Christian Behavior

To the Reader

Dear Reader,

I have previously written a little about the doctrine of faith, including justification by grace through faith in Christ’s blood, and so on. As a companion to that doctrine, I now offer you a few pages on good works. Just as I first showed you the goodness and glory of the one, I now want to show you the beauty and excellence of the other.

Although we are freely justified before God by grace through Christ (Rom 3:24, etc.), we are justified before people by our works (Jas 2:18). Indeed, when those of us who are saved by grace live holy lives flowing from faith, we vindicate before the world the very grace that justifies us before God (2 Cor 6:1, 3; 2 Cor 9:12-13; 1 Pet 2:11-12).

I have not only treated the doctrine of good works in general. After discussing how works flow from faith and what makes them truly good according to the gospel, I consider them in the various relationships we have with other people in this world.

I begin with the duties of the head of a household, of a husband toward his wife and of a wife toward her husband, of parents toward their children and of children toward their parents, and of masters toward their servants and servants toward their masters. I also briefly discuss being a good neighbor and expose covetousness, pride, and sexual impurity, which greatly obstruct a life consistent with the gospel.

I know that many have written long, learned discussions of good works. But I fear that not all have shaped their discussions by the gospel as they should, and as the doctrine of God’s grace requires. Still, I thought it my duty to add this discussion to those already written, for the following reasons.

First, I want to remove the slanders that our opponents cast upon our doctrine, as they did in Paul’s day (Rom 3:8). Because we preach justification without the works of the law, they claim that we argue for loose living. Their “damnation is just.”

Second, although much is said about works in general, a particular discussion of them in the relationships I have mentioned is too often neglected. As a result, these discussions leave people too uncertain about their respective duties in their particular relationships. I think this is one reason for the disorder in households and other places where God’s people live, to their shame and their God’s dishonor.

Third, I think the few books that treat good works in this particular way are now either so scarce or so large that few people have them, and few buy them even when they are available. This is especially true of our new converts, for whose sake this short discussion is chiefly intended. Indeed, this is one reason for its brevity: the price should not be burdensome, nor the reading long and tedious. A multitude of words overwhelms the memory. Yet an exhortation in a few words can be so full that the reader finds on one side of a sheet what others are forced to search for through a whole gathering of sheets, and so on. May the Lord teach us this wisdom.

Fourth, I have written this book to join all who know God in bearing witness to the work grace does and will do in a heart that has received it unto salvation.

Lastly, I have written this because God finds it lovely and pleasing when Christians fulfill their roles, relationships, and positions, doing everything as befits their condition and calling. When Christians each stand in their place and fulfill the duties of their relationships, they are like flowers in a garden that stand and grow where the gardener has planted them. They honor both the garden in which they are planted and the gardener who has placed them there. From the hyssop on the wall to the cedar in Lebanon, their fruit is their glory.

The stock into which we are grafted is the most fruitful stock; the sap it supplies is the most fruitful sap; and the one who tends our souls is the wisest gardener (John 15:1). How contrary to nature, example, and expectation we would be if we were not rich in good works!

So take care that you do not become painted fire with no warmth, painted flowers with no scent, or painted trees with no fruit. “Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift, is like Clouds and Wind without Rain” (Prov 25:14).

Farewell.

May the Lord be with your spirit, so that you may benefit in the time to come.

J. Bunyan

1. Good Works Flow from Faith

“That being justified by his Grace, we should be made Heirs according to the hope of Eternal Life. This is a faithful Saying; and these things I will that you affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God, might be careful to maintain good Works. These things are good and profitable unto men” (Titus 3:7-8).

I will not now discuss at length every particular contained in these words. Instead, I will briefly take up what I judge most necessary for God’s people. Nor do these words need a lengthy introduction to explain them. They are plain and free of the ambiguity that would call for one. Their general purpose is this: those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.

Still, to pursue my purpose as clearly as I can, I will say a few words to prepare the way for the main subject of this book.

“This is a Faithful Saying.” This? Which saying? The one that comes before it: “That being justified by Grace, we should be made Heirs according to the hope of Eternal Life. This is a faithful saying; and these things I will that thou affirm constantly.”

