The TREE OF LIFE weekly teaching summary from THE WEEK ENDING:
February 20, 2000
The Doctrine of Human Good.
Human good must never be confused with the legitimate production of good by the believer. There is legitimate morality, however there is also the arrogance of morality.
This human good is the production of the believer who lives in the cosmic system not relying on the filling of the Spirit, therefore it is not valid in God’s eyes. Human good is the production of evil in Satan’s kingdom, the cosmos or the world system. To advance in the spiritual life, you must distinguish between human good and divine good. For example, the writer of the book of Hebrews says in HEB 5:11 “Concerning Him [The Lord Jesus Christ (TLJC)] we have much to say and it is hard to explain [difficult to teach] because you have become dull of hearing.” In this passage, the writer is addressing those under the influence of human good and legalism, and therefore they are very difficult to teach. They were not always this way, they were positive for a while, then they would peel off, come back, peel off again. Finally, they regressed, to the point that they became dull of hearing. HEB 5:12-14 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, [teaching other people] but you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God [basic doctrines all over again], and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness because he is immature. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”
We saw that the word for good in the Greek is “kalou” referring to the believer with positive volition producing divine good, and the word for evil is “kakou” which refers to the believer in carnality, meaning worthless, evil motivation. The use of these two words for good and evil show how easy it is for evil to appear to be good. The background to this passage is legalism and relying upon human good for acceptance with God. Human good and spirituality can appear to be the same thing but they are not eyes of God. PRO 14:12 “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
Solid food or advanced doctrine produces the ability to discern between being involved in grace and truth or being involved in legalism, human good and self-righteousness. Only the believer with positive volition toward doctrine can distinguish between grace and legalism or divine good and human good, the later is the result of functioning inside the cosmic system and is often a reaction under arrogance.
The believer performing human good can be motivated by cosmic one or cosmic two. Cosmic one is Satan’s exploitation of believers through their own arrogance. This is his means of controlling the human race. Satan invented arrogance, it was his original sin. Here the emphasis is on arrogance and abnormal preoccupation with self, the target here is you and you destroy yourself.
Cosmic two is Satan’s propaganda to educate and promote antagonism toward anything related to God, especially the grace of God. Here the emphasis is on intolerance toward the plan, purpose, and will of God, as well as toward all Christians executing it. The target is Bible doctrine and we become antagonistic towards anything to do with doctrine. We are talking about that satanic system of deception, where even believers think they are living the spiritual life…. but they are not 1JO 2:15-17. Human good is a part of Satan’s deception because he wants man to think that God is impressed with human goodness. It can be characterized by fanaticism and arrogant concentration without doctrinal inculcation.
There are three classifications of human good.
a. From the believer living in the cosmic system.
b. Human good of establishment orientation, or establishment good.
c. Human good of the unbeliever registered in the Book of Works.
Human good, can be very deceitful MAT 6:23 “But if your soul-perception is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.” This same principle is stated in 2Co 11:13-15, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” Here is a remarkable passage concerning the extent of the satanic counterfeit and the promotion of good. Satan’s ministers are teaching people how to be righteous and humanly good to imitate the real ministers of Christ and to blind people from the true righteousness of God which is a gift from God’s grace and cannot be earned or deserved by man. They are respected in society and their lives will undoubtedly be free from the great scrutiny and temptations that come from the kingdom of darkness toward those who communicate truth. Many times these false ministers do not necessarily know the real mission they have. Their gospel and teaching is based on human viewpoint and appeals to human resources. They are ministers of righteousness, whose message should never be confused with the doctrine of grace. Any counterfeit system of doctrine that would omit the power of God and the grace that accompanies that power is used by the strategy of Satan to force some secondary truth which blinds one from the real truth.
Secondary truth is something that is true, but it is not being taught or referred to properly.
For example, 2CO 7:10 says “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation,” Now, that’s a true statement, however it is not saying that you have to feel sorry for your sins to be saved. It is saying that recognition of your need can lead to repentance toward the person of Christ.
The Source of Human Good is the Area of Strength of the Old Sin Nature.
