The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith Paragraph 16.5

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We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin or eternal life at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come, and the infinite distance that is between us and God, whom by them we can neither profit nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins;⁠¹⁠ but when we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants; and because they are good they proceed from his Spirit,⁠²⁠ and as they are wrought by us they are defiled and mixed with so much weekness and imperfection, that they cannot endure the severity of God’s punishment.⁠³⁠

expand_more [1] Romans 3:20; Ephesians 2:8–9; Romans 4:6

expand_more [2] Galatians 5:22–23

expand_more [3] Isaiah 64:6; Psalm 43:2

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Our good works:

Merit God’s grace through the power of the Holy Spirit

Are performed perfectly through the power of the Holy Spirit

Cause us to be profitable servants

Are defiled, mixed with weakness and imperfection

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