The ultimate goals of Christianity and Islam couldn't be more different. The goal of Islam is fundamentally submission to Allah: Islam means submission to God, and a Muslim is one who submits. While Christianity teaches that Christians should submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the ultimate aim of Christianity is the knowledge of God: "This is eternal life, that they may know you the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3) Redemption, reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ, is the necessary stepping stone to attaining the knowledge of God. In fact, "mere forgiveness" without the knowledge of God corresponds to the stage of "a little child" (1 John 2:12-14) Sins are forgiven, but new converts are expected to grow into fathers, "who know Him who has been from the beginning." This intimate knowledge of God, grounded in the Truth, which is Christ Himself, leads to "sincere worship." (John 4:23-24) Christ presumed that true worship is based on genuine knowledge, for "we worship what we know." (John 4:22) False worship, by contrast, is adherence to beliefs and traditions not grounded in the Truth. In the case of Islam, "worship" is submission to an unknowable god called Allah. Indeed, the demand to submit to a god who cannot be known should alert Muslims to the nefarious presence informing Islam. Interestingly, Mohammed himself thought he was demon-possessed after his violent encounter with an "angel of light"-- Gabriel.
ALL ‘Good” Works’ Grow out of Worship
This episode spells out the disconnect between believers' conception of good works and those of unbelievers. Worship of God is the indispensable element of all good works, according to the Scriptures. Believers, because of a cleansed conscience (Hebrews 9:14) and a new heart given at regeneration, aim to worship and serve God, and bring forth "good" works as they abide in Christ. (John 15:5) Unbelievers, even if they accept and adhere to Biblical morals, really don't have the worship of God in view. The basis for good works or being a good person is often the low standard of not committing felonies and/or adherence to acceptable moral standards as defined by the culture at large. Since morality and "good works" aren't related to the honor and worship of God, a completely different standard of what constitutes good works predominates among most unbelievers. And, it is typically based on a comparative assessment of oneself in light of others. These differing standards of what constitutes good works help explain the disconnect between believers' and unbelievers' conception of good works. The latter part of the episode suggests a different tactic in reaching unbelievers, focusing on using the "worship" standard of good works, instead of morality, untethered to worship of God.
Why Go to Church? Your Answer Might Reveal an Idol/Idle God
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.
Good Works and a Clean Conscience
Unbelievers are unable to do good works because all their works are described as "dead." This fact alone severely corrupts true worship. The author of Hebrews made this connection in Heb. 9:14: "how much more will the blood of Christ cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." Since good works are essentially the outflow of sincere worship of God, and pure worship cannot flow from a defiled conscience, it naturally follows that unbelievers with defiled consciences cannot truly worship/serve God and produce good works as a result. This episode stresses that salvation cleanses the conscience of all DEAD and so--called "good" works" based mostly on self-idolatry, for the purpose of undefiled, exclusive worship of the LIVING God.
Born Again to Worship..and Work
This episode brings together many of the integral themes discussed so far, highlighting the impossibility of unbelievers doing good works. This conclusion is inescapable in light of Jewish failure to produce good works. Uncircumcised in heart and ears, the best that Old Testament believers produced was worship contaminated by self-idolatry and works that were essentially "filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6) For this reason Christ emphasized the absolute necessity of being born again (John 3:5-8 ) in order to "worship God in Spirit and truth" (John 4:24)
Worship that Reverses the Great Exchange
This episode focuses on the high bar of true worship articulated by Christ in John 4:22-23, "An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth." The statement naturally begs the question, "Were Jews previously worshiping the Father in the flesh and a lie?" This would be the natural conclusion of Christ's insistence that one MUST be born again and Paul's description of the great exchange in Rom 1, where men exchange the truth of God for a lie. Importantly, God had revealed His truth perfectly, highlighted by Christ's acknowledgment that "salvation is from the Jews." The Jews were nevertheless no exception to the great exchange, indicating that even though they were the blessed recipients of God's Word, the rampant idolatry of their hearts constantly produced fleshly worship more disposed to self-worship than the worship of the one true God. Idolatrous worship reigns among the unregenerate, those Jews who are "uncircumcised of heart and ears." (Acts 7:51) Regeneration, being born of the Spirit, is therefore the necessary precondition to worshipping God in Spirit and truth. With respect to the question about the possibility of good works for unbelievers, the logic is inescapable. If Jews prior to Christ couldn't escape their fleshly worship of the lie, even though they were entrusted with God's perfect Truth, how can unbelievers do good works when their idolatry is not remotely tempered by the Word of God?
You Worship what You Serve
This episode narrowly focuses on the condition of fallen mankind in which the image of corruptible man is worshipped, principally through self-centered lusts. This idolatrous worship taints all so-called "good works" that proceed out of man as he prioritizes his lusts. Immediately after describing the great exchange, in which mankind exchanges the glory of God for an image in the form of corruptible man (Rom. 1:23-25), Paul declares that God gives man over to his lusts. God allows him to pursue, in the words of John, "the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the lust for reputation ("the boastful pride of life") (1 John 2:16) While most unbelievers would never admit that they worship themselves, the continuous servicing of the "lusts of deceit" reveal the true object of worship. We worship what we predominantly serve (Mt. 4:10), and "the image in the form of corruptible man" is practically indistinguishable from the lusts that consume him. Critically, the service of his lusts, colors all his "good works," even rendering them disgusting. Isaiah therefore concludes that "all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags." (Is. 64:6)
Good Works and Worship
This episode tackles the false dichotomy between "worship" and "service" made by many unbelievers, where "good works" are mostly about service to others and don't flow from worship. Christ Himself exploded this distinction in Mat 4:10, connecting service to worship, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve." Service then is an expression of worship. Unbelievers don't typically connect service to worship of anyone, preferring to emphasize outward service divorced from worship as the basis of good works. The episode highlights that genuine worship of God sometimes conflicts with "service" to man, where affirmation and toleration of behavior, divorced from God's standards, is evidence of virtue or goodness. Good works in the form of "service" to man, even when it looks "intolerant," flows from worship of God. Not embracing God's standards, unbelievers usually omit "worship" from a discussion on "good works," instead imposing an anthropocentric psuedo-morality that emphasizes tolerance and outward acts of service as the ground of good works.