WHEN people are shown that salvation is all of grace and not of works, it is not uncommon to hear one say, "Don't you believe in good works?"
This is a great mistake. What the Word of God shows us is that before a man is saved he cannot do a "good work", for a good work must spring from a good motive, and that motive must be love to the Lord Jesus Christ.
From the moment a person is saved, everything he does ought to be a good work done to the glory of God. No sooner do we read of the conversion of the jailor at Philippi than we see him proving his faith by his works. He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes. (Read the account in Acts 16.)
The Bible teaches that without faith it is impossible to please Him [God], and so long as you are unsaved, you are utterly unable to do a single "good work". Believe in God's wonderful love to you, and you won't be able to keep from working for Him in return for what He has done for you.
What must I do to be saved?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.