Is it a sin to do a good work without referring it to the glory of God?

It seems that it is sinful to do a good work without referring it to the glory of God, for it is a precept to do all things for the glory of God (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:31). Furthermore, our Lord teaches us that one of the key objects of good works is the glorification of God (cf. Matthew 5:16, John 15:8). Now, if the glorification of God is an essential end of good works, then works without this end wouldn’t seem to be truly and completely good works. The Westminster Confession (a Reformed confession of faith) expresses this idea as follows:

Works done by unregenerate men, although for the matter of them they may be things which God commands, and of good use both to themselves and others; yet because they proceed not from a heart purified by faith, nor are done in a right manner, according to the Word, nor to a right end, the glory of God; they are therefore sinful, and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God. And yet their neglect of them is more sinful and displeasing unto God. (Westminster Confession, XVI.VII).

However, it seems that it is psychologically infeasible to actually refer every good work to the glory of God. Thus, this precept would seem to constitute an intolerable burden that few, if any, could bear. And this fact seems incompatible with the teaching of Sacred Scripture that the commandments of the Law of Christ are not burdensome (cf. Matthew 11:30, 1 John 5:3).

Furthermore, if this principle is true, then one would sin in every good work unless the good work is referred to the glory of God. But this is incompatible with St. Paul’s teaching that Gentiles do in fact do good by following the natural law and in such a way that such conduct may excuse them on the day of judgement (cf. Romans 2:14-16). But nobody is excused by the commission of sinful acts but rather only by righteous ones. Hence, since Gentiles do not refer their good works to the true God (since they do not even believe in and worship the true God), it follows that such is not necessary in order for a good work to be without sin. So, we seem to be in a quandary. What to do?

One solution to this difficulty is to draw a distinction between actual referral of a good work to God’s glory and virtual referral to the same. Another way of expressing “referral to God’s glory” is as doing something in which glorifying God is the motive or end. Thus, we can distinguish between a good work that is actually motivated by glorifying God and a one that is merely virtually motivated by glorifying God.

This distinction can be understood as follows: The intention to do a good work for the glory of God is actual when one expressly wills God as the Last End of one’s actions. With respect to virtual intentions, we can distinguish between virtual but explicit and virtual and implicit. The intention is virtual but explicit when a person previously had the actual intention of glorifying God by good works and never retracted it, though he does not expressly refer to the Last End in good works now. The intention is virtual and implicit when there is no previous actual intention of glorifying God in good works, but the present act is good and, by its character and object, tends to the Last End, and it is the character and object of the act that leads the agent to perform the act.

By holding that a virtual and implicit intention to glorify God by doing good works generally suffices to fulfill the precept of doing all things for the glory of God, we can harmonize all of the aforementioned biblical data. To see this, let’s apply this hypothesis to each of the key data points:

• 1 Corinthians 10:31, Matthew 5:16, John 15:8. Doing a good work with a virtual and implicit intention to glorify God is truly doing the good work for the glory of God. An intention does not have to be explicit in order for it to still really be there beneath the surface. This comports well with common experience: People often perform actions that they have to later reflect on in order to identify their intentions and motivations. Clearly, these actions had definite intentions and motivations (as all true actions do), but they were implicit rather than explicit. So, a virtual and implicit intention suffices to fulfill this precept.
  
  
• Matthew 11:30, 1 John 5:3. Needing a merely virtual and implicit intention to glorify God in every good work is a much lighter burden than needing to have an actual intention. This is especially true when empowered by God’s grace working within us (cf. Philippians 2:13). Thus, the sufficiency of a virtual and implicit intention constitutes a relatively light burden to bear and therefore comports well with these passages of Sacred Scripture.
  
  
• Romans 2:14-16. Requiring only a virtual and implicit intention in order to fulfill the precept of glorifying God in all things allows for the possibility of Gentiles being able to fulfill the precept in a natural (though not a supernatural) way. For when Gentiles follow the natural law because of the dictates of their conscience, they are following the law with the intention of obeying virtue and goodness, whose Last End is the Good Himself, God. Thus, they would seem to be glorifying God in a virtual and implicit way, “feeling after Him” (cf. Acts 17:26-27, Wisdom 13:6-7) in accordance with the natural revelation everyone has been given (cf. Romans 1:19-20, Wisdom 13:5). If an actual intention to glorify God were required of every act, then Gentiles would seemingly sin in everything they do, which would be incompatible with the teaching of Sacred Scripture. It should be stressed, however, that Gentiles do not trivially satisfy the precept to glorify God. For if they perform an act with a wicked intention, the act cannot even be said to implicitly have God as Last End, since God is the Last End of virtue, and not of vice. So, if, for example, a Gentile gives alms out of pride with the intention that he be glorified by men (cf. Matthew 6:1-4), he does not even virtually and implicitly refer the act to the glory of God, and so he violates the precept to do all things for the glory of God and thus sins.

As has now been shown, the sufficiency of an implicit and virtual intention to glorify God accounts for all of the biblical data. Our quandary, therefore, is resolvable. Consequently, we can affirm, contrary to the Westminster Confession, that not all works done by the unregenerate are sinful. As the Council of Trent has decreed:

If anyone shall say, that all works which are done before justification, in what manner soever they be done, are truly sins, or deserve the hatred of God; or that, the more earnestly one strive to dispose himself for grace, so much the more grievously he sins; let him be anathema (On Justification, Canon VII).

It should be noted, however, that while a virtual and implicit intention suffices (for the avoidance of sin), a virtual but explicit intention is better (in the order of virtue), and an actual intention is better still. Thus, as Christians on the journey towards perfection (cf. Matthew 5:48), we should try to make frequent efforts at making an actual intention to glorify God in all that we do. As Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange beautifully stated, “It has often been said that to sanctify ourselves there is no more practical and more efficacious means that is more within the reach of all, than thus to supernaturalize each of our acts by offering them in union with our Lord, to God for His glory and the good of souls” (The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol. I, pg. 96).