Non Christian person doing nice things Vs. a Christian who does nice things?

[marineimaging]

In other words... Do good works so you can have the shiniest crown instead of doing good works because you enjoy helping others.

There is no difference between a christian and a non-christian doing good works. The good work gets done either way. The difference comes in if and/or how you think you will be rewarded.

The actions of good works supersedes the reward for doing them.

First, that is not what I said but I might have spoken out of context. It seems you have a chip on your shoulder so I will let it pass to answer Kyle. The difference is that a non-Christian who does nice things vs a Christian who does nice things is in WHY you do them. YOu can do them because you like to help. They can do them because they like to help and in both you don't need to bring Christ up or wonder where Christ fits in what you did. Doing a nice thing does not require being a Christian nor does it require that you proselytize or try to win them over all the time. Still, as a Christian we should try to live like Christ, do good things and shun bad things. But don't measure your deeds against someone else's, rather, add your deeds together to do good for the world. Give when it doesn't matter yet don't boast, your reward will be in heaven. The difference between a non-Christian and a Christian doing good deeds as far as the world is concerned is that some people think that all you need to do is good. But that means that your being saved, because of good works, is all of your doing. Well, I am sorry but we humans don't have enough good in us, and we can't do enough good works to be perfect before God. EVER! So our salvation had to come from the only perfect being, that is Christ Jesus and it had to come as a gift with no price. Our good deeds as a Christian or those of the non-Christian are miniscule compared to the true Goodness of God. But we are still called to do good even though they are far from perfect.

 

[Winken]

In other words... Do good works so you can have the shiniest crown instead of doing good works because you enjoy helping others.

There is no difference between a christian and a non-christian doing good works. The good work gets done either way. The difference comes in if and/or how you think you will be rewarded.

The actions of good works supersedes the reward for doing them.

We do good works after receiving the Savior. Will there be any stars (rewards) in my crown? I cast my crown before His Throne.

 

[1213]

...Can we (Christians) do nice things for people with out mentioning a single thing about Christ?

Of course Christian can. But Christians, if it means disciples of Jesus, should not boast about the good works.

"Be careful that you don't do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Therefore when you do merciful deeds, don't sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most assuredly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you do merciful deeds, don't let your left hand know what your right hand does,
Matt. 6:1-3

 

[camille70]

I can only speak for myself, and I may not be as spiritual, so to speak, as some others here, but generally when I'm "doing good" it is an unconscious act, I don't consciously think about my faith in the moment, though I guess it is an over arching influence on my actions.

The times I become conscious of or have to call on my faith is when I don't want to do something or I'm doing good in the face of evil, when someone has wronged me and I make the decision to return good for evil when everything in my mind is screaming that I'd be justified in turning my back on them.

 

[Angelfire70]

In both cases the recipient of the good works will benefit, whether the doer of the favor is a Christian or not.

The difference is not to the recipient of the good deed, but rather reflected back to the doer. Because the Christian has surrendered to Christ he will receive God's promise of eternal life, not measured by his works, but propelled by the Holy Spirit to glorify God through his actions here on earth.

Sadly the non believer will not partake in the gift of Gods salvation, no matter how many good deeds he has done. Not because he isn't loved by God, but because he doesn't want to follow God's premise to get God's promise.

John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Matthew 7:21 - 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.

Blessings!

 

[Angelfire70]

I can only speak for myself, and I may not be as spiritual, so to speak, as some others here, but generally when I'm "doing good" it is an unconscious act, I don't consciously think about my faith in the moment, though I guess it is an over arching influence on my actions.

The times I become conscious of or have to call on my faith is when I don't want to do something or I'm doing good in the face of evil, when someone has wronged me and I make the decision to return good for evil when everything in my mind is screaming that I'd be justified in turning my back on them.

How true. And that is the wonderful fruit of the Holy Spirit working in your life! If you continue reading God's word you will see God's work in your life, and soon you will wake up consciously asking what you can do others because you will be so richly blessed!
Philippians 1:6 ESV
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ

 

[Wolftone]

In the eyes of God our best works are but filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6). Therefore there are no works alone that can secure salvation. Our faith is our salvation and a good non-Christian has no faith and is lost.

 

[shadowhunter]

What is the difference between a nice person who is not a christian who helps people out Vs. a Christian who helps people out.

When Eve was tempted.. she was tempted by her flesh. The fruit looked good, smelled good... so she ate it. This choice to live like an animal... by instincts , rather than by the word of God, essentially put her in the place of God, choosing good and evil for herself.

Whenever we act instinctively, we make ourselves to be God.

So George and Bob choose to do the same good thing. George will do it because he thinks it is a good thing. Bob does it because God says it is good. George is sinning because he made himself to be God. It doesn't matter to him if God agrees with him or not.

The act that is done is not the issue. It is the heart behind it that matters. Do you acknowledge God as God?

See Roman 1:18 and following...

 

[Episaw]

What is the difference between a nice person who is not a christian who helps people out Vs. a Christian who helps people out. I struggle with this thinking. Can we (Christians) do nice things for people with out mentioning a single thing about Christ?

I actually know of a situation in a country town in NSW Australia, where they had a lot of teenage single mothers.

The Council did not know what to do about the situation so they asked the local churches if they could help.

They met together and decided to set up a training centre for them and all the Council had to do was provide a building.

It was open 5 days a week and was staffed by volunteers from the churches. They taught computers, mothercraft, cooking, housekeeping, how to write a resume and so on.

There was no charge and the volunteers were told they were not allowed to share the gospel.

In a period of 18 months, most of the girls became christians and joined local churches. The lives of the volunteers told the message of salvation.

