Can Fallen Men Do Good?
Fallen men apart from regeneration can do good, good from a horizontal point of view. They can even know there’s a God and even His law. In fact, many non-Christians would put believers to shame by their good deeds and conducts! But here’s the problem: when we focus on the goodness of man we have a tendency to shape God after our own image, “If I’m this good, loving and forgiving toward my child and others, then how much more it is with God who is love and merciful!” We end up pulling God down to our level, forgetting that God is not like us, “You thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you…” (Psalms 50:21) and that there is none like Him.
And how are we measuring their ‘goodness’? By what standard? God is no longer the standard once we dethroned Him. We become the standard and the judge on what is good and right. We end up comparing ourselves to others, “I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector…” (Luke 18:9-14). This pharisee saw things horizontally, but the tax collector saw it vertically. He saw God on His throne, high and lifted up (Isaiah 6)! Once he saw the holiness of God, he could not compare himself to anyone else. In this Paul rightly said, “they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!” (2 Corinthians 10:12 NLT)
Romans 2:12-16 tells us that it’s not the hearers of the law that are just in the sight of God, but the DOERS of the law. The problem is that God is too holy and He demands perfection both inwardly and outwardly. That’s God’s standard, and no one can meet it. No one is good, no not even one. We’ll see in a future post that when men try, they fail (cf. Joshua 24:19-20).
“Everything, ultimately, goes back to the nature of God and the purposes of God.” —John MacArthur
Holiness, not love, defines all the attributes of God. The wisdom of man and society today do not see God as holy, but as loving. That is part of the problem. Once we have our eyes opened to the Holiness of God, we will see ourselves not as good people, but “Woe is me, for I am undone! …I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
“The Bible doesn’t say God is ‘love, love, love,’ or ‘grace, grace, grace.’ The Bible says He is ‘holy, holy, holy.’” —R.C. Sproul
“The human dilemma is this: God is holy, and we are not. God is righteous, and we are not.” —R.C. Sproul
How is it that men who still lie under the wrath and curse of God and are heirs of hell enjoy so many good gifts at the hand of God? How is it that men who are not savingly renewed by the Spirit of God nevertheless exhibit so many qualities, gifts and accomplishments that promote the preservation, temporal happiness, cultural progress, social and economic improvement of themselves and of others? How is it that races and peoples that have been apparently untouched by the redemptive and regenerative influences of the gospel contribute so much to what we call human civilization? To put the question most comprehensively: how is it that this sin-cursed world enjoys so much favour and kindness at the hand of its holy and ever-blessed Creator? —John Murray
“Good is a relative term. It is defined against some standard. If we establish what that standard is, we can congratulate ourselves and take comfort in our attainment of it. But if God establishes the standard, and His standard includes outward behavior (that our actions conform perfectly to His law) and internal motivation (that all our acts proceed from a heart that loves Him perfectly), then we quickly see that our pretended ‘goodness’ is no goodness at all. We then understand what Augustine was getting at when he said that man’s best works are nothing more than ‘splendid vices.’” —R.C. Sproul
WCF 16.7
Works done by unregenerate men, although, for the matter of them, they may be things which God commands, and of good use both to themselves and others;[a] yet, because they proceed not from an heart purified by faith;[b] nor are done in a right manner, according to the Word;[c] nor to a right end, the glory of God;[d] they are therefore sinful, and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God.[e] And yet, their neglect of them is more sinful and displeasing unto God.[f]
[a] 1 Kings 21:27, 29; 2 Kings 10:30-31; Phil 1:15-16, 18. [b] Gen 4:3-5 with Heb 11:4, 6. [c] Isa 1:12; 1 Cor 13:3. [d] Mat 6:2, 5, 16. [e] Amos 5:21-22; Hosea 1:4; Hag 2:14; Rom 9:16; Titus 1:15; 3:5. [f] Job 21:14-15; Psa 14:4; 36:3; Mat 23:23; 25:41-45.
In summary, sinners can do good, even know there is a God and His law, but that alone can’t save them. The problem is that God is too holy and He demands perfection both inwardly and outwardly. A sinner’s only hope is to put his trust in Christ alone. The problem with this is that apart from regeneration they will not come that they might have life. A perfect example of this is the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-26). He could do many good but could not forsake one thing to follow Christ. It is impossible with men, but with God all things are possible. Can fallen men do good? Yes and No.
See also:
Measuring the True Condition of our Hearts
"No matter what Christianity has taught me throughout my life about my heart being desperately wicked... I know this is not true. My heart is really big and full of love. The same love we think Jesus had for those who he is said to have died for, selfless devotion, this is something that I think we all carry for people we love. The hate for this world and hate of this life is against everything I knew intuitively as a child, though Christian theology tried to tell me otherwise."
https://www.monergism.com/reformation-theology/blog/measuring-true-condition-our-hearts