How Does God View Our Good Deeds?
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“Be good and don’t do bad things.”
As a teenager, we had a Sunday School class led by a young woman in her early twenties. She’d go through a lesson, and at the end, she’d give the conclusion, “So, be good and don’t do bad things.” It became a joke among the class, and we’d laugh every week. For example, if we read about Daniel surviving the lion’s den, as the class closed, we’d say in unison, “Be good and don’t do bad things.”
The repetition worked. I still remember it.
However, while we understood it as humor, is this a valid summary of Scripture or Jesus’ teaching? First, we must look at God’s definition of a good deed.
What Are Good Deeds?
In the Bible, good deeds are actions and decisions reflecting God’s character. These deeds both obey God’s commands and bring blessings to others. From the Old to the New Testament, Scripture continually highlights the importance of how we treat one another as people made in God’s image.
The Hebrew word often used with good deeds is tov, which means good, pleasant, or beneficial, or possibly all three at once. God calls his creation tov in Genesis 1, inherently good and beneficial, pleasing to the Creator. God himself is the only good, and he is pleasant and beneficial. Therefore, good deeds reflect the same. Another Hebrew word is chesed, which means lovingkindness and steadfast love. Good deeds in Hebrew are acts of God including kindness, justice, mercy, and love.
In Greek, the word agathos means good, and ergon agathon is used for good works or deeds. These words appear many times in the New Testament. Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Paul teaches to do good deeds (ergon agathon). “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
God cares about good deeds because he cares how we treat one another and his creation. His love and compassion are the source of justice and righteousness, the ideas behind good deeds. Godly good deeds express his character like justice, healing, and blessing. God commands through the prophet, “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:17). As we see through Jesus’ teaching, godly good deeds draw people back to the source, the Creator, God himself.
Faith in God (right worship) leads to right action. James 2:17 teaches us the connection, how “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Good works don’t earn salvation but prove pure and genuine faith. Titus also encourages everyone “to be careful to devote themselves to good works,” because these actions are “excellent and profitable for people” (Titus 3:8).
Good deeds flow from God’s love, and his law expresses tangible ways to show love. Jesus summarized the law with two commands: to love God with all we have, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). Feeding the hungry, showing mercy, speaking truth, comforting the grieving – they all flow from that love and point back to him.
What Does the Bible Say about Our Good Deeds?
The Bible encourages us to do good deeds. At the same time, Scripture makes a distinction about our actions. Our good works can’t save us from judgment. While good deeds can have a temporary value, the Bible teaches how salvation comes by grace through faith, not by works. Without Jesus, even our best efforts fall far short of God’s divine standard.
Isaiah 64:6 famously states, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Even when we do good, if apart from God, our motives are self-centered and twisted, transactional instead of loving. Our actions don’t come from the eternal foundation of faith. Paul also echoes Isaiah in Romans 3:10-12: “There is no one righteous, not even one … there is no one who does good, not even one.” The Bible, especially the New Testament, warns us we can’t be good apart from God.
The root of our actions come from a separation from God. This began with the Fall, when Adam and Eve chose the wrong tree — owning goodness for themselves instead of relying upon the God who alone is good (Mark 10:18). Our actions, even when they appear good, don’t have eternal value because they’re done from wrong motives. While we may objectively do good things, we have all sinned and deserve eternal consequences for such rebellion (Romans 6:23). Good deeds might bring temporary relief, but they can’t acquire forgiveness. Neither can they change our eternal destiny.
Good deeds apart from Christ come from human effort. They can’t last. Jesus warned as much in the Sermon on the Mount. At the judgment, many will say to Christ, “Lord, Lord, did we not do many mighty works in your name?” He will reply, “I never knew you,” calling them transgressors and casting them out (Matthew 7:22-23). Acting apart from a right relationship with Christ, even deeds done with a religious branding mean nothing to eternity.
Thankfully, God offers a way to do good deeds with the right motivation. He becomes the source again through faith.
How Does Faith Make a Difference?
