Where do good works come from?

It is an old maxim that nature cannot overcome itself. The water coming from the top of the hill will only rise as high as its source; but unless some extraordinary pressure is exerted on it, it will never rise higher. The same is true of human nature. Scripture informs us that it is extraordinarily depraved; we cannot expect good works to proceed from a perverted nature. Can sweet waters flow from the bitter well? In the same way that poison does not grow on healthy trees that bear healthy fruit, neither can healthy fruit grow on poisonous trees. Let us not look for good works in depraved nature any more than we should look for them in the vine of Soreco in the vine of Gomorrah. We cannot expect to find good works from the nature of man; indeed it is vain and useless to think that good works can originate in the natural man.

You may wonder: "Where do they come from, then?" Our answer is that good works come from a real conversion, produced by the Spirit of God. Until the moment of our conversion, there is not the slightest shadow of goodness in us. In the eyes of the world we may have a good reputation and be respectable, but in the eyes of God we are none of that. If we could see in our hearts how we sometimes look at other people's faces, we would see many things there that would drive the mere assumption of good works out of our souls, before our hearts are changed. How many things are there in the world that we put on our tables and that we even eat, that if they were put under the microscope, we would be afraid to touch them, because we would see all kinds of repulsive creatures that climb and crawl on them, inconceivable things! And the same is true of human nature. Once the human heart is placed under the microscope of Scripture, and we see it with a spiritual eye, we see it so depraved and filthy, that we are very convinced that as long as we do not have a new heart and a right spirit, it would be so impossible to find good works in unjust and unconverted man, like seeing fire burning in the middle of the ocean. The two things would be equally incongruous.

Our good works, if we have them, spring from a real conversion. Furthermore, they emanate from a constant spiritual influence exerted on us, from the time of conversion until the hour of death. Ah, Christian, you would not have good works if you did not have a renewed influence day by day. You would discover that the grace that was given to you in the first hour is not enough to produce fruit today. It is not like planting a tree in our hearts, which of itself produces fruit naturally, but the sap rises from the root that is Jesus Christ. We are not independent trees, but we are branches grafted onto the living vine. Good works, I know where you come from! They come floating in the stream of grace, and if I didn't have that stream of grace always flowing, I would never find good works coming out of me. Good works of a creature? Impossible! Good works are gifts from God, they are His chosen pearls, which He brings down with His grace.

And furthermore, we believe that good works arise from union with Christ. We believe that as a man recognizes himself and feels one with Jesus, he will be holier. The very fact that Christ and the Christian become one makes the Christian Christlike. Why is the character of a Christian similar to the character of Christ? For this reason alone: because he is grafted in and united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why does that branch produce grapes?

Simply because it has been grafted onto the vine, and therefore participates in the nature of the trunk. So, Christian, the only way you can bear fruit for God is by being grafted into Christ and united with Him. You Christians, who think that you can walk in holiness without keeping a perpetual communion with Christ, have made a grave mistake. . If you want to be holy, you must live close to Jesus. Good works sprout only there. From this we get the most powerful reasons against anything that resembles trust in works; for as works are only the gift of God, how utterly impossible it is for a man who is unjust, unsaved, and ungodly, to produce any good work of himself. And if they are gifts from God, how little merit can there be in them.

Source: http://www.spurgeongems.org/schs70.pdf

Good Works (Sermon # 70 - preached March 16, 1856)