Have I Done Enough Works?

When Do Those Who Believe in a Works-Based Gospel Know When They’ve Done Enough Good Deeds?

Probably when this event happens:

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Matthew 25:31–40).

That said, the premise of the question is flawed, because people who understand the relationship between salvation and good works know that 1) good works alone aren’t enough to attain salvation, but 2) salvation won’t happen without some effort on our part (continue reading the rest of Matthew 25 if you disagree).

Even then, those who do good works won’t ever think they’ve done enough, because good works are something they naturally want to do. As a modern apostle, Marion G. Romney, once said,

Service is not something we endure on this earth, so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made.

Knowing that service is what gives our Father in Heaven fulfillment, and knowing that we want to be where He is and as He is, why must we be commanded to serve one another? Oh, for the glorious day when these things all come naturally because of the purity of our hearts. On that day, there will be no need for a commandment because we will have experienced for ourselves that we are truly happy only when we are engaged in unselfish service.

Our attitude toward works was expressed well by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow when he wrote the couplet, “Do thy duty, that is best; Leave unto thy Lord the rest.” We do good because we have been commanded to do so, but also because we wish to follow the example of Jesus, “who went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). Ultimately, it’s through Christ’s grace that we are saved despite all we can do.