Faith is a gift from God, the ability to perceive the eternal reality. Another gift – grace – empowers us to follow the call of faith. Therefore, faith becomes the key to act with God again, choosing the Tree of Life instead of the legalistic Knowledge of Good and Evil.
To be “good” means pleasing and beneficial in God’s eyes. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Faith aligns our hearts and minds with God’s revelation and will. Acting in faith gives our actions eternal meaning. Biblically, good deeds aren’t just about what we do but also why we do them.
Apart from God, people do good deeds for the wrong reasons. Individuals give to charity to feel seen or important. Others serve and act from fear of punishment or the desire for control. These motivations can look similar to godly deeds, but they come from pride, guilt, selfishness, or fear. In the long run, these motives can’t last. Sooner or later, these wrong motives will lead to wrong actions, too. God seeks to give us the best and redeem us.
True faith transforms us from within, changing our motives and beliefs, resulting in the right actions. Through faith in Christ, trusting and believing him and his work, we understand God already loves us. He’s already saved us. We didn’t earn either, and we never need to. We can then act from love and peace, not to attain them.
Galatians 5:6 says, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” This love isn’t how we feel but how we treat people. When we trust God and know we’re loved and at peace in him, our good deeds flow from love and thankfulness, not obligation.
We also don’t seek earthly rewards, removing any transactional mentality. Faith encourages us to seek eternal rewards, giving us a secure hope and inheritance we can’t lose. Jesus warns us, if we do good deeds to be seen or praised, then that’s all we get (Matthew 6:1). But when we serve and give generously in faith and trust, even self-sacrificially, we receive treasure in heaven we can’t lose (Matthew 6:19-20). Faith keeps us focused on God’s Kingdom, which alone will last, not worldly gain.
Only what is of God and Christ will last. Faith restores us to the relationship where we can act from God’s will and guidance, for the right reasons.
What Can We Learn about Proper Good Deeds?
Because of the radical biblical teaching on faith and forgiveness, some might think it doesn’t matter what we do. Yet many New Testament verses make it clear, God cares deeply what we do. But he knows actions are outward expressions of an inward reality. Our behavior comes from beliefs and thoughts. Therefore, he also cares about why we do it. God cares about the action and motive.
This is true integrity, being a whole person, every part of us united. Before the Fall, humanity was created with elements acting as one: body, soul, and spirit. Being made in God’s image, this reflects the unity and oneness of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit acting as one.
Yet when Adam and Eve sinned, we became divided within ourselves. Even when our conscience knows the right thing to do, we can’t live it out. A divided person does good for the wrong reasons. Through faith and God’s redemptive work through Christ, we can do good because we truly love others without seeking any recognition. In fact, we seek for God to be recognized and worshipped.
When we act in faith, we invite Christ to live through us. Paul once persecuted Christians and rebelled against God’s will for salvation through Jesus. After Christ revealed himself to Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul transformed. This transformation is so radical, the Bible uses the most extreme terms it can to describe it — death to life, slavery to freedom. Paul later says in Galatians 2:20, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
Repenting from our own rebellion and strength can feel like death, but it results in living a new, resurrected life of purpose and meaning. The Spirit within empowers us to love, serve, forgive, show mercy, and more. We couldn’t have done this on our own.
Living from the eternal revelation of faith, our resulting actions take on eternal worth. Paul writes about this in 1 Corinthians 3:13-14. Each person’s work will be tested by fire at the judgment. Some actions will survive, bringing reward. What is the difference between works that survive and those that are consumed? What is done in Christ, with eternal motives, will last.
We were created to live this way, and when we do, we experience the joy, hope, and peace we long for. We no longer need to prove ourselves. No act within Christ is wasted. For those who love God and walk in his purpose, the Lord turns all things to eternal good (Romans 8:28). When we walk by faith and do good as an overflow of God’s love in us, our actions always have meaning, despite how others react. God uses them to bless others, glorify his name, and give us an abundant, eternal future.
Peace.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/FredFroese
