# Good works not applied to unbeleivers

**URL:** <https://omnifora.com/t/good-works-not-applied-to-unbeleivers/4769>\
**Category:** Requests\
**Created:** [December 5, 2025, 12:21pm UTC](https://omnifora.com/t/good-works-not-applied-to-unbeleivers/4769 "2025-12-05T12:21:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![riverofjesus](https://omnifora.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@riverofjesus](https://omnifora.com/u/riverofjesus)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2025, 12:21pm UTC](https://omnifora.com/t/good-works-not-applied-to-unbeleivers/4769/1 "2025-12-05T12:21:34Z")

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**Topic Suggestion/Request** :

Good works not applied to unbelievers

**Reasoning:**

You have said a good few times before that the Lutheran understanding of good works is that they are not counted towards unbelievers, or that they are actually not good works but instead filthy rags. But you’ve also said that the weight of sin against God is infinite, so no number of good deeds could make up for it.

It seems to me that the view in which ones good works count towards themselves yet this is an infinite hole so its an impossible task, would be both consistent with Christian redemption and also go over better in the ear of the unbeliever. “All your good works as an unbeliever are filthy rags” is indeed a hard lesson.

What problems does this view present? Why is the more severe form more accurate and in what ways?

I simply don’t understand why one must hold that thier works as a non-believer must be worthless (or not count towards them) and wish to better understand. As a tertiary question: Can God prepare good works for non-believers? (before they believe, or those that will never believe)

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**Author:** ![omniforalogin1](https://omnifora.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/ecd19e/32.png) [@omniforalogin1](https://omnifora.com/u/omniforalogin1)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://omnifora.com/t/good-works-not-applied-to-unbeleivers/4769/2 "2025-12-07T17:17:20Z")

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I think this has to do with scale. Unbelievers carry an infinite debt so their works are infinitely worthless. Christians have had that debt forgiven and so their works can count for them.

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**Author:** ![mahler](https://omnifora.com/user_avatar/omnifora.com/mahler/32/7_2.png) [@mahler](https://omnifora.com/u/mahler)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://omnifora.com/t/good-works-not-applied-to-unbeleivers/4769/3 "2025-12-26T15:10:57Z")

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Answered in this episode: [AAC: 11 Dec 2025 (Q&A)](https://omnifora.com/t/aac-11-dec-2025-q-a/4795)