Why?

So “that they which have believed in God, might be careful to maintain Good Works.”

The meaning is that the way to stir others to good works is to show them constantly, with the Spirit’s evidence and demonstration, the certainty that grace has made them heirs of eternal life.

From this Scripture, then, I gather the following observations.

First, good works flow from faith.

Second, everyone who believes should take care that their works are good.

Third, every believer should not only take care that their works are good and do them for the present, but should also take care to maintain them. That is, they should give careful attention to continuing steadily in good works.

Lastly, the best way to stir ourselves and others to this work is often to affirm to others the doctrine of justification by grace, and to believe it ourselves. As Paul says, “This is a faithful Saying; and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they who have believed in God, might be careful to maintain Good Works.”

I begin with the first: good works flow from faith.

This is evident in several ways. First, it is impossible for good works to flow from anything else. They must flow from faith or not at all. “For whatsoever is not of Faith, is sin.” And again, “without Faith it is impossible to please Him” (Rom 14:23; Heb 11:6). By nature, before faith, everyone is an evil, corrupt tree. “And a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” (Matt 7:16-18). Faith makes a person good, and through faith that person produces fruit acceptable to God (Heb 11:4; Col 1:4-6).

Therefore, sinners before faith are compared to a wilderness whose fruits are briers and thorns, and whose hearts are the dwelling place of dragons, that is, devils (Isa 35:6-7; Heb 6:7-8). For this reason, too, they are said to be without God, Christ, the Spirit, faith, or hope; without the covenant of grace; without strength; enemies in their minds through wicked works; and possessed by the spirit of wickedness as a castle is possessed by a conqueror (Eph 2:12; Jude 19; 2 Thess 3:2; Col 1:21; Luke 11:21).

Since this is so, it is impossible for all the unconverted people under heaven to produce even one truly good work. It is as impossible as for all the briers and thorns under heaven to produce one cluster of grapes or one bunch of figs. They lack the necessary nature. A thorn does not produce figs because it lacks the nature of a fig tree; likewise, a bramble lacks the nature of a vine. Good works must come from a good heart.

The unbeliever lacks this because he lacks faith, for faith purifies the heart (Luke 6:45; Acts 15:9). Good works must come from love for the Lord Jesus. But the unbeliever lacks this too, because he lacks faith. “Faith worketh by love,” and through love it does good, as Galatians 5:6 teaches.

Thus, however much the person governed by the flesh does what he calls good, it is rejected, scorned, and thrown back in his face like dirt. His prayers are abominable, his plowing is sin, and all his righteousness is like menstrual rags (Prov 15:8; Prov 21:4; Isa 64:6). So you see that without faith there are no good works. Now let me show you how they flow from faith.

Faith is a source of life by which a Christian lives (Gal 2:20-21), and a source of movement by which he walks toward heaven in the way of holiness (Rom 4:12; 2 Cor 5:7). It is also a source of strength by which the soul opposes and overcomes its sinful desires, the devil, and this world. “This is your victory, even your Faith” (1 John 5:4-5).

Faith in a Christian’s heart is like the salt thrown into the polluted spring that made the bad water good and the land fruitful (2 Kgs 2:19-21). When faith is worked into the heart, it is like leaven hidden in flour (Matt 13:33), or like perfume applied to foul-smelling leather, changing the leather’s smell into the fragrance of the perfume. Once planted in the heart, faith naturally inclines toward holiness. A change in life and conduct follows, and fruit is produced accordingly.

“A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good fruit” (Luke 6:45). That treasure, I say, is this faith (Jas 2:5; 1 Pet 1:7). This is why it is called “The Faith according to Godliness” and “the most holy Faith” (Titus 1:1; Jude 20).

2. Good works must flow from faith or not at all, because faith alone carries an argument powerful enough to win over our natures and bring them into agreement with holiness.

Faith shows us that God loves us, forgives our sins, and counts us as his children, having freely justified us through his Son’s blood (Rom 3:24-25; Rom 4; Heb 11:13; 1 Pet 1:8).

