WHY ARE ALL OUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS CONSIDERED FILTHY RAGS? Isaiah 64:6 says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Our salvation is not the result of any of our efforts, abilities, intelligent choices, personal characteristics, or any acts of service we may perform. However, as believers, we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works,” which means we are to help and serve others. While there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation—because Jesus did that—God’s intention is that our salvation will result in Christ-like acts of service to help build the kingdom of Jesus. Ephesians 4:12 tells us we are not merely saved for our own benefit, but to serve Christ and build up the Church. This profound biblical truth reconciles the seeming conflict between faith and works. No one needs to be enslaved by man’s decrees of some supposedly-needed religiosity that involves some efforts (works) that man lays out as the way we somehow get ourselves to heaven, instead of just trusting in Jesus' death on the cross. James 1:22 and 2:14-26 let us know that our righteous acts do not produce salvation; instead, they are evidence of our appreciation for Christ’s free gift of salvation. In the end we must recognize that even our righteous acts come as a result of God within us, not of ourselves. Working on our own to try achieving salvation for ourselves—whether in conjunction with trusting in Jesus or not—our righteousness is simply self-righteousness, showing a vain and hypocritical religion that produces nothing more than “filthy rags.” We work for Christ’s kingdom because He saved us from hell by His sacrifice alone. [Some excerpts from GotQuestions.org]