Most, if not all world religions, teach us to do good deeds. And in order to earn our way to heaven, our good deeds should outweigh the bad ones. But the question remains, are our good deeds good enough to qualify us for heaven, salvation or eternal life?
Man is certainly capable of performing acts that which is good and praiseworthy in the sight of men, such as loving his family, being a law abiding citizen, giving to charitable causes, even dying for a noble cause, etc. But the question is: are we capable in ourselves to do what is truly good and righteous in the sight of God? If we are to deserve heaven which is where God dwells, it should be by His standards that our deeds are to be measured by; and all that He requires of us is revealed in His Word, the Holy Bible.
What is God's Standard?
The very definition of God not only includes omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence and sovereignty but also perfection, which is exactly what He demands of us. He commands us to "be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).
The Bible speaks of our human condition as follows: "NONE is righteous, no, NOT ONE; NO ONE understands; NO ONE seeks for God. ALL have turned aside; together they have become worthless; NO ONE does good, NOT EVEN ONE" (Romans 3:10-12); "ALL our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (Isaiah 64:6) and "ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Yes, all our righteous deeds fall short of God's glorious perfection.
One might be tempted to say, "I am not all that bad; I have not killed anyone; I respect and honor my parents; I give to the church and charity houses; I have not done any great sin; I have done more good than bad." Again, God demands perfection, "for whoever keeps the whole law but FAILS in ONE point has become accountable for ALL of it. For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law" (James 2:10-11).
It should also be noted that the perfection demanded of us is not mere outward performance. Jesus Christ, in his sermon on the mount, corrected the misconception of the people of His day, saying "that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28). Again, He said to them, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment." But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment" (Matthew 5:21-22). Therefore, the very fact that man has the ability to do certain acts that are morally good in themselves does not prove that he can do acts meriting salvation, for his motives may be wholly wrong.
If our good deeds do not measure up to the standards of God, we are undone. But is there hope?
There is Hope
There is only one way to be saved, that is, to put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, who perfectly fulfilled God's righteous requirements for us. God, "by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us" (Romans 8:3-4).
God "saved us, NOT because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE" (Titus 3:5-7). It is also stated in Ephesians 2:8-10, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is NOT your own doing; it is the gift of God, NOT a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus FOR good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Note that we are saved NOT BY good works, but FOR good works.
Our good works will never save us. They will never be good enough by God's standard of perfection. We need not do anything but to place our trust in Jesus Christ and in His work. Sounds too easy! No, it's not easy to let go of our pride and humbly acknowledge that we are powerless to earn our way to heaven. Salvation and the hope of eternal life is God's free gift; and the only way to attain heaven is to accept it.
