When The Unsaved Do Good Things

Matthew 7:21-23: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

When the unsaved do good things they get no eternal spiritual blessing for it. Their lives on earth may be better and their eternal judgment may be less severe. Good works, sacrifices and offerings seem to be good things. They are not always good things. There are many people who expect to be rewarded for their good works who will get no reward. Their good works and good words are condemned and called evil in the Bible.

Proverbs 21:27: The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?

The work, the livelihood of an unbeliever is sin.

Proverbs 21:4: An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.

The thoughts of the wicked are abomination.

Proverbs 15:26: The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.

The prayers of those who reject God*s Word are sin.

Proverbs 28:9: He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

How can it be that a person*s sacrifices, offerings, good deeds, hard work, good words, thoughts and even his prayers are sin? How can it be that those things are spiritually useless? The key is what is in the heart of the individual. The purpose and motivation of the good works are evil if the heart of the individual is evil. The spiritual value of works is determined by our hearts. God attaches no value to anything that comes out of a wicked heart. He is pleased by what comes out of a pure heart.

God is displeased with a wicked person no matter what good things he does. The good works an unsaved person does are perverted by his heart. They are really not good works and cannot accurately be called good works.

Luke 6:45: A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Proverbs 11:20: They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.

An unsaved person cannot do anything right in the eyes of the Lord until he becomes saved. He will not even know that he is doing evil.

Ecclesiastes 5:1: Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

An unforgiven and evil person can give money to the poor and a forgiven and righteous person can give money to the poor. They appear to have done the same thing. But for the first it is sin and for the latter it is righteousness. For the one it is an improper attempt at appeasing God. For the other it is a proper attempt to please God. The one will be trying to please himself and will sometimes succeed. The other will be trying to please God and will sometimes succeed. The unsaved person has zero chance of pleasing the Lord.

Hebrews 11:6: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Jesus Christ is the only acceptably righteous man. Jesus is God.

Mark 10:18: And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Our only hope is if we can get rid of our evil heart and its deeds and have the gift of Jesus* righteousness planted within us. We need to have Jesus* righteousness credited to our account. The only righteousness that will get us into heaven is the righteousness of God Himself. The only righteous works that will be rewarded in heaven are those done after we have Jesus Christ (the righteous one) in our hearts and lives.

Romans 4:8: Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

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