My answer to this question is no.
Both evil and righteous people can do righteous acts.
Jesus put it this way
"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them."
matt 23:2-4
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Matt 6:1
Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
Acts 10:4-6
There is a chain of thought that implies that what matters is the person doing
the act that defines whether it is good or bad.
In this way of thinking the good samaritan could only be a good samaritan and the
act to help the victim of theft called good, if they are a believer else the good action is evil.
Now biblically this appears to me to be a heretical distortion of both morality,
righteousness and the Kingdom. Once one accepts this view as fact, people of the
kingdom can be painted as the most evil people in the world, though actually following Christ.
What is so subtle is the emotional flow of condemnation and painting people as enemies is
done simply because they do not believe a particular way and not based on behaviour or sin.
This changing of the simple idea of what is a righteous act, is like a poison that destroys
everything that makes the gospel what it is.
You then get a language that says morality is just self righteousness and any measure of
doing loving, caring, righteous acts is legalism. This is actually a very important point
and not just a passing point, but foundational to who God is and how the kingdom works.
Both evil and righteous people can do righteous acts.
Jesus put it this way
"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them."
matt 23:2-4
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Matt 6:1
Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
Acts 10:4-6
There is a chain of thought that implies that what matters is the person doing
the act that defines whether it is good or bad.
In this way of thinking the good samaritan could only be a good samaritan and the
act to help the victim of theft called good, if they are a believer else the good action is evil.
Now biblically this appears to me to be a heretical distortion of both morality,
righteousness and the Kingdom. Once one accepts this view as fact, people of the
kingdom can be painted as the most evil people in the world, though actually following Christ.
What is so subtle is the emotional flow of condemnation and painting people as enemies is
done simply because they do not believe a particular way and not based on behaviour or sin.
This changing of the simple idea of what is a righteous act, is like a poison that destroys
everything that makes the gospel what it is.
You then get a language that says morality is just self righteousness and any measure of
doing loving, caring, righteous acts is legalism. This is actually a very important point
and not just a passing point, but foundational to who God is and how the kingdom works.