Good deeds

[A-work-in-progress]

The point is made several times in the Bible that human good deeds, even with the best of intentions, are not enough to be saved and that in the end submission to Christ is the only path to salvation.

"There is none righteous, no, not one" -Romans 3:10, KJV

"I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me" -Jesus Christ John 14:6, KJV

My question, and the subject that I have been struggling with is, do these passages and others like them mean that a person who lives their life in good and righteous way and those life has made the world a better place, will still be damned for eternity because they did not accept Christ?

To me this seems terribly unfair, especially given the importance Christianity puts on giving a life according to God's will. How do christians reconcile and deal with that possibility?

[WinePusher]

To me this seems terribly unfair, especially given the importance Christianity puts on giving a life according to God's will. How do christians reconcile and deal with that possibility?

I agree. There are many "Saved" christians who go to church several times a week but do not live out the gospel message. The key thing to remember is that a persons works and deeds a reflect the inner workings of their mind, and a person that does good deeds is lviing out the Gospel message and has the holy spirit working through them, IMO.

[SpiritQuickens]

The point is made several times in the Bible that human good deeds, even with the best of intentions, are not enough to be saved and that in the end submission to Christ is the only path to salvation.

"There is none righteous, no, not one" -Romans 3:10, KJV

"I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me" -Jesus Christ John 14:6, KJV

My question, and the subject that I have been struggling with is, do these passages and others like them mean that a person who lives their life in good and righteous way and those life has made the world a better place, will still be damned for eternity because they did not accept Christ?

To me this seems terribly unfair, especially given the importance Christianity puts on giving a life according to God's will. How do christians reconcile and deal with that possibility?

This is an intuitively obvious objection for unbelievers, and I remember being confused by it myself. There is one very important passage that we must take account of:

"But (AN)he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin."-Rom. 14:23.

Paul is talking about eating, because within the context of Rom. 14, he's talking about converts to Christianity, who, because of their former lives, still have hangups about doing certain things. For example, there are no longer food restrictions under the New Covenant, so we don't have to keep kosher, but there were some Jewish converts to Christianity who still felt like they were sinning if they ate pork. Paul says that if your conscience is still sensitive in that way, you should obey your conscience. This does not mean that our conscience is a universal guide - quite the contrary, Paul sees such a conscience as an overly and inappropriately sensitive conscience, because it causes the person grief when it ought not. Nevertheless, if a person's conscience convicts him or her when they do something that is not explicitly prohibited in the Bible, they should not do it. To do something which you feel is not right, or which would not please God, is behavior that is not out of faith: and whatever is not from faith is sin

A personal example would be smoking. Smoking is not explicitly prohibited by the Bible, but I used to smoke, and would feel bad when I did, because I felt it was wrong, since I didn't think it made be a good witness to Christ. It was therefore sinful for me to smoke, and I had to quit, even though there are Christians who are able to smoke without violating their consciences.

The important thing to note is that any and all obedience can only come from, and can only be rooted in, faith. God created us for his glory (Isa. 43:6-7), and whatever we do, we are to do it to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). And we try to obey God or please or impress Him with our own good works, it gives us cause for boasting. God's redemptive-historical purpose is that He might have all the glory, with no room for boasting in us. We are completely helpless without God, and God reveals to us that His redemptive-historical purpose includes all of His chosen people praising Him for salvation that has nothing do to with us, but was only wrought through and by Him.

"21But now(AD) the righteousness of God(AE) has been manifested apart from the law, although(AF) the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22the righteousness of God(AG) through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.(AH) For there is no distinction: 23for(AI) all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24(AJ) and are justified(AK) by his grace as a gift,(AL) through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God(AM) put forward as(AN) a propitiation(AO) by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in(AP) his divine forbearance he had passed over(AQ) former sins. 26It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

27(AR) Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28For we hold that one is justified by faith(AS) apart from works of the law."-Rom. 3:21-28.

"1(A) And you were(B) dead in the trespasses and sins 2(C) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following(D) the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in(E) the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in(F) the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and(G) were by nature(H) children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4But God, being(I) rich in mercy,(J) because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even(K) when we were dead in our trespasses,(L) made us alive together with Christ—(M) by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and(N) seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable(O) riches of his grace in(P) kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For(Q) by grace you have been saved(R) through faith. And this is(S) not your own doing;(T) it is the gift of God, 9(U) not a result of works,(V) so that no one may boast. 10For(W) we are his workmanship,(X) created in Christ Jesus(Y) for good works,(Z) which God prepared beforehand,(AA) that we should walk in them."-Eph. 2:1-10.

Eph. 2:1-10 is especially appropriate. God saved us while we were completely helpless and totally depraved, enemies of God. There was nothing we could do, and God provided our salvation freely, based on nothing in us, and in fact, quite in spite of our open rebellion. He did it in order that we might glorify Him and confess that we owe Him everything, which we do indeed.