When he was writing to the church in Philippi, the Apostle Paul contrasted the earthly things he could brag about with his new life in Jesus Christ. He concluded that section of his letter with:
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:8-10 (ESV)
It’s easy to understand the idea of knowing that everything in our earthly existence pales in comparison to the riches that Jesus has for us, but do you know that there are some Bible verses that say something similar about our good deeds?
The prophet Isaiah says of Israel, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away,” (Isaiah 64:6, ESV). Some translations call righteous deeds “filthy rags.”
Nehemiah prayed to the Lord and asked Him not to forget his and Israel’s good deeds:
Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service… Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love…. Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.
What do we make of these verses? A listener wrote in to John Piper about these verses and asked, “Do we bring to God our righteous deeds and ask him not to forget them? I’ve never prayed that way. Never even considered it.”
Piper addressed the question this way:
Let’s start with Isaiah 64:6. You are not alone in thinking that this verse teaches that all Christian good works are filthy rags in the sight of God. That is a profoundly mistaken reading of that verse. The verse just before, Isaiah 64:5, says, “You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways.” This is a commendation of righteousness in the people of God. God does not despise the righteous deeds of his children done by faith. What verse 6 is referring to in calling righteous deeds “filthy rags” is the hypocritical works that flow from nothing. They have an outward show of righteousness, but inside, dead men’s bones rooted in pride, just as Jesus referred to it (Matthew 23:27).
That misunderstanding of Isaiah 64:6 has caused many Christians to believe that it is impossible for a Christian to please God. If their best works are filthy rags, there’s nothing they can do to please him. This is a profoundly unbiblical notion through and through.
Then he addressed Nehemiah’s prayers by giving the context of Nehemiah’s concern that God might forget the good he had done:
I think a safe guideline for when we should pray this way is that this kind of praying comes to the fore in times when we are embattled and accused of things that we did not do. So, we pray, “O Lord, you know my heart. You know I am being accused unjustly. I pray that you will remember my integrity and my truthfulness, and vindicate me before my enemies. And if not in this life, O God, vindicate me and reward me according to your mercy in the last day when you remember how I walked in my integrity.”
We know that our works don’t save us — even our most righteous deeds fall far short of God’s grace that does save us — but the scriptures call us to do good things. Paul encouraged the Galatians not to grow tired of doing good deeds, and the author of Hebrews exhorted his readers to persevere.
Don’t give up on doing good things for God’s glory. They’re never merely filthy rags.
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