They are the fruit and evidence of a living faith - and by them believers show thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, build up others, adorn the gospel, silence critics, and glorify God.

Six purposes, and not one of them is earning anything. Strengthening assurance is the one that surprises people: your own obedience is evidence you are allowed to reason from about your own state.

'In the same way, let your light shine in front of others, so they can see the good you do and give credit to your Father in heaven.'

Matthew 5:16

Confession 16.2

Entirely from the Spirit of Christ. The confession says it is not at all from believers themselves, but wholly from him.

That is the sentence the rest of the paragraph has to keep from being misread, which is why it goes straight on to say they must not grow careless as though they could only act on some special prompting. Both halves are held at once: nothing good starts with us, and we are still told to get on with it.

Because it's God who's working in you, giving you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him.

Philippians 2:13

Confession 16.3

No. Believers are told not to grow careless as if they were only bound to act on a special motion of the Spirit, but to be diligent in stirring up the grace already in them.

The confession blocks the obvious misuse of its own doctrine in the same paragraph in which it states it. The power is God's; the diligence is still ours.

So, my dear friends, just like you've always listened and followed - keep it up, not just when I'm around but even more now that I'm not. Work out what it means to be saved, with real seriousness and respect.

Because it's God who's working in you, giving you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him.

Philippians 2:12-13

Confession 16.3

No. Those who reach the greatest obedience possible in this life still fall short of much that they are obliged to do.

This closes off the idea of surplus merit - good works over and above the requirement, available to be credited elsewhere. There is no surplus, because nobody has yet met the requirement.

It's the same with you. When you've done everything you were told, just say, "We're only servants. We've just done what we were supposed to do."'

Luke 17:10

Confession 16.4

Two reasons. There is no proportion between them and the glory to come, and God profits nothing by them - and in any case, as our works they come out mixed with weakness and would not survive his examination.

The argument is not that good works are worthless, since the next paragraph says they are accepted and rewarded. It is that they cannot function as payment. At their best they are only what was already owed, and the confession adds that whatever is good in them came from the Spirit to begin with.

We're all messed up - like something dirty that can't be cleaned. Even the good things we try to do are like filthy rags. We shrivel up like leaves in the fall, and our mistakes blow us away like the wind.

Isaiah 64:6

Confession 16.5

Yes. Their persons are accepted through Christ, and their works are accepted in him - not as blameless, but as sincere, and God is pleased to reward them.

This is one of the kindest paragraphs in the confession. The work is genuinely flawed and it is genuinely received, because it is being looked at in the Son rather than on its own.

You, too, are like living stones. God is building you into a spiritual house, a place where he's worshiped. You're meant to be a holy priesthood, offering your whole life to God through Jesus.

1 Peter 2:5

Confession 16.6

They may be things God commands, and genuinely useful to themselves and others - and because they do not come from a heart purified by faith, they cannot please God.

It concedes the usefulness plainly, which is more than the doctrine is usually credited with. The claim is about what makes an action acceptable to God, not about whether it helps anyone. The confession adds that neglecting them is more sinful still.

Without faith, it's impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him has to believe he exists and that he rewards those who sincerely look for him.

Hebrews 11:6

Confession 16.7