We see people doing good things every day — loving, caring for others, serving in ministries and giving money to different causes, etc. We can appreciate the outwardly good deeds of people. But we ask, what is the motivation of these good acts? Even unbelievers do much good that won’t count for heaven; all must still believe the gospel and have faith in Jesus Christ to be justified.
Righteousness leads to eternal life (Ps. 119:40; Prov. 21:21). But, only perfect righteousness gets us into the kingdom of God and be citizens. Yet, none of us are perfect: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).
No one keeps God’s law perfectly and our good works are but “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6, KJV); therefore, our works can in no way be the ground of our acceptance before God. Only the merit of Christ can set us right with God, and we access this merit by trusting in Christ alone.
I can boldly say that thru the grace of faith God granted me, I am able to put my faith in Christ alone and be justified and not by my good works.
My good deeds is a result of this great gift of righteousness.
God does not wait for us to become righteous before He justifies us, otherwise we would never be justified. While still sinners, He counts us as righteous in His sight through faith apart from any good we do.
