The unique relationship of faith and works in Christianity

A unique thing about Christianity is that while other Theistic religions allow you to earn the approval of their gods by being "good", or at the very least not being "bad" (by their definitions), Christianity teaches that this is 100% impossible. By God's standards, you are not a good person, you are a sinner. The Bible even tells us that, left to ourselves, we are all but incapable of doing good, because from our youth, our hearts are evil.

So where does good come from? From faith. Abraham himself was a filthy sinner, some of his sins even being recorded in the Scriptures for as long as the earth endures, and yet still God calls him "righteous". Why? Because Abraham believed God, and that was accounted to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23).

Your righteousness is a gift from God. Think about that. It doesn't come from you, it comes from God. As Christians, we don't do good as a chore to earn God's approval, but because it is a privilege reserved for those whom He has saved. God doesn't love us because we are somehow good, but rather because He loves us, we do good.

And this is something the world cannot see. We don't understand a God who is so Holy that even our righteous deeds are filthy rags to Him (Isaiah 64:6). Neither do we understand a God so loving that we need not earn His love, but rather it is freely available to us. There is no god like this God. The gods of men can't even compete.