Are Your Good Works Dead Works

I believe many Christians might think that the dead works mention in the bible is referring to non-Christians. However this is not what the bible says. I have done a check and found the bible verses that say about dead works: Hebrews 6:1 and Hebrews 9:14.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.

I believe Apostle Paul is the writer of Hebrews, before Hebrews 6:1 he was talking about spiritual immaturity in Hebrews 5. It is written in Hebrews 5:12-14 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

And then it is written in Hebrews 6:1-2 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

Paul was writing to the Jews and in Hebrews 5:12-14 he was talking to the Christian Jews. Paul was telling the Christian Jews that they ought to be teachers of the word of God since they were entrusted with the scripture from Moses to them by God, but they still were unskilled in the word of righteousness. NIV says they are not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. What does Paul mean? The Christian Jews were still bound by the Law of Moses; believing that being righteous with God they needed to obey the law.

In Hebrews 4 Paul is telling the Christian Jews to rest in Christ since He has already completed the work for them to be righteous, and he told them that Jesus had already purged their sins and is seated at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3) and told them to believe so that they could rest (not working according to the law to be righteous with God). Paul said that those who did not believe were unable to rest (Hebrews 3:18-19).

So what does dead works mean? Dead works mean you are working out to be righteous with unbelief that you are already made righteous by Christ without your own works. It is written in Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Paul told the Christian Jews that they need not obey the earthly rituals to get the forgiveness of God so that they could be righteous because Christ is the substance while the sanctuary and the tabernacle serve as copy and shadow; the earthly priestly service is to show them what Christ will do.

Therefore Paul in Hebrews 9:14 says that the blood of Christ is more powerful and can do what the blood of bulls and goats cannot do; remove our sins eternally. So he told the Christian Jews to stop all the rituals (offering the blood of bulls and goats) to God since the blood of Christ has already done for them. The offering of the blood of bulls and goats is considered dead works (working without faith; not believing they are already righteous the moment they believe Christ) to God because there is never a need for the Christian Jews since Jesus had already completed the work for us.

The main difference between non-Christians and Christians is we, believers of Christ, have the full assurance that no matter what we do on earth can never cause our salvation to be lost since the finished work is done by Christ and Him alone. While those who do not believe Jesus and His finished work feel that they need to do something to please God so that they can be blessed and even believers who do not believe the grace from the finished work of Christ also feel that they need to obey the Ten Commandments in order to please God and they feel that they need to conjure the faith on their own to believe for healing and blessing from God.

However, after being in New Creation Church in Singapore for more than two years and I have been listening to Pastor Joseph Prince sermons, I realize that there is nothing for me to do expect labor into God’s rest. In order for me to be healed, I only need to believe. In order for me to be rich so I can be a blessing to others, I only need to believe. All I need is in Christ Jesus: divine health, provision, wealth, prosperity, joy, peace, every good thing.

The world does charity work to make themselves happy and feel good, but for Christians who have the grace of God do charity because they are full of joy and love. Believers of Christ desire to share the joy and love within them so they do charity to share the overflow (of what God has blessed us with).

I remember what my colleague said. He said that he needed to do charity work so that he could be happy and be blessed by God. He is a not a believer of Christ. So I can say that the people in the world will do whatever it takes to make them feel happy or joyful and charity work or giving money to charity is a way for them. They also believe that God will be pleased with their good works and bless them. However this is not according to the word of God. Jesus is the only way for us to be blessed by God, not any other works; all these works are dead works.

It is written in Proverbs 28:27 He who gives to the poor will not lack, but if a Christian gives to the poor hoping that God will bless him, then this is dead work. It is also written in Proverbs 19:17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what He has given. If a believer of Jesus hopes that God will bless him financially and he gives to the poor hoping that the Lord will also give him, this is also dead work. This is because it is written in 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. We are already rich in Christ; there is nothing for us to do to get blessed financially by God. God has already blessed us with every good thing as it is written in Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. All we need is to believe and speak to pull down the blessing we want from heaven to earth.

