When people ask me this question, I often sense a sincere desire to do what is right. You may already try to be kind, honest, generous, and helpful to others. That is beautiful, and the Church never dismisses the value of good deeds. Yet this question reaches deeper than morality alone. It asks how a wounded human heart can truly be healed and restored to God.
Scripture gently reminds us that salvation begins not with what we do, but with what God does for us. Saint Paul writes that we are saved by grace through faith, “and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Good deeds matter, but they cannot erase sin or mend the broken relationship between humanity and God. No matter how hard we try, we cannot save ourselves by effort alone. Our goodness, sincere as it may be, remains limited and imperfect.
The Church teaches that salvation is first and foremost God’s free gift of mercy, given through Jesus Christ. On the Cross, Christ did what no human action could ever accomplish: He entered fully into our sin, suffering, and death, and opened the way back to the Father. Good deeds do not disappear in this mystery—they find their true meaning. They become our loving response to grace, not the price we pay for salvation.
In daily life, this truth brings freedom rather than fear. We do not do good in order to earn God’s love; we do good because we are already loved. When we live in grace, our actions slowly change, shaped by gratitude instead of anxiety. Faith teaches us to trust that salvation rests in Christ’s mercy, while our good works become signs that His life is truly growing within us.
Reflection
May we learn to rest in God’s grace and let our good deeds flow from faith, not from fear. In trusting Christ, we discover that mercy, not effort alone, is what saves and renews the heart.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way.
