This episode tackles the false dichotomy between "worship" and "service" made by many unbelievers, where "good works" are mostly about service to others and don't flow from worship. Christ Himself exploded this distinction in Mat 4:10, connecting service to worship, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve." Service then is an expression of worship. Unbelievers don't typically connect service to worship of anyone, preferring to emphasize outward service divorced from worship as the basis of good works. The episode highlights that genuine worship of God sometimes conflicts with "service" to man, where affirmation and toleration of behavior, divorced from God's standards, is evidence of virtue or goodness. Good works in the form of "service" to man, even when it looks "intolerant," flows from worship of God. Not embracing God's standards, unbelievers usually omit "worship" from a discussion on "good works," instead imposing an anthropocentric psuedo-morality that emphasizes tolerance and outward acts of service as the ground of good works.
Half Good Ain’t Good Enough
This episode sets the Biblical standard of goodness, where outward manifestations of goodness are consistent with the heart from which they come. Extrinsic goodness flows from intrinsic goodness, and God alone meets that standard. "You [God] are good and do good" declares Psalm 119:68. The test of intrinsic goodness is the great commandments, perfect love of God and neighbor, and Christ Himself noted that no man meets that standard. So the Biblical high standard of good works is the marrying of intrinsic goodness with outward manifestations. Regarding the latter, unbelievers can in fact do externally good works. Christ acknowledged that "evil" men can give "good gifts." (Luke 11:13) Yet this "good work" does not reach the standard of goodness that God deems a "good work," since it emanates from an evil heart.
Keeping the Law, through Christ
This initial episode answers the question right from Psalm 119:5-6, which I believe summarizes the main theme of the entire psalm. "Oh that my ways may be established to keep your statutes! Then I will not be ashamed when I look upon all your commandments." Since the question mostly deals with how Psalm 119 should be applied to NT believers, the episode deals with a common misunderstanding of the importance of the Law for Christians. Some claim that Christians are not under the moral law based, based on Christ having fulfilled it for us. While our acceptance in God's sight is completely based on Christ's perfect adherence to the Law, coupled with His substitutionary death, Christians are obliged to keep the moral law by abiding in Christ. The sum of the Law is love of God and neighbor, and the New Testament constantly holds believers accountable to observe these commandments THROUGH abiding in Christ. This then is the clearest application of Psalm 119 to NT believers, that God would help establish our ways to abide in Christ, resulting in keeping God's moral law.
Saved for Good Works
This episode places the themes of redemption, sin, and works in their proper perspective. Preoccupation with sin issues is understandable for infants in Christ, but evidence of true saving faith is that service to God and/or "works" that He prepared beforehand (Eph 2:10) become the motivation for life. The episode connects "service to the living God" with the roadmap of sanctification in Eph 4:22-24, where putting off the old and putting on the new self is emphasized as the means of producing good works.
When morality is man-centered and not God-centered
This episode explodes anthropocentric morality as the standard for good works. Deism is cited as a prime example of a philosophical or religious system that defines good and bad based on outward morality. Love of God in the great commandment is not the primary objective, virtue itself is the goal. This redefining of good and evil in terms of outward morality apart from love of God is typical of modernity's penchant for commending itself outside of the standard of God. Repentance from dead works is the repudiation of any man-made system of morality that doesn't have love of God as the prime directive.
“Loving God completely: the standard for good works”
This introductory episode defines good works as those that fulfill the great commandments, loving God and loving neighbor. Since all mankind since the fall is incapable of fulfilling these commandments, no "good" work is even possible. The episode answers one objection raised by many that unbelievers can do good works. While works toward neighbor might be outwardly "good," if actions do not have fulfillment of the great commandment as their objective, then so-called "good" works miss the mark. "Good" means little without reference to God, so unbelievers cannot do good works. Repentance from dead works refers to the changing of the mind about one's own sin and abilities to perform good works. Coupled with faith in Christ, salvation is the result.