The last few episodes highlight a central goal of salvation: pure, undefiled worship/service of God. Embrace of this objective, according to Hebrews 6:1 is through "repentance from dead works" and "faith toward God." This episode poses a simple question designed to test if we've truly repented from dead works: "Why do we go to church?" The Biblical answer, according to Hebrews 9:14, is that it enables us to become better worshippers. We correctly seek to be equipped for the work of ministry SO THAT we can serve God better. A common answer among those who have only partly repented from dead works is that they go to church to be better people, possibly indicating that worship and service of God is not really the ultimate objective. Their anthropocentric religious activity is aimed at self-improvement, mostly gaged by feelings and comparative assessments with others. (see the Pharisee and the Publican, Luke 18:9-14). Theocentric worship, not anthropocentric worship decked out with the form of godliness, must be the goal. Consequently, repentance from dead works is a repudiation of EVERYTHING and EVERY WORK that ultimately replaces worship of God with another substitute. And, it is absolutely essential to produce good works acceptable to God.
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.
Do Good, But NOT For God’s Sake
Building off of the last program, this episode enumerates several Biblical examples where unbelievers, based on natural endowments, divine influence and/or self-interest, do in fact produce externally good works. God has given all men a natural desire to take care of their children, so "evil" men give "good gifts." (Luke 11:13) God can lay His agenda on the heart of kings, even to the point where they're "anointed" to do His will (Cyrus, Isaiah 45:1) Lastly, the unjust judge in Luke 18:4-5 ended up rendering justice to a destitute widow, just to get put an end to her persistent nagging. Yet none of the above "good" works meets the standard of good works according to God, where outwardly good works flow from pure love of God and neighbor. This episode answers a common query over the possibility of good works, especially among nonbelieving philanthropists.
Half Good Ain’t Good Enough
This episode sets the Biblical standard of goodness, where outward manifestations of goodness are consistent with the heart from which they come. Extrinsic goodness flows from intrinsic goodness, and God alone meets that standard. "You [God] are good and do good" declares Psalm 119:68. The test of intrinsic goodness is the great commandments, perfect love of God and neighbor, and Christ Himself noted that no man meets that standard. So the Biblical high standard of good works is the marrying of intrinsic goodness with outward manifestations. Regarding the latter, unbelievers can in fact do externally good works. Christ acknowledged that "evil" men can give "good gifts." (Luke 11:13) Yet this "good work" does not reach the standard of goodness that God deems a "good work," since it emanates from an evil heart.
The Galatian Error: When Grace is Made Powerless
This episode spells out the spiritual loss incurred by believers when they adopt a legalistic approach to sanctification. The problem, according to Galatians 5:4, is that persistent appeal to the law for justification cuts the Christian off from the grace power source for sanctification. The Christian is no longer relying on the Holy Spirit and His power to walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), he's now relying on works of the law for maturing in Christ. This is the fundamental error of the Galatians cited in Gal. 3:3, of whom Paul asked, "having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" This approach to sanctification repudiates grace, resulting in being "severed from Christ" and "fallen from grace." This strong language doesn't refer to one's position in Christ, but rather to the believer's rejection of the grace of God present in sanctification. "Severed" is the translation from "katergeo" and means estrangement or made ineffective. It's the same verb in Romans 6:6, where Paul contends that the "old self might be done away with." There the old self continues to exists but is rendered ineffective. So "severed from Christ" doesn't mean the believer has lost his salvation, but he has in fact made the sanctifying grace of God ineffective by his appeal to works of the law. The result is that the believer has "fallen from grace." The grace of sanctification is available, but the believer prefers perfecting himself without it.
Pardoned and Gainfully Employed: Your New Life in Christ
This episode spells out the appropriate reaction of Christians who realize the enormity of mercy extended to them in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. All Christians are acquitted from a gigantic debt that they could not pay. "The wages of sin is death," and Christ paid those wages. As we progressively understand the severity of the debt and the eternal death in hell that we all justly deserve, we gain proper perspective on how to live our remaining days. Paul says in Romans 6:13 that "we are alive from the dead." Gratitude over being the recipients of God's indescribable gift motivates us to re-present our members as instruments of righteousness in honor of the God who graciously pardoned us and gave us life. So we gladly unite ourselves with Christ in the likeness of His death, putting to death the deeds of the flesh (Rom. 8:13), so that we may also walk in the newness of His life, His resurrected life. We live for the will and pleasure of God as grateful servants in the army of the Lord.
Keeping the Law, through Christ
This initial episode answers the question right from Psalm 119:5-6, which I believe summarizes the main theme of the entire psalm. "Oh that my ways may be established to keep your statutes! Then I will not be ashamed when I look upon all your commandments." Since the question mostly deals with how Psalm 119 should be applied to NT believers, the episode deals with a common misunderstanding of the importance of the Law for Christians. Some claim that Christians are not under the moral law based, based on Christ having fulfilled it for us. While our acceptance in God's sight is completely based on Christ's perfect adherence to the Law, coupled with His substitutionary death, Christians are obliged to keep the moral law by abiding in Christ. The sum of the Law is love of God and neighbor, and the New Testament constantly holds believers accountable to observe these commandments THROUGH abiding in Christ. This then is the clearest application of Psalm 119 to NT believers, that God would help establish our ways to abide in Christ, resulting in keeping God's moral law.
Saved for Good Works
This episode places the themes of redemption, sin, and works in their proper perspective. Preoccupation with sin issues is understandable for infants in Christ, but evidence of true saving faith is that service to God and/or "works" that He prepared beforehand (Eph 2:10) become the motivation for life. The episode connects "service to the living God" with the roadmap of sanctification in Eph 4:22-24, where putting off the old and putting on the new self is emphasized as the means of producing good works.