We have all heard the excuse before " I think i live a "good" life , God will let me into heaven. This is the number one argument I am presented with from the average unbeliever. They honestly believe that God CAN"T banish them from His presenvce because they live a "good" life. Ephesians 2:8 shuts down this entire argument.Here Paul tells us that we are saved by grace through faith, If we believe that the only hope we have is the grace of God, and call out to HIM (romans) then we are saved. It doesn't say only people who give money to the poor, or adopt a minority, or go into a certain profession. These are the works of service that God has prepared for us AFTER we have accepted HIS grace(Ephesians 2:9-10).

We are called once we have been rescued from our sins to be a city on a hill, apecuiliar people. We are supposed to stick out with these acts of service so that we will have an opportunity to share "the mystery of God." These acts are but an after thought for God, without us clinging to our cross we won't even get to see the treasures we have stored up for us via the "good" works we have done. People are missing the point, it's popular now to help out minorities, do habitat houses, clean up neighborhoods. These things should be the conduit with which we as Christians are given the opportunity to witness about Jesus. We do these actions because Jesus instructed us to serve, not because it's "cool." In James it says "faith without works is dead" When we think about this it can go both ways,. What if we thought of it like this : Works without the correct motivation is futile" It sounds terrible at first, but the REAL hope that we intend to give comes from Christ not the "things" we do for people. The focus of all Christians needs to be on the people around us during these good works not on the work itself. I believe that Paul is giving us the rebuttle to so many unbelievers' answers on what they believe.
"I am a good person, God Can't send me to Hell"....

Ephesians 2:8