walk as children of the light, for the fruit of light, [is illuminated] in all goodness and righteousness and truth, discerning what is pleasing to the Lord. And do not have fellowship together of fruitless works of darkness... (Ephesians 5:8-13)
Can we have fruitless works? Yes, we can follow laws and principles and do many good works, in the name of Jesus, and do fruitless works that do not please God. We must discern what the will of the Lord is to produce fruit of good works that is pleasing to God. "And this I pray that your love abounds more and more in knowledge and all discernment so that you determine what is essential and so be pure and blameless on the day of Christ" (Philippians 1:9-10). The goal of love abounding and being fulfilled is that we grow mature in Christ. The acceptable sacrifice to God thus is what is pleasing to him, producing holiness and a mind that can discern and accept God's will (Romans 12:1-2). Maturity in Christ produces fruitful works pleasing to God.
filled with fruit of righteousness that through Jesus Christ, to the extent the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:10-11)
Jesus walked up to a fig tree that should have been bearing fruit but had none and he cursed it. The religious leaders of his time, Jesus used as an example of fruitless works that did not glorify God. They cleansed the outside of the cup while the inside was dirty. They were thought to be righteous and holy by the people, but when exposed to the Light, the Son of God, their fruitless works were exposed. They loved to be greeted by men and the glory of men, so they prayed, gave, served to be seen by men. By their traditions Jesus said they disobeyed the commandments of God. Jesus gave them seven woes,
- You preach but do not practice.
- you do all your words/deeds to be seen by men
- you lay heavy burdens on people and do not lift a finger to help them,
- you love the glory of men, exalting yourselves with honor and titles and greetings, when you should be humble, the greatest being God's servants.
- You shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in
- You travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves
- You blind guides and fools, you made gold and the gifts placed on the altar greater than the one who makes things sacred.
- You blind guides you strain the gnat but gulp down the camel. You tithe ten percent of your herbs but you neglect the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.
- You blind Pharisees, first clean the inside so that the outside becomes clean also. You clean the outside of the cup and the plate while the inside is full of greed and self-indulgence.
- You outwardly appear to others as righteous but within existing full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Because of this you resemble white washed tombs that look beautiful outwardly but are full of dead men's bones.
(Matthew 23).
Even before Jesus came they would make sacrifice and offerings that went up not as sweet smelling aroma to God, but as dung, because they forsook the important things of loving and knowing him (Malachi 2; Hosea 6:6; Matthew 23:23). Paul, a Pharisee before he met Christ, writes all these things he counted as dung in order to know Christ and his righteousness (Philippians 3:8). Even today within the church such things are done. We reach outward in the name of spreading the gospel while neglecting the least of his brethren among us. We go back to the old and justify ourselves in fruitless works.
How tithing can be brought into the new covenant and passing around an offering plate can be justified I can not understand. Nor how having public showings of giving, patting one another on the back, praising one another while Jesus tells us to give in secret so that our reward is in heaven and not with men. Nor how ministers do not live as Paul working with his own hands to support his ministry, but think they are entitled, in many ways, especially to live off the people. Nor how no longer is ministry an occupation of service like policemen, firemen, teachers... but a place were great fame and fortune can be had. We teach what is essential as serving and giving while we forsake what is greater, therefore we do not please God though we do fruitless works in his name.
But we are children, not able to discern God's will, infants not having the mind of Christ, so the true purpose of the church that would grow us up into mature adulthood in knowing Jesus is exchanged for fruitless works. Thus we do not mature and are tossed to and fro in human cunningness, deceitful scheming, and doctrines of men (Ephesians 4:11-16). Woe to you who place a stumbling block before God's little ones who believe in His name (Matthew 18:6).