It’s generally obvious to most people that actions can properly be considered right and wrong. The Bible teaches Christians to conform every aspect of our lives and beings to God's moral standards. So, Christian ethics must address not only behavior, but also emotions, orientations, predilections, inclinations, preferences, thoughts, imaginations, beliefs, and even our very natures. Listen to the way the Westminster Confession of Faith makes some important distinctions concerning the good works performed by unbelievers:

Works done by unregenerate men … may be things which God commands; and of good use both to themselves and others: yet, because they proceed not from a heart purified by faith; nor are done in a right manner, according to the Word; nor to a right end, the glory of God, they are therefore sinful, and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God.

In short, unless a work is done with the right motive, in conformity to the right standard, and for the right goal, it is not a work that God will reward with blessings.

Let’s take a closer look at the proper motive for obeying God. For a work to be done with the proper motive, it must proceed from a heart that is purified by faith. Only believers, who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, can do actions that God rewards with blessings. One reason for this is that only believers have hearts that are purified by faith. This God-given, saving faith, that remains and grows within believers, is the means of purification through which believers receive new and good natures. And it properly motivates believers to do good works. Listen to the way the author of Hebrews makes this point in Hebrews 11:6:

Without faith it is impossible to please [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Unless our attempts to seek God's blessings are founded on faith, we cannot please God, and therefore, cannot be rewarded by him. In other words, without faith as one of our motives, we cannot do good works.

In addition to the necessity of saving faith, the Scripture also stresses the theme of proper motive when it focuses on Christian love. Consider that in 1 Corinthians 13 Paul taught that our works are useless if they are not motivated by love. In verses 1-3 he wrote:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Works, and even spiritual gifts, that produce beneficial results merit no reward if they are not motivated by love. Love is an aspect of every law God requires us to obey. So, only by acting in love, can the work we do conform to his standard. What’s more, to meet God's standard, our love must be for both God and neighbor. Unbelievers do not love God; they are hostile to him. And, as a result, they can never be motivated by love for God. In other words, they can never have the right motive. And because of this, they can never do anything that God considers, in an ultimate sense, to be good.