“We ought first to know that there are no good works except those which God has commanded, even as there is no sin except that which God has forbidden. Therefore whoever wishes to know and to do good works needs nothing else than to know God’s commandments. Thus Christ says, Matthew xix, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” And when the young man asks Him, Matthew xix, “what he shall do that he may inherit eternal life,” Christ sets before him naught else but the Ten Commandments.
Accordingly, we must learn how to distinguish among good works from the Commandments of God, and not from the appearance, the magnitude, or the number of the works themselves, nor from the judgment of men or of human law or custom, as we see has been done and still is done, because we are blind and despise the divine Commandments. The first and highest, the most precious of all good works is faith in Christ, as He says, John vi. When the Jews asked Him: “What shall we do that we may work the works of God?” He answered: “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent.”
Martin Luther (1483-1546) in “A Treatise on Good Works” in The Works of Martin Luther, trans. and ed., Spaeth, Reed, Jacobs, et al. (Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company, 1915) 1: 173-285.
Lest we think our good works flow from ourselves, Luther rightly reminded people during the Reformation (and reminds us today) that “whoever wishes to know and to do good works needs nothing else than to know God’s commandments,” and “the first and highest, the most precious of all good works is faith in Christ!”
There is no such thing as generosity apart from the Christian faith. Man without Christ according to Luther (and Augustine before him) suffers from incurvatus in se, that is, humankind is curved inwardly toward self (cf. Romans 7:8-19). So anything that looks like generosity apart from Christ cannot help but be motivated by selfish reasons.
What does that mean for us today? Two things come to mind.
First, don’t ever use the terms “generosity” or “good works” apart from that which flows from the work of Christ. Even if an unbelieving person gives an enormous sum of money to a humanitarian effort, it is not generosity! No one can do “good works” in the flesh, so don’t call them as such!
Second, if you want to see “generosity” or “good works” in your life or among those you serve: obey Christ’s commands in community and the world will see what generosity looks like through your transformed lives. The fruit of the Spirit’s work in our lives is generosity.
Explore all this further in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians:
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:16-26