Do you believe that doing GOOD things will help you atone for the BAD things you've done?

Question

I'd like to believe so.

Answer 1

depends: helping an old lady walk across the street will not remove the fact that you murdered someone, but in general i believe so

Answer 2

There are two issues - one dealing with your relationship with God and the other with your community. Many Christians think that forgiveness is a gift of God and not something we earn through good deeds. God does not ask that we atone to him for our past deeds, just that we repent of them. Nevertheless, if you are filled with God's grace and love you will want to do good things and atone for the bad things you've done. For your relationship with others it depends. Suppose you stole some money from Peter. You are ashamed and tell him and then offer to pay it back with whatever penance he decides is appropriate. You vow never to steal again, from him or anyone else. Then you are atoning for you past misdeed. However, if instead of paying Peter back you give some money to Paul who is hard up, you aren't atoning for anything - you are just trying to make yourself feel better. You should make things right with the people you hurt, if possible, and then try to not do further harm.

Answer 3

We'd all like to believe so, but that's not the way God has set things up. We can only receive atonement for the bad things we've done by God's grace through Jesus Christ. Only Jesus can and has satisfied God's demand for a perfect life, so unless we make Jesus our advocate and mediator between us and God, we'll never receive atonement for anything we've done. (Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Timothy 2:5, John 14:6)

Answer 4

Nothing we can ever do can atone for 1 single sin. We cannot earn our way to Heaven and we are as filthy rags to God. The only way we can get to God is thru His Son, Jesus who atoned for our sins by dying on the cross and paying our penalty of Spiritual death for us so that we may live eternally in Heaven with Him. This is all in the Bible. When God looks at a true christian, He sees a redeemed person, washed with the blood of Christ. That and only that is how we may enter Heaven. Not on our own, but thru Jesus' gift of Salvation. God bless

Answer 5

Good works and good deeds alone won't quite do it.

You must sincerely repent of your sins, and have the faith that Jesus Christ has atoned for your sins by the shedding of His blood on the Cross. Your good deeds alone will not atone for them, although by all means keep doing good deeds, as an outward manifestation to others of your faith.

Answer 6

God is not a scorekeeper of our shall and shall nots. He looks at our hearts and knows them. I like to think of some my life as being a sower of bad seed, from which I have reaped some bad harvests. I try to plant good seeds now, that I may look forward to a better harvest. I think it is commendable that you would like to make amends for past wrongdoings, but throw away the scoreboard and plant some good seeds! It not any righteousness of our own, but the Blood of Christ that atones for our sin,

Answer 7

NO! God does not grade on a curve. He looks at one thing, and one thing only. And that is rather or not you have accepted Jesus has your personal Lord and Savior. You can do all the good works you can to fill up a day and God will tell you to "DEPART FROM ME YOU WORKER OF INIQUITY, FOR I NEVER KNEW YOU"

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

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.”

John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Good works are a by product of faith, not the other way.

The belief that you can get to heaven on the works plan is a heresy and a lie. God detests it!!!

Answer 8

Although it's a nice thought, it does not atone for the sins already commited. Only the blood of Jesus can do that.

Answer 9

No. We can never do enough to 'atone' for our sins. We are forgiven thru nothing that we can or will do, it is just God's grace and mercy. The very best that we can do is still nothing but filty rags. It is thru the blood of Jesus that we are saved. May God Bless U.

Answer 10

No. If you kill someone and stand before a judge and tell the judge "Judge I killed that man but I saved 100 children from a burning building and I think that you should let me go!"
What will that judge say?
Have you EVER EVER told a lie?
Have you EVER EVER stolen anything?
Have you EVER had and immoral thought about someone?
If you answered yes to these 3 then you are a lying, thief who is also an adulterer.
Have you EVER hated someone? If you have then that would also make you a murder at heart.
So if you are a lying,thieving, adulterous, murder how can you EVER balance that?

Answer 11

No I don't. I'm too sinful to atone for my own sins. Since Christ is perfect, He made the ultimate sacrifice for my sins so that I might have eternal life.