In an ongoing discussion, this idea was raised: doing good things and yet being damned. I wanted to comment on the idea of good works as they relate to salvation. Doing good things does nothing toward salvation. We could do nothing but good works all our lives and yet be righteously damned for eternity. We deserve damnation, you see. We are born into sin, forever held in slavery to it, regardless of our attempts to do the right things. There is no such thing as a "good person". All people (save Jesus) are sinful scum and rightfully deserve the lake of fire for all eternity. If you see yourself as a good person, you're delusional. In fact, seeing yourself as a good person is merely a way of implicitly rejecting the Lord, suggesting that you could achieve righteousness on your own. Don't fall for this new-age, humanist trap.

Only one thing can free us from this well deserved damnation: Someone perfect (undeserving of damnation) taking this punishment on our behalf. This is the nature of Jesus' death; He took our place and paid our price for our sin. A pure act of grace, unmerited favor. We can do nothing to earn salvation, but we can accept this gift our Lord made for us and receive salvation for free (free to us, costly to God's Son).

So where do the good works come in? Appealing to the analogy of parents and children... When our children do the right thing but are not in relationship with us, we have already lost them. The good things they do are not done because of their gratitude toward us, because of the love for us, or because of anything in that nonexistent relationship. They may be just going through the motions to avoid the consequences, but in this example, they've long since left the relationship. In contrast, our children who are in relationship with us love us dearly (even if imperfectly), and are grateful for all we do for them (even if they know only a small fraction of how much we sacrifice for them). Any good deeds that these children do are done out of that loving, thriving relationship. They wish to please--not for any gain that they may receive in so pleasing or because they feel indebted, but simply because they love us. This is the nature of agape, love for the sake of the beloved only.

There are times I ask my daughter to do this or that, and she gladly abandons whatever she was doing and runs to my side to help. There are times when I say nothing at all, yet she does some magnificent thing for me (a chore, making a card, etc.). These good deeds are not done because she must do them in order to earn my love. They are not done in order to maintain the relationship but are born from it. The relationship we have is the cause while the good deeds are an effect, not the other way around.

In contrast, there was a time when my eldest was not in relationship with his parents. He went through the motions with us, did his chores, was civil to us, etc., but the relationship was dead. This was his choice. It hurt us deeply, of course, not because all that we did for him was spat upon, but because he did not accept the agape we were offering him. We were sad for him and for his sake. In this case, he may still have done good deeds, but without the relationship, they were meaningless. True, these good deeds kept him from getting into trouble (given that they were for his benefit anyway), but he missed all the joy that comes from being in an agape-based relationship. (Just to avoid leaving this story on a sour note, he later returned to relationship, and we again enjoy spending time with him as he does with us.)

Yes, good works are expected of us just as we parents expect our children to do their good deeds. However, these are not the basis of the relationship and they do not earn anything more than the natural consequences. (These good works are largely for our benefit anyway, as any good parent knows.) Salvation is in the relationship with the Lord, just as the true nature of family is in the relationship between children and parents.

James describes faith without works as dead. This is akin to a child who is in relationship to his parents but routinely disobeys them. That's not really in relationship at all, is it? (I'm not talking about occasional disobedience but a pattern of it such that it's normal for him to disobey.) In a real relationship, one based upon agape, we want to do good works because they flow from the agape. In fact, it would be tough to prevent these good works from happening. If you're too focused on always trying to do the right thing, perhaps you're losing sight of the relationship and the other Person. Focus on Him, and doing the right thing will tend to happen anyway. This doesn't mean it won't take effort, but that you'll gladly want to make such effort. And of course, our Father will even (and always) help us in our efforts to do the right thing.

Good works are the result while an agape relationship is the cause. Don't get them reversed.