Faith receives the promise, embraces it, and comforts the soul with it beyond words. Faith is so skillful in arguing and reasoning with the soul that it will win over the hardest heart it encounters. It brings to my mind at once both my vileness toward God and his goodness toward me. It shows me that although I do not deserve to breathe the air, God nevertheless intends me to be an heir of glory.

No argument is greater than this. It will make someone pass through ten thousand difficulties to repay God, though that can never be done, for the grace he has bestowed on the soul.

Further, faith shows me how God’s love has singled me out. It shows me that although Esau was Jacob’s brother, God loved Jacob (Mal 1:2). Though thousands of others were as good as I was, I was the one who had to be chosen.

This, I say, is a marvelous argument. Its power over the sinner is beyond words. As the apostle says, “For the Love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge, That if one dyed for all, then are all dead, and that he died for all, that they which live” (that is, by faith) “should not henceforth live unto themselves, but to Him that died for them, and rose again” (2 Cor 5:14-15). “Love,” says the wise man, “is strong as Death; many waters cannot quench Love, neither can the floods drown it: If a man would give all the substance of his house for Love, it would be utterly contemned” (Song 8:6-7).

Oh, when the broken, dying, condemned sinner can see by faith the love of a tenderhearted Savior! When he can also see what the Savior endured to deliver him from the death, guilt, and hell he now feels and fears, and knows he has most justly and fully deserved! Then, “bless the Lord, O my soul,” and “what shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits?” (Ps 103:1-3; Ps 116:1-8, 10-14).

In this way, faith gives the sinner a compelling argument that draws him away from what he was and moves him to bend and yield to what he previously neither would nor could accept (1 Cor 2:14; Rom 8:7).

This is why gospel obedience is called the obedience of faith, as well as obedience to the faith (Rom 16:26). It must be through the faith of Christ in my heart that I submit to the word of faith in the Bible. Otherwise, everything is unprofitable. As the apostle says, “The Word preached did not profit them, it not being mixed with Faith in them that heard it” (Heb 4:2). Faith alone can see the reality of what the gospel says and, as I have said, reason with the heart until it embraces that reality.

4. Faith is a grace that shows the soul everything in its true colors. Unlike unbelief and ignorance, it does not show everything out of order, putting darkness for light and bitter for sweet. It sets everything in its proper place before our eyes. Through faith, God and Christ become the highest good, the most lovely and desirable. A heavenly life is valued more highly and desired more deeply than all Egypt’s treasures.

Faith will pursue righteousness and sanctification most earnestly. It sees not only death and damnation as the fruits of sin, but also sin itself, apart from its punishment, as something detestable, horrible, and hateful (Heb 11:25-27; Phil 3:7-12; Rom 12:9).

By faith we see that we have no lasting home in this world, and that even if we did, it could not satisfy us (Prov 23:5; Heb 11:15-16; Heb 13:14; 1 Cor 7:29-31). This is why God’s people have groaned to leave here for a condition free from both sin and temptation. It is also why they have passed through so many trials, afflictions, and adversities. Faith in their hearts prompted them to love holiness of life by showing them the worth and permanence of what is good, and the irksomeness and evil of everything else (2 Cor 5:1-8; Heb 11:33-39).

5. Faith takes hold of what can help the soul produce good works. It takes hold of Christ’s strength and brings it to bear, overcoming what oppresses the soul. “I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me” (Phil 4:13).

In a word, a life of holiness and godliness in this world follows so inseparably from faith that supposing otherwise is both monstrous and ridiculous. Will someone who has life not move? (Gal 2:20). Will someone who has received the Spirit of holiness by faith not be holy? (Gal 3:2). Will someone called to glory and virtue not add virtue to his faith? (2 Pet 1:4-5). We are made good trees by faith; will we not produce good fruit? (Luke 6:43). Those who believe are created in Christ Jesus for good works, and God ordained before the world began that we should walk in them. Will both our second creation and God’s foreordination be frustrated? (Eph 1:4; Eph 2:10).

