God saved me from sins about four years ago and for about the past three years I have been actively sharing my faith with others. During that time, the thing that is most consistent (with professing Christians and non-Christians alike) is that most people think they are good.
This shouldn’t be surprising because Proverbs 20:6 says “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?” But what’s really interesting is that the Bible says that there is none that does good, no not one (Psalm 14:1-3).
So most people think they are good and that’s because by our standards – our human standards, most of us are good. Most of us have never killed someone or raped anyone. That’s why most of us proclaim ourselves good – all good people.
Can you see the disconnect? We think we are good, but the Bible says that we are not good. So what gives? Why the disparity? The key is that we have a different definition of good than what God has. I think most of us think that if we live by the golden rule then we are good (do unto others as you would have others do unto you). Most of us probably live by this standard – whether we are religious or not.
But God’s standard is much higher than this. God’s standard is absolute perfection, it is completely pure. The 10 Commandments are not a good code to live by, they are utter perfection and none of us can meet this lofty standard. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). God knows that we cannot meet His perfect standard and that’s the purpose of the 10 Commandments, to show us that we don’t measure up.
By understanding that we do fall short, (and our God-given conscience convicts us of this) makes us realize that we are helpless, that we need help. God wants us to have a right relationship with Him so he did something extraordinary. He sent His Son Jesus who was born of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit to live and walk on this earth 2,000 years ago. Jesus was fully man and fully God and He did what we cannot do – Jesus lived a perfect life. Jesus kept the 10 Commandments and in fact He held them to a higher standard. He never had any impure thoughts (again, perfection).
Jesus willingly let the Romans beat Him beyond recognition and then He suffered a cruel death on the cross. Jesus died for guilty sinners. After hanging on the cross for six torturous hours He died, was buried and rose from the grave on the third day. Jesus did what we can’t do: 1. He never sinned 2. He rose from the grave. Jesus defeated sin and death.
Back to being good. None of us are good. We have all sinned and if we die in our sins we will be separated from God for eternity. Because God is good, He must punish sin and that punishment is banishment to a very real place called Hell. Jesus described Hell as a place of torment. Because God’s standard is perfection, guilty sinners who die in their sins will end up in Hell for eternity.
But God is as loving as He is just. That’s why He sent Jesus to suffer and die for our sins. It is out of His great love for us that He was willing to offer this costly sacrifice for us. Salvation is a free gift from God, but we have to accept this gift. If you will turn away from your sins and surrender your life fully to Jesus Christ, He will save you. Then Jesus will be your substitute and because of His righteousness, His perfection, you will be counted as righteous because God will see you through the righteousness of Jesus.
None of us are good on our own and the best thing you can do is recognize that fact and admit it to God. Cry out to God to save you, repent by turning away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus by surrendering your will completely to Him. Turn to the One who is good and be obedient to Him. All good people, won’t you do this today?