All human good in history will be judged because it comes from the same source as sin, the old sin nature ROM 6:6-14. We were crucified with Christ on the cross through positional truth, as GAL 2:20 teaches, however human good was not judged but rejected on the cross so that it could continue along with evil as an issue in the angelic conflict. Human good will stand before God and be judged and evaluated by the perfect holiness and integrity of God. For the believers of the Church-age we know this from 1CO 3:11-15, 2CO 5:10. For Old Testament saints and Tribulation martyrs at the end of the Tribulation and the Second Advent we know this from DAN 12:3; JOH 5:29; REV 20:4. Then the millennial saints at the end of the Millennium, we know this from REV 20:15. All of these passages teach that God will evaluate human good someday in the future. Human good will continue in the Millennium to prove that its source is the old sin nature and not the presence of Satan.
Human good is totally divorced from the integrity of God. Therefore, it never accomplishes what it seeks to accomplish. It never fulfills its objectives of improving anything. Man had a relationship with the integrity of God in the garden through creation and divine provisions not through good deeds. Look at GEN 2:9 “And out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Notice that there were trees which were for stimulation of the soul and the eyes, provisions for the soul. There were trees that were good for food, provisions for the body. Then the tree that was related to then human spirit and spiritual sustenance which was the tree of live(s), and that tree was capacity to appreciate what God has provided in grace. Man had immediate capacity to appreciate God’s grace provision. Then the test, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Good and evil are Satan’s policy. This tree was forbidden because good and evil result in spiritual death, man in his creation relationship with God was under grace. There were two things he did not need in that relationship. One was good and the other was evil. Evil is the thinking of Satan whereas good is the application of that thinking. Good and evil are two things man did not need to know or understand in his relationship with God. The original parents had a choice to choose God’s plan or Satan’s plan and they chose Satan’s, therefore the salvation plan of God came into effect.
Because human good originates inside the cosmic system, it becomes dead to God, HEB 6:1.
The arrogant believer’s Christian service is classified as dead works. A believer can live a very good and moral life and do good things but if he is the cosmic system it is dead works, wood, hay and straw. Therefore, in HEB 6:1“Therefore, leaving the elementary teachings about the Christ [basic doctrines] let us press on to maturity [execution of PPOG] not laying again a foundation [doctrines of salvation and spirituality] of repentance from dead works [which do not please God], and of faith toward God.”
Here we meet again the normal New Testament word for repentance “metanoia” which literally means a change of mind or perspective. Repentance from dead works is the reverse side of faith in God and in His Messiah. In order to come to faith in Christ one must first recognize the bankruptcy of his own works. It is impossible to trust in Christ alone and cling to some confidence in one’s own deeds.
Human good performed in the cosmic system results in boasting, EPH 2:8-9; ROM 4:2.
If you were saved by works, you would have cause for boasting in the cosmic system, but you were not. EPH 2:8-9“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” Man is stimulated into pseudo-happiness by boasting of his production. ROM 4:1-3 “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
Human good produced from the cosmic system is never acceptable to God ISA 64:6. Human good by the unbeliever is totally unrighteous, as is human good by the believer inside the cosmic system.
Human good will not provide salvation,
TITUS 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done.” The person in the cosmic system contends that faith is not enough for salvation. Whole denominations are built on living one’s life inside the cosmic system and performing human good. 2TI 1:8–
Human good has no place in the plan of God 1CO 13:1-3.
Human good is the product of the cosmic system, the power of Satan, the production of the arrogance of Satan. Therefore, anything related to the cosmic system is outside the plan of God. A believer who tries to worship the Lord apart from the filling of the Spirit is like a peddler calling attention to himself. When you are carnal and out of fellowship your spiritual status is zero. This is why the apostle Paul says that I can do all those things but when I am out of fellowship, “I am nothing” it is nothing more that human good.
There is a legitimate function of human good.
This is open to both the believer and unbeliever. It is based on the function of humility. An unbeliever can produce an acceptable human good rewardable only in time by the function in humility under the laws of divine establishment.ECC 9:9 teaches that the unbeliever can be happy in his job and marriage. Unbelieving marriages are often happier than Christian marriages because God blesses anyone who obeys the laws of divine establishment. This establishment human good is based on the principle that organizational humility plus enforced humility equals genuine humility. Genuine humility produces a human good totally apart from the cosmic system, ROM 13:1-7.