Besides, the children of faith are children of light and of the day (1 Thess 5:5), lights on a hill and candles on a candlestick. Will they not shine? They are the salt of the earth. Will they not season it? (Matt 5:13-14).

The believer is the only person through whom God shows the world the power of his grace and the working of his people’s faith, and so on. Unbelievers do read about the power of grace, and about faith, hope, love, joy, peace, and the sanctification of the Christian’s heart. But they feel none of the power in these things that kills sin. To them, these things are like a story from Rome or Spain.

Therefore, to show them in others what they do not find in themselves, God works faith, hope, love, and so on in a generation that will serve him. Through these people, unbelievers will see what they cannot find in themselves. In this way, they will be convinced that although sin and this life’s pleasures are sweet to them, there is a people who think differently. These people actually see the glory of what others merely read about. From that sight, they take pleasure in the very things to which others are most opposed. Christians are called to this. In this God is glorified, sinners are convinced, and the world is condemned (1 Thess 4:7; 1 Pet 2:12; 1 Pet 3:1; Heb 11:7).

[Objection:] But if faith so naturally produces good works, why do God’s people find it so hard to be faithful in good works?

[Answer:] First, God’s people bear fruit in good works in proportion to their faith. If their good works are few, it is because their faith is weak. Little faith is like small candles or a weak fire. They shine and give heat, but their light is dim and their warmth slight compared with larger candles and a greater fire. Some in Sardis had works that were not perfect before God because they did not hold firmly by faith to the word they had previously heard and received (Rev 3:1-3).

Second, we can be greatly mistaken when judging our own fruitfulness. Grace teaches a soul that is truly sincere and upright in heart to judge itself barren even when it is fruitful, on two grounds.

1. When it compares its life with the mercy bestowed on it. When a soul truly considers the greatness and riches of the mercy it has received, it must cry out, “O wretched man that I am!” (Rom 7:24). It sees how far its conduct falls short of what befits someone who has received so great a benefit.

2. It may also judge itself barren because it falls so far short of what it wants to attain. It cannot do what it wants to do (Gal 5:17).

Third, a Christian’s heart is naturally very barren. Though the seed of grace, the most fruitful of all seeds, is sown in it, the heart is naturally prone to produce weeds (Matt 15:19).

Now, a good crop from such ground demonstrates the seed’s fruitfulness. So I draw these three conclusions.

First, the seed of faith is very fruitful, since it will bear fruit in such barren soil.

Second, faith owes nothing to the heart for its fruitfulness. Rather, the heart owes all its fruitfulness to faith.

Third, the way to become a more fruitful Christian is to become stronger in believing.

2. What Makes Our Works Good

Now we come to the second point: everyone who believes should take care that their works are good. This follows from what we have just considered: a Christian’s heart is a heart liable to produce weeds.

There is flesh as well as Spirit in the best of saints. Just as the Spirit of grace is always bringing forth something good, the flesh is continually bringing forth something evil. “For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit, as the Spirit against the Flesh” (Gal 5:17).

This explains why Scripture so often gives Christians reminders and warnings to watch their lives and conduct. “Keep thy heart with all diligence” (Prov 4:23). “Watch ye; stand fast in the Faith, quit you like men, be strong” (1 Cor 16:13). “Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man soweth, that shall he reap: for he that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap Corruption: but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal 6:7-8).

Not all works that seem good are good. It is one thing for a person’s ways to be right in their own eyes, and another for them to be right in God’s. What people highly esteem is often an abomination in God’s sight (Prov 30:12; Luke 16:15).

Since corruption has not yet left our nature, we are prone to build wood, hay, and stubble on the right foundation instead of gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Cor 3:11, 13, 14, 15). How were David the king, Nathan the prophet, and Uzzah the priest deceived about good works? (1 Chr 17:1, 2, 3, 4; 1 Chr 13:9, 10, 11). Peter was also deceived about good works, both when he defended his Master in the garden and when he tried to dissuade him from suffering. He did both out of love and affection for his Master (Matt 16:22-23; John 18:9-10).