Even for tithing, I would not encourage believers who do not have the desire to tithe to bring his tithe to God in his church. Tithing is never in the law because Abraham tithed and he existed more than four hundred years before Moses was born. If you do not understand tithing, do not tithe and do not give any offering if you do not have desire to give and do not feel obligate to do so. God is so rich, and He does not need your money to support His church on earth.

If a believer gives offering and brings his tithe to the Lord out of obligation, he is doing a dead work. However if he gives out of joy and desire and tithe with understanding and joy, it is a Spirit-led work, not a dead work. When a believer tithes to his church, he is acknowledging that Jesus is the One supplying him the money and He is the only source and he loves to give because he knows that the Lord will never put him to shame by not supplying him the money. This is faith and a declaration, not dead works; you are believing Jesus is your provision and you show by actions, and you do not hope that He will bless you when you tithe because you are already blessed therefore you tithe.

Some may ask don’t Christians have to tithe? Well, it is good to tithe if the believer has the revelation of tithing. This is because he will discover that tithing is for his good and not to obey law but declare to Satan and his demons that he believes Jesus is his One and only source. And then they can never touch his money because the money is set apart by God; made holy.

Allow me to give you biblical example: Mark 12:41-44. It is written Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”

Jesus was saying that many gave out of religious attitude (doing things to please God) and they only gave out of their abundance. But there was a widow who was poor and she came and gave two mites. Two mites is actually very small copper coin worth a fraction of a penny. When you truly have the revelation of tithing and offering, you will give to the Lord what little you have and you will also tithe. I have heard that some don’t tithe because of the little income they have, but if they are unable to tithe the little how will they tithe the much.

I am speaking out of my personal experience. I am not having much income and have quite an amount of expenses every month, but I still tithe to the church because I told the Lord that I acknowledge Him my One and only source of provision, and I want to declare to the devil and his power of darkness that Jesus is my Lord and He is guarding my finances and He is the One supplying. I also give offering every week other than tithing to remind myself that indeed Jesus is my supply, not my boss or my company. I am giving and tithing out of revelation and not being religious because whenever I put the money in the offering bag, I always thank the Lord and acknowledge Him as my provision.

I would encourage every believer of Christ to give offering and tithe with desire and joy from the revelation of tithing and offering. If you do not have the desire or joy to give offering, or tithing, ask the Holy Spirit to give you the revelation and He will. I am a very good example. I am a real life example that I do not tithe out of abundance. God is truly pleased if a believer tithes and gives offering with revelation even though it is a tiny amount, but He will not be pleased even if a believer gives an offering of over a million dollar with no joy and desire (not having revelation).

I have mentioned before that whatever you do, make sure there is rest and you feel peace. If you don’t, you might be doing dead work. It is written in Philippians 2:13 NLT For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. If God wants you to do anything or He has called you for a ministry, He will input desire in your heart and the ability to fulfill the task without your own self-effort.

Just like what I am doing right now; I never need to fret or think what revelations to write because God the Holy Spirit is constantly supplying me the revelations to pen down so I can post for you to read. It is never a work for me but a joy; I am enjoying writing down, because I am learning from the Holy Spirit (He is the One who gives me the bible verses and the words to write) and so happy that He uses me to share with others His word in my blog. Whenever I was stuck and did not know what to write or if I did not feel good when writing, I would just stopped as I knew I was not in the flow of the Holy Spirit. I would continue again next time and I would have no problem writing as bible verses would come to my mind and words of understanding will also surface.

Repent (change your mind or thinking) from dead works; never think that your self-effort can please God and bring you His blessings. All you need to do is just believe He is pleased with you and you only need to learn to flow with His Holy Spirit. Be greatly blessed. Shalom Shalom

Joshua Gan
God’s beloved whom Jesus loves