Can People do Good apart from Jesus?

In my last post I discussed why I believe people cannot sustain doing good (i.e. because of their nature), but I claimed that I believe people do desire and prefer good. This, however, flies in the face of what some Christians believe, that is that people are incapable of doing, or even desiring, good. It seems to me that this is a nasty little misconception, as it will affect how you view, and interact with, the world around you.

I'm guessing the primary support for this line of thinking would be Romans 3:10-12, with an Isaiah 64:6 kicker:

Romans 3:10-12 says:

"There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

While Isaiah 64:6 says:

"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; "

So, let me clarify what I believe these verses do and do not mean.

They DO mean:

1) Mankind is rebellious and does not seek God.

2) Mankind's best acts of kindness do not count as payment, or serve as a counterbalance to our acts of evil.

They do NOT mean:

1) God frowns on, or is not pleased with, mankind's acts of love and goodness.

2) Mankind (apart from a life in relationship with Jesus) literally does no good.

Explain the "relationship with Jesus" aspect and how Christians believe this to be the qualifier here.

What is "good"?

Good, in the context of Romans, is speaking of a general way of living. Submission to, trust in, and love for, God. This verse in Romans is a hyperbolic way of saying that we don't seek God as a way of life. Clearly God does not mean that we do nothing good. If you save a drowning child, God does not label that as evil, or void of good.

Mankind has remnants of the character of God within them. God sees the good, praiseworthy things done by Christian and non-Christian alike and, I'm sure, He smiles at them. That said, our genuinely good deeds, are both exceedingly rare and inadequate.

Exceedingly Rare

Genuinely selfless good deeds are quite rare. I say this because the vast majority of deeds which appear good and selfless are still motivated, deep down, by selfishness. Or maybe it's just that way for me. Most people talk about how helping others gives them a "sense of well being" or makes them "feel good". That's not selfless... That said, genuinely good deeds ARE done by many people on a regular basis. People sacrifice their lives to save others, they give much with no thought of recognition, and more.

Inadequate

Good deeds, no matter how genuine, are completely inadequate to repay or counterbalance our evils. Even if you take our evils against other people out the picture, we have done far worse to God. This is true both logically, and otherwise. Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan preacher from long ago, argued that evils are more heinous if we are under greater obligation to the one against whom the evil is done. For example, we are under greater obligation to our parents than we are to an acquaintance, and so evil done against our parents is more, um, despicable. Since we owe God infinitely (He IS our creator afterall), then a single atrocity against Him is of infinite weightiness. (i.e. an infinite line with any width to it is far larger than the largest finite object). But, this is made much worse by the fact that our evils against God aren't even singular.

This is just one example to show our great (infinite) debt towards God, and I should think it obvious that we cannot repay that debt by doing a few acts of good. But, additionally damning is the fact that most of us do not do more good to others than we do harm. Our words, our inaction, our daily choices, inflict pain and suffering on others.

People are rebellious. Does the idea that we're rebels, and incapable of being "good enough", sound harsh?

God creates us, gifts us with our abilities, puts us on Earth with other people, desires that we maintain the Earth, love others, and live in peace... But what do I (and everyone else ever created) do? In varying ways and degrees, I deny His existence, use my abilities to further myself, squash others, abuse the earth, and create strife wherever I go.

I mean, people DO love good... just not when it challenges their freedoms, beliefs, or comfort.

So, all that to say mankind is rebellious, doesn't seek God, and our good deeds cannot earn God's forgiveness because our debt is infinite. HOWEVER, people still have echoes of God's design within them, and thus they love to do good, and that good is genuinely GOOD and pleasing to God, it's just not enough. People can do good apart from Jesus, they just can't use it as payment for their evils.