Many have gone wrong in doctrine, worship, and their efforts to advance each.

1. In doctrine, Christ tells the Jews, “That they taught for the Doctrines of God, the doctrines and traditions of men” (Matthew 15; Mark 7). The apostle also says, “They teach things they ought not, for filthy lucres sake” (Titus 1:11).

2. In worship, we find how frequently people have been mistaken about the time, place, and things with which they worshiped.

First, as to time, they have chosen what people devised rather than what God commanded (1 Kgs 12:32). “They change the Ordinances,” says Isaiah (Isa 24:5). “They change God’s Judgments into wickedness,” says Ezekiel (Ezek 5:6).

Second, as to place, when they should have worshiped at Jerusalem, they worshiped at Bethel, Gilgal, and Dan, and in gardens under poplars and elms (1 Kgs 12:26, 27, 28, 29; Hos 4:13, 14, 15; Isa 65:2, 3, 4, 5).

Third, as to what they brought to worship, instead of bringing what the commandment required, they brought the lame, the torn, and the sick. They would sanctify themselves in gardens with swine’s flesh and mice when they should have done so at Jerusalem with bulls and lambs (Isa 66:17).

Again, consider how people pursue their zeal for the worship and other things they think right. How fierce that zeal has been, though it had no reason at all! Nebuchadnezzar will have his fiery furnace and Darius his lions’ den for those who refuse to conform (Dan 3:6; 6:7), etc.

They have also persecuted people even into foreign cities. They have laid traps and snares in every corner to catch them and entangle them in their words. If they could only kill those who dissented from them, they thought they were doing God good service (Acts 26:11; Luke 11:53-54; John 16:1-2).

But why look so far from home, except that I want to establish my statements with the truth? To confirm this point, we need look no further than the papists and their companions. How many have they, in every age, hanged, burned, starved, drowned, tortured on the rack, dismembered, and murdered, both openly and in secret? They have done it all under the pretense of God, his worship, and good works.

Thus you see how both wise people and fools, saints and sinners, Christians and pagans, have erred in the matter of good works. Everyone should therefore take care to see that their works are good.

Tests of Good Works

To prevent failure in this matter, if God wills, I will explain what makes a work truly good.

First, a good work must have the Word as its authority.

Second, as we said before, it must flow from faith.

Third, it must have both the right time and the right place.

Fourth, it must be done willingly, cheerfully, and so on.

1. It must have the Word as its authority.

Zeal without knowledge is like a spirited horse without eyes, or a sword in a madman’s hand. There is no knowledge where the Word is absent. “For if they reject the Word of the Lord,” and do not act by it, “What Wisdom is in them?” says the prophet (Jer 8:9; Isa 8:20). Therefore, see that you have the Word for what you do.

2. Just as the Word must authorize what you do, there must also be faith from which it flows, as I showed you before. “For whatever is not of faith is sin: and without faith, it is impossible to please God.” Now, I say, without the Word there is no faith (Rom 10:17), just as without faith there is no good, whatever people may claim.

3. Along with these two things, a work must have, first, the right time, and second, the right place.

First, it must be rightly timed. Not every work should be done at the same time, because not every time is suitable for a particular work. “There is a time for all things; and every thing is beautiful in its time” (Eccl 3:1, 11). There is a time to pray, a time to listen, a time to read, a time to discuss, a time to meditate, a time to act, and a time to suffer.

It is not good to listen when we should be preaching. Nor is it good to act, that is, to yield active obedience to something under which we ought instead to suffer. Christ took great care that both his actions and his sufferings were rightly timed (John 2:3-4; 13:1-2). In this we ought to follow his steps.

It is not good for me to be plowing in the field when I should be hearing the Word. It is just as bad to be talking away from home when I should be instructing my family at home. “Who so keepeth the Commandment, shall feel no evil thing: and a wise mans heart discerneth both time and judgment” (Eccl 8:5). Good things done at the wrong time are fruitless, unprofitable, and vain.

Second, as things must have their right time, they must also have their right place. Misplacing a work is as bad as mistiming it.

