Understanding Dead Works and Trusting God

Many people grapple with the concept of trust, especially when it comes to their spiritual lives. Some believe trusting is all about getting what we want from God. They see it as a way to convince God to grant their wishes. However, this idea doesn't align with the New Covenant's Reality. We should recognize and turn away from such misplaced efforts and firmly anchor our trust in God. To fully comprehend what trusting God entails, we need to realign our understanding of these misguided endeavors, or as the Bible refers to them, dead works.

Faith isn't about figuring out every detail of life; it's about having unwavering trust in God. Until we place our trust in what God has revealed to us about Himself, we will never see the big picture.  Misguided efforts encompass the things we do, relinquish, or perform in an attempt to prompt God to act on our behalf. However, if God acted solely because we asked, what we receive wouldn't be a gift. It would be compensation for our actions. Changing our perspective on misguided efforts can be perplexing because good works and misguided efforts might appear identical. The difference lies in the motivation behind them.

The Difference between Good Works and Misguided Efforts

God didn't appreciate it when people in the Old Testament made sacrifices solely to gain something from Him. Doing something good or making a sacrifice to coerce God into action suggests that we view Him in the same light as pagan gods. Conversely, good works, though they may appear similar to misguided efforts, are actions done out of love for God or as a response to His love for us

Here's the tricky part: we must stop misguided efforts, but also remember that God created us for good works (Eph. 2:10). Faith is not a tool to manipulate God into action; it's our way of expressing our trust in Him.

Understanding Dead Works

The New Testament refers to “dead works”. In Hebrews 6:1, the writer talks about “repentance from dead works”, while in Hebrews 9:14, he proclaims that the blood of Christ serves to “purge the conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” These “dead works” are the so-called “good works” (whether moral or ceremonial) that people perform to make themselves acceptable to God.

These works are “dead” because they are not the result of an authentic spiritual life, but merely attempts by religious people to justify themselves before God. Even Paul, once a passionately religious man, had to learn from the Spirit how to live in this New Reality without striving to earn God's approval. He had to shift his perspective to a grace perspective rather than a work-based relationship with God. The apostle repented from his “dead works” and considered them a “loss” to find salvation in Christ, through whom alone he could produce good works that God could accept (See Philippians 3:4-9).