corruptible man, concluding that man "worships and serves the creature rather than the Creator." Very critically, unregenerate man rejects the glory of God as the purpose of man, suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, and substitutes himself as the object of worship. Morality and "good" works merely reflect the god that is served, so not surprisingly, many unbelievers insist that they do good works.
OK, I’m Bad..Now What?
The episode traces the journey of those who do good works. All are initially "sons of disobedience" and are "by nature children of wrath." (Ephesians 2:2-3) Mankind can do no good, and none are "children of God." The Holy Spirit convicts "the world" of failure to trust Christ (the essence of sin) and the means of becoming good through the work of Christ. (John 16:8-10) Faith in God is the condition that justifies believers and makes them good or righteous. Hence Paul declares in Romans 4:5 that "the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness." Once one receives Christ by faith, God regenerates the heart, making the former son of disobedience a child of God. So John 1:12 promises "as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." Finally, the believer who now has an intrinsically good heart, "created in Christ Jesus for good works," learns to abide in Christ and bear much fruit. (John 15:5)
Religious or Secular..You’re Not Good Enough
Like the last episode, this program demonstrates that all people, whether religious or secular, do not meet the righteous standards of God. The Pharisees' tendency was to divorce outward behavior and practice from the essence of the Law, which was love of God and neighbor. They replaced God's standard of righteousness with their own. Unbelievers do the same, primarily by appealing to obedience to the civil authority as the standard of goodness. As long as unbelievers aren't ax-murderers and don't commit felonies, most conclude they're basically good people. Well unbelievers are guilty of the same deflecting as Pharisees were: they both substitute their own standards for God's standards. The episode concludes that all are convicted as sinners and should abandon all hope of being good and doing good deeds apart from trusting in the One who was good for them, namely Jesus Christ.
The Micah 6:8 Test of Goodness
This episode initially highlights the misplaced morality of the Pharisees and then applies the Biblical standard of "goodness" to the worldview of unbelievers confident in their own goodness. Christ took issue with the overemphasis of the Pharisees on issues such as tithing combined with neglect of the "weightier provisions of the law" like "justice, mercy and faithfulness." (Mt 23:23) Christ was likely alluding to Micah 6:8, a succinct description of mankind's obligation to God, doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with God. Many Pharisees focused on external matters like tithing instead of the essence of the Law. The episode applies Micah 6:8 to the worldview of most unbelievers, noting that justice, mercy and humility before God are redefined or thrown out. The Biblical standard of justice or righteousness is entirely wrapped up in love of God and neighbor. The world at best gives lip-service to God but then proceeds to redefine "justice" and "goodness" in terms of social norms where God is not remotely in view. "Mercy" for most moderns means tolerance of other people and practices without reference to an objective standard. Christians, by contrast, are called to extend mercy, and this mercy presupposes not executing judgment or being judgmental despite people's failure to meet God's absolute standards. Finally, Biblical humility naturally doesn't describe unbelievers since they don't acknowledge God's Lordship.
Man-made Distinctions Devoid of Righteousness
Many of the "good" works of unbelievers rest on the assumption that good works don't have to come from a good heart. They dichotomize between works themselves and quality of the person producing them, often overemphasizing outwardly "good" works. Christ however insisted that good works can only come from a good heart: "first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, SO THAT the outside of it may become clean also." (Mt 23:26) Christ also took aim at false dichotomies in the man-made distinctions made by Pharisees, who said a man was obligated if he swore by the gold in the temple, but not if he merely swore by the temple itself. Christ exposed many such false dichotomies among the Pharisees (Mt. 23:16-22), and essentially concluded that hypocritical man-made religion exchanges God's standards for man's, in an attempt to justify men just by doing outwardly "good" works.
Let Him Who Boasts, Boast in the Lord
This episode centers on "religious" work, noting that activity not motivated by love of God and neighbor doesn't qualify as "good" work. Christ derided Jewish efforts to make proselytes in which converts became "twice the sons of hell" as those proselytizing (Mt 23:15) The context of Christ's woes against hypocrisy highlights the exaltation of man-made religion to the expense of the Great Commandments. Paul later took issue with Judaizers in the early Christian church, who prioritized circumcision over sanctifying faith. Outward observance of circumcision by converts became a badge of boasting in which Judaizers made "a good showing in the flesh." (Gal. 6:12) Religious work not born out of the Great Commandments ("gold, silver, precious stone") is burned up at the judgment seat of Christ, for it does not qualify as a "good" work. (1 Cor 3:12-15) The episode also cites modern-day "boasting in the flesh." Altar calls designed to elicit quick professions of faith, often by ignoring or understating the necessity of repentance, have become the predominant badge of boasting in evangelical circles. This "wood, hay and straw" motivated by flesh will be burned up. Unfortunately many who are manipulated into reciting the sinner's prayer will also be burned up, because they hypocritically professed Christ as lord, as evident by their pursuit of lawlessness. (Mt 7:22-23) In summary then, if hypocrisy and carnality can undermine religious work, even rendering as rubbish the deeds of regenerate believers, can the works of unbelievers possibly be described as "good?"
Hypocrisy: When “Good” Deeds Reek
This episode and the next several focus on the 8 woes of Christ against the Pharisees in Matthew 23. The series has so far demonstrated that "good works" are contingent on a good heart. Extrinsic goodness or outwardly good works must flow from a good heart in order to be characterized as good. Since none has a good heart (Romans 3:10-12), no one can produce "good" works, based on God's standard. Christ's 8 woes against the Pharisees underscore this point, recording possibly the most devastating rebuke of hypocrisy in all of Scripture. Christ essentially concludes that all the Pharisees' outwardly good deeds were in fact corrupted because they arose from a corrupt heart. Christ commanded "first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, SO THAT the outside of it may become clean also." (Mt 23:26) Outwardly "good" works are unclean when the inward condition of the heart remains dirty. The rest of Scripture provides the answer with a new clean heart provided in regeneration.
Mercy Triumphs over Judgment..But Only for the Blind
This episode highlights the natural human tendency to substitute God's standard for good works with human ones, mostly centered on outward observance. One of the primary aims of the sermon on the mount (Matthew5-7) is to explode reliance on outward morality divorced from internal embrace of the commandments. The Pharisees were often guilty of emphasizing external observance of the Law without grappling with the heart's penchant for lawlessness. Christ concluded that Pharisees who continued to insist on their own righteousness, maintaining that they were good people, were headed for judgment. (John 9:39) By contrast, those who acknowledge their sick condition and are utterly despondent over any ability to do good--these are candidates for salvation who rest completely on the finished work of Christ.