When I say that good things must have their right place, I mean that we should give no work more importance than the Word of God allows, or less. Mint, anise, and cumin are not matters as weighty as faith and the love of God, as in Matthew 23:23. A pastor who performs a deacon’s duties instead of a pastor’s is misplacing works (Acts 6:2).

Martha misplaced a work when she prepared material provisions for Christ while she should have sat at his feet to hear his Word. If her sister had done it at Martha’s request, that would have been her sin too, though the thing itself was good (Luke 10:39, 40, 41).

To avoid misplacing good works, observe the following.

First, those who put them in Christ’s place misplace them (Rom 10:1, 2, 3).

Second, those who make them partners with him also misplace them (Rom 9:31-32; Acts 15:1). This is setting up our posts beside God’s posts, and human righteousness beside Christ’s righteousness (Ezek 43:7-8). Such people are called teachers of the law who do not know what they say or what they affirm (1 Tim 1:7).

Third, those who give a less important work the honor that belongs to a nobler one also misplace works. These include, first, those who consider the ceremonial part of an ordinance as good as its doctrine and meaning; second, those who consider the dictates and impulses of a merely natural conscience as good, exalted, and divine as the leading and movement of Christ’s Spirit; and third, those who think it enough to do something God has commanded, perhaps the least important thing, instead of doing everything, including the more necessary and weighty things.

Fourth, those who rank matters that are neither commanded nor forbidden as high as things absolutely necessary in God’s worship greatly misplace works.

Fifth, those who put human traditions above them do so more grossly.

Sixth, worst of all are those who put “bitter for sweet, and darkness for light.” We must shun and avoid all these things, because they entirely obstruct good works.

Therefore, concerning good works, “Obedience is better than Sacrifice.” Doing things according to God’s Word is better than doing them according to my own fancy and opinion (1 Sam 15:22). Therefore, “let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor 14:40).

Again, as good works should be ordered and carried out as we have described, they should also be done from the heart, willingly, cheerfully, with sincerity and charity, according to what a person has (1 John 5:3; 2 Cor 9:7; Rom 12:8; Col 3:20; 1 Cor 10:14; 8:12).

Further, a person should keep three things in view in every work: first, God’s honor (1 Cor 6:20); second, the building up of their neighbor (1 Cor 14:26); and third, whether what they intend to do is beneficial or not (1 Cor 6:12). Always remember that God’s honor is bound up with building up your neighbor, and building up your neighbor with the benefit of what you do.

Again, if you want your conduct to build up your neighbor, and so honor God among those watching you, take care in these ways.

1. In your words and actions, behave so that you clearly proclaim Christ and his precious benefits. Be careful not to enter into doubtful matters with those who are weak (Rom 15:1). Instead, deal chiefly, lovingly, and wisely with their consciences about matters that will establish them more firmly in the faith of their justification and deliverance from death and hell. “Comfort the feeble-minded, confirm the weak” (1 Thess 5:14).

2. If you are stronger than your brother, be careful not to do anything before him that may offend his weak conscience. I mean things that may be lawful in themselves. “All that is lawful is not expedient; all that is lawful edifieth not” (1 Cor 6:12). Your wisdom and love are shown here by denying yourself in some things for your brother’s sake. “I will not eat meat while the world standeth,” says Paul, “lest I make my Brother to offend” (1 Cor 8:13). Therefore, keep this faith to yourself before God (Rom 14:22).

But if you act otherwise, know that you are not walking in love. You are therefore not building others up or honoring Christ, but sinning against Christ and wounding your weak brother, for whom Christ died (Rom 14:15; 1 Cor 8:12).

Yet throughout all this, I say, keep your eye on the Word. Take care not to go against it under any pretense whatever. Without the Word, nothing serves God’s glory or builds up your brother. Therefore, walk wisely in a perfect way (Ps 101:2-3).

Having briefly shown you what works are truly good, I ask you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to carry them out conscientiously. While you live here, you may then be vessels of honor, fit for the Master’s use and prepared for every good work (2 Tim 2:21). Learn to approve what is excellent, so that you may be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ (Phil 1:10). Desire communion with God; earnestly desire the best gifts (1 Cor 12:31).

