Why do good? Pt. 1
Addressing a misconception with a survey through Romans
A common attack lobbed at Christians is that they only do good for one of two reasons:
They think they’ll get a reward if they do.
They’re scared that God will send them to Hell if they don’t.
The implicit accusation here is that Christians—and other religious people too, for that matter—haven’t made it past childhood in terms of moral development.
Every time I run across this accusation, I can’t help but bristle. Sure, maybe I’m being a bit defensive—who isn’t when called immature?—but I think part of why it bothers me so badly is because it’s a complete misunderstanding of the Christian ethic.
I decided to go straight to the source as I tried to sort out my thoughts on this question: Why do Christians do good? Here’s what I found.
Surveying Romans
Whenever I return to the book of Romans, I gain a new appreciation for how poignant, exacting, and illuminating it is.
The letter functions as a philosophical treatise, methodically deriving the story of Christianity and describing the power of the gospel to reconcile all people—not just Jews or Israelites, but pagan Gentiles, too—to God.
A survey of the book reaffirmed my instinct that the punishment/reward paradigm isn’t exactly applicable to believers.1
Hope for reward?
Paul spends the first several chapters of Romans discussing the concept of justification through the law, eventually concluding that, while beneficial and necessary, the law has no inherently salvific power.
“For by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
Romans 3:20
The greatest reward that can be attained is righteousness, or a state of “right standing” with God. Righteousness is achieved through justification, a free act of grace that was made possible by Christ’s atoning death on the cross. Consider the rest of the passage mentioned above:
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It 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.
“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. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”
Romans 3:21-28
So, it’s obvious that doing the works of the law can’t reconcile us to God.
By living a sinless life and dying a sinner’s death, Christ perfected and fulfilled the law—we’re not beholden to its demands to be justified and counted among the righteous.
Now, don’t get me wrong; righteousness, resurrection, and reconciliation are certainly rewards. But, the important thing to note here is that we do not earn these things through our good works. It’s simply not possible.
Fear of punishment?
By now, the implication of Christ’s sacrifice for the second accusation should become more clear. Once someone has been justified by God’s grace, they are accorded a new legal status.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:1
If we cannot earn our justification, then it also makes sense that—once justified—we cannot un-earn it, either. Paul elaborates:
“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. 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, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Romans 8:2-8
This passage is an immaculate illustration of the Gospel. It’s impossible to please God through good works or routine fulfillment of the law—that’s why we need Jesus. Likewise, our default status without the cross (“hostile to God”) is bleak at best—that’s why we need Jesus.
That’s why it doesn’t make sense to claim that Christians do good because they fear God’s wrath. Believers who have been justified know that we are sons and daughters of God, adopted into the family, grafted into the branch, covered by the blood of Christ shed while he bore our punishment. The debt has been paid—it can’t motivate us any longer.
Without a robust understanding of the Gospel, it’s easy to see where this misconception about Christianity comes from.2
And, I haven’t really done much (yet) to answer the question I posed in the title of this article: Why do good? When I realized what a big question that was, I figured it would be best to break this article up into two parts.
Come back next week for the positive case for good works. But, in the meantime…
LMK:
What are your thoughts on the reasons to do good works as believers? Let me know in the comments.
And a recommendation:
Here’s some food for thought while you consider the question of why we as Christians do good. It’s a short conversation, but it’ll hopefully get the gears turning in your mind.
I’m only pulling out a few key verses to talk about here, but this letter was intended to be read as a singular unit, not broken down into pieces. Though I will do my best to provide relevant context, I really encourage you to revisit Romans for yourself if you haven’t in a while. I also really love reading formats with fewer interruptions (like subheadings). If, like me, you’re often distracted by these things, I’d recommend reading in a format that minimizes distractions. The BibleProject app is free and has a clean, distraction-free interface.
If you have questions about the Gospel, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can email me directly at egsphillips@gmail.com or send me a DM on Instagram (@egphill). I’d love to talk about it with you.