 

[Maria.V.H]

Of course people can do good things without involving Christ. Can Christians do bad things??? of course they can, and we do, all the time, who is perfect??? none of us. We are born with free will, we can do whatever we want. There is no such thing as being good or bad, black and white, we have a constant struggle inside of us since we are born sinners. The highest power is love, but who says you can only love when you are a Christian?? Yes, Christianity preaches love, but can there be love without Christianity??? I think so..

 

[Neoma]

What is the difference between a nice person who is not a christian who helps people out Vs. a Christian who helps people out. I struggle with this thinking. Can we (Christians) do nice things for people with out mentioning a single thing about Christ?

I do nice things for people because Jesus made me that way. I used to be extremely selfish and arrogant, and if I did anything nice I did it to be seen by people. So I always want Jesus to get all of the credit for any good thing that I do, because I'm not the one that causes me to do it.
Other reasons I do nice things for people:
- To be more like Jesus
- To please God
- Out of love for people (and God) - love meaning I see people as valuable and wanting good things to happen to them, not just a feeling

As for non-Christians, the ones I know/knew seem to do nice things either because they're afraid not to, out of guilt, to be seen by people, or because they think it will make them be happier people or something. I know all of this because they've either admitted it out loud or it's really obvious. If Jesus had never changed me I would have been the same way though, or probably worse.

 

[scottyp588]

Of course people can do good things without involving Christ. Can Christians do bad things??? of course they can, and we do, all the time, who is perfect??? none of us. We are born with free will, we can do whatever we want. There is no such thing as being good or bad, black and white, we have a constant struggle inside of us since we are born sinners. The highest power is love, but who says you can only love when you are a Christian?? Yes, Christianity preaches love, but can there be love without Christianity??? I think so..

Do we truly have free will?

 

[EmeraldFields]

The main difference between Believers and unbelievers doing nice things is that believers do it for the glory of God and unbelievers do for the glory of themselves[/QUOTE]


Now, that's just not true...

 

[EmeraldFields]

I do nice things for people because Jesus made me that way. I used to be extremely selfish and arrogant, and if I did anything nice I did it to be seen by people. So I always want Jesus to get all of the credit for any good thing that I do, because I'm not the one that causes me to do it.
Other reasons I do nice things for people:
- To be more like Jesus
- To please God
- Out of love for people (and God) - love meaning I see people as valuable and wanting good things to happen to them, not just a feeling

As for non-Christians, the ones I know/knew seem to do nice things either because they're afraid not to, out of guilt, to be seen by people, or because they think it will make them be happier people or something. I know all of this because they've either admitted it out loud or it's really obvious. If Jesus had never changed me I would have been the same way though, or probably worse.

How do you know for a fact they were non-believers?

 

[Neoma]

How do you know for a fact they were non-believers?

Because they've said it.

 

[Neoma]

Of course people can do good things without involving Christ. Can Christians do bad things??? of course they can, and we do, all the time, who is perfect??? none of us. We are born with free will, we can do whatever we want. There is no such thing as being good or bad, black and white, we have a constant struggle inside of us since we are born sinners. The highest power is love, but who says you can only love when you are a Christian?? Yes, Christianity preaches love, but can there be love without Christianity??? I think so..

Just something I wanted to point out...

Christians are not supposed to just keep sinning. I hear the excuse "nobody's perfect" by pretty much every single Christian I've known.
When Adam and Eve sinned, everyone born of them had a sinful nature. Anyone that is a "child of Adam" will die because of their sins. Anyone who is a child of God is born of the Spirit and will not live in sin.
People rarely talk about the fact that God HATES sin. He does get angry at it. He is merciful to people who actually want to obey Him though, but that doesn't mean that sin is okay. And yes, Jesus did spend time around sinners, but He did it to teach them the truth and help them, not because He is okay with sin.

Here is what the Bible says about this:

3 John 1:11
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

1 John 3:8-10
The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

Matthew 7:16-19
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

 

[Maria.V.H]

Do we truly have free will?

Yes, don´t you think so??

 

[Maria.V.H]

Just something I wanted to point out...

Christians are not supposed to just keep sinning. I hear the excuse "nobody's perfect" by pretty much every single Christian I've known.
When Adam and Eve sinned, everyone born of them had a sinful nature. Anyone that is a "child of Adam" will die because of their sins. Anyone who is a child of God is born of the Spirit and will not live in sin.
People rarely talk about the fact that God HATES sin. He does get angry at it. He is merciful to people who actually want to obey Him though, but that doesn't mean that sin is okay. And yes, Jesus did spend time around sinners, but He did it to teach them the truth and help them, not because He is okay with sin.

Here is what the Bible says about this:

3 John 1:11
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

1 John 3:8-10
The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

Matthew 7:16-19
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

I totally agree, we should not sin, but still doing good things does not necessarily connect with Christianity. I know a lot of people who are not Christian, who does not believe in anything, but does good deeds regardless.

 

[Kyle16]

I actually know of a situation in a country town in NSW Australia, where they had a lot of teenage single mothers.

The Council did not know what to do about the situation so they asked the local churches if they could help.

They met together and decided to set up a training centre for them and all the Council had to do was provide a building.

It was open 5 days a week and was staffed by volunteers from the churches. They taught computers, mothercraft, cooking, housekeeping, how to write a resume and so on.

There was no charge and the volunteers were told they were not allowed to share the gospel.

In a period of 18 months, most of the girls became christians and joined local churches. The lives of the volunteers told the message of salvation.

Thank you for sharing such an awesome story.

 

[Kyle16]

There is no evidence to support that, unless you are a christian, all your actions are selfish.

We do everything for the Glory of God. That is written all over the bible. For the rest of the comment I cannot not comment because I am unsure.