Ah! We who are redeemed from among people (Rev 14:4), who rejoice in hope of God’s glory (Rom 5:2), and who look, I say, for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13), “What manner of persons should we be in all holy Conversation and Godliness?” (2 Pet 3:11).

To conclude, for your further instruction, take a plain account of the various general duties and works to which God binds you in his Word, according to your positions, callings, and relationships in this world.

Heads of Households

If you have a family under your care, consider the various relationships in which you stand. Know that in each of them you have work to do for God, and he expects your faithful conduct in every one.

First, then, in general, the head of a household has work to do for God in that role: governing his own family rightly. His work is twofold: first, concerning its spiritual condition; and second, concerning its material condition.

The Family’s Spiritual Care

As to his family’s spiritual condition, he should be very diligent and watchful, doing his utmost both to strengthen faith where it has begun and to begin it where it has not.

To this end, he should diligently and frequently set before his household things from God’s Word suited to each particular member. Let no one question whether God’s Word authorizes such a practice. If the thing itself were merely reputable and tended to ordinary honesty, it would come within the scope and limits of nature itself and ought to be done. How much more should things of a higher kind be done!

Besides, the apostle exhorts us, “Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are true, just, and of good report, to think of them,” that is, to be mindful to do them (Phil 4:8). Practicing this godly exercise in our family is very praiseworthy and highly fitting for all Christians.

This is one of the things for which God so highly commended his servant Abraham and which so deeply moved his heart. “I know Abraham,” says God, meaning that I know him to be a truly good man, “for he will command his Children and his Houshold after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord” (Gen 18:19). This was also what good Joshua intended to practice as long as he had breath in this world. “As for me,” he says, “and my houshold, we will serve the Lord” (Josh 24:15).

Further, we also find in the New Testament that those who do not properly attend to this duty are regarded as Christians of an inferior rank. Indeed, they are so inferior that they are unfit to be chosen for any office in God’s church. “A Pastor must be one that ruleth well his own house, having his Children in subjection with all gravity: For if a man knoweth not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God?” “The Deacon also,” he says, “must be the husband of one wife; ruling their Children and their own house well” (1 Timothy 3).

Notice that the apostle seems to establish this much: a man who governs his family well has one qualification belonging to a pastor or deacon in God’s house. “For he that knoweth not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God?” This gives us insight into the work of a head of a household in governing his house.

1. A pastor must be sound and uncorrupted in his doctrine, and so must the head of a household (Titus 1:9; Eph 6:4).

2. A pastor should be able to teach, rebuke, and exhort, and so should the head of a household (1 Tim 3:2; Deut 6:7).

3. A pastor must himself be an example in faith and holiness, and so should the head of a household (1 Tim 3:2, 3, 4; 4:12). “I,” says David, “will behave my self in a perfect way; I will walk in,” or before, “my house in a perfect way” (Ps 101:2).

4. A pastor seeks to gather the church together, and when they have gathered, to pray among them and preach to them. This is also commendable in Christian heads of households.

[Objection:] “But my family is ungodly and unruly about everything good. What should I do?”

[Answer:] First, even if this is true, you must still govern them, rather than let them govern you. God has placed you over them. You must use the authority God has given you both to rebuke their wrongdoing and to show them the evil of rebelling against the Lord. Eli did this, though not enough, and David did it too (1 Sam 2:24-25; 1 Chr 28:9).

You must also tell them how miserable your condition was when you were in their state, and so work to recover them from the devil’s snare (Mark 5:19).

2. You should also work to draw them to God’s public worship, in the hope that God may convert their souls. Jacob says to his household and everyone with him, “Let us arise and go to Bethel, and I will make there an Altar to God, that answered me in the day of my distress” (Gen 35:3). Hannah would take Samuel to Shiloh so that he might “abide with God for ever” (1 Sam 1:22). Indeed, a soul rightly moved will work to draw not only a family but a whole city after Jesus Christ (John 4:28-29).