Moral lives of unbelievers and lives of Christians
How do you answer someone who says that their atheist friend is more moral and upright than some of their Christian friends? Where do moral values differ from an atheist to a Christian if at all?
The answer is understanding the difference between unbelievers who do nice things and Christians who do good works.
Unbelievers can be motivated to do nice things and be good citizens (we call that “civic righteousness”) for a variety of reasons. Like all people, they know from creation that there is a God (Romans 1:19-20; Hebrews 3:4). Like all people, they naturally know right from wrong and they have a conscience that, unless it is dulled or completely obliterated, convicts them when they do wrong (Romans 2:14-15). Unbelievers may be motivated to do nice things to gain recognition from people, to stay out of trouble, to create an atmosphere of cooperation among others, or any other number of reasons.
Non-Christians can be motivated, like all people by nature, to do nice things in the hope that they can influence God and somehow receive his reward.
While unbelievers may be motivated to do nice things in life, those nice things remain simply nice things. God is not impressed by them. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Scripture says: “Everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).
On the other hand, because of the power of God in their hearts and lives, Christians are able to do good works that are acceptable to God because of Jesus his Son (Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:13). Good works are the things Christians do to thank God for their salvation. God’s word serves as a guideline, explaining what good things Christians can do to direct their praise to God.
In the eyes of the world, might it appear that an unbeliever’s nice things are more numerous than a Christian’s good works? That could be the case. Such a comparison might be between an unbeliever who is a good citizen and neighbor, and a Christian whose sinful nature is showing itself more than the new self.
What we cannot do is be fooled by what we see. Nice things and good works are on “the outside.” Faith and unbelief are matters of the heart. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Because of their gratitude for God’s free gift of salvation, Christians have every reason to do good in life (Colossians 3:17).
God’s desire is that his children let their “light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). When we let our light shine, others may become interested in Jesus Christ and be brought to faith by the Holy Spirit through the gospel. When that happens, then the nice things those former unbelievers now do become good works in God’s sight because they stem from hearts that are filled with Christian faith and they are prompted by proper motivation.