Vine of Life News

Copyright© πίστις 2013

Photo art courtesy of Darrell Creswell

Goodness, who defines that and what does it mean to be good anyway? If you go by the world’s definition of goodness depending on who you ask, the answers may surprise you.

The career thief thinks he is good, sure he steals but he does not ever hurt people so he is good right?

The mob enforcer thinks he is good; after all he takes care of his family and friends.

The pastor that is having an affair thinks that he is good; after all he really has helped many people.

Your neighbor down the street, you know the one…she talks about everybody behind his or her back. She thinks she is good; after all she only talks to lots of people…

How about that guy or gal in church, the one who loves people, enjoys helping others, is active in the church, donates to good charities…is he/she good? Well I think that person is pretty good, but does what I think or you think really matter?

Anybody can determine that they are good simply based on their own idea of good. Obviously this is rather meaningless. If you can look to yourself to define who you are, then there are no moral absolutes. You can then do anything you want to and still view yourself as a good person because you gave yourself the power to define what constitutes goodness.

This leads to rationalizing any behavior and believing that what you do is ok. Take for example Hitler, he probably thought he was a good guy; after all he was doing the world a favor by getting rid of the inferior people in the world right?

When we take it upon ourselves to define what is right and wrong, what is good and bad…we are walking down a road that is filled with deception. This is the wide road that leads to hell. Yes, I DID say HELL…if you are not ultimately accountable to Christ…hell is your eternal destination.

Do you define your own path because you do not want anything to do with that religious nonsense? I understand, I do not want anything to do with religious nonsense either…did I just say that? YES I did!

Forget about religion whether you are a Believer in Jesus or not. Religion is nothing but an unproductive battleground where you can waste lots of time. Many denominations insist that they have it right and the others are wrong etc. Well obviously someone has to be right, but it is not any religion.

Forget about religion and forget about any particular denomination. Having a preference in a church is fine, that is not what is being addressed here. I’m saying do not follow a particular denomination, or a certain pastor, or worship leader…whatever. Follow Jesus Christ first, last and always.

Back to goodness, what did the very Son of God who was and is God Himself have to say about goodness? Is it not what God thinks that is what matters?

What difference does it make what I say? Focus on what God says.

Mark 10:18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.

This not Jesus denying His own divinity as some suggest, rather He says that God alone is good…and Jesus claims to be (and is) God. Remember as well that Jesus refers to Himself as the “good” shepherd in John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

So we see that the standard of goodness that matters is God’s standard…not ours. Trying to apply the worlds various definitions of goodness is not even logical, obviously as in the examples I gave above, not all those people could be good! So it logically follows that any definition of good made by the world is faulty and incorrect…for all you logical thinkers out there!

God’s standard of goodness, perfection. God is good because God is perfect. We are told to be perfect. Matthew 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Obviously we are incapable of being perfect and God knows this. So what is the deal then? God tells us to do something He KNOWS we cannot do…does not make much sense does it? But surprise!…God has this one covered as well.

So how do we know we are not good anyway? Remember we are told to be perfect as God is perfect. God sets the standards for us in His Word.

The Ten Commandments are a great place to see just how imperfect we really are.

Have you ever lied? (You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor)

Have you ever stolen anything, even a pen from the office? That is stealing you know. (You shall not steal)

Ever had an affair? (You shall not commit adultery)

Have you looked with the green eyes of envy and desire at what your neighbor has that you want? Like that awesome car, boat, shop, or house, maybe even his wife or her husband? (You shall not covet)

Are you a sports fanatic? Does your hobby take up a lot of your life? (You shall have no other gods (idols) beforeme)

Ever said the word damn with God before it? How about being angry and saying Jesus Christ! (You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God)

Have you dishonored your parents in any way? (Honor your father and your mother)

There is not a person breathing that has not broken at least 3 of these commandments. Therefore we are not good and have sinned. So we have sinned, big deal! Yes actually it IS a big deal…

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is not referring to physical death because we will all die. Rather this refers to the fact that if you are not forgiven in Christ, you will spend eternity in hell separated from God forever. In other words, your spirit will be dead…permanently. Instead of God making you perfect…yes He will actually do this for those who love Him in the end, you will suffer forever in hell with Satan himself and the demons.

I mentioned earlier that God has all this covered; we cannot possibly be perfect obviously! Even if we have changed and are living a pretty good life, there are still those sins from the past to deal with, and no matter how good you are you are still sinning in some way.

If only God is good, and He is…then why not place your faith in Him? Why not trust in the Son of God the Father, Jesus Christ who is Himself God…to save you? What do you have to lose here???? NOTHING…you stand to gain a lot though.

Through giving your life to Jesus:

God the Father sees His own goodness in you through the Holy Spirit in you.

God the Father sees His righteousness through Jesus in you.

In other words, when you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God Himself lives in you, and wipes the slate clean and declares you to be an adopted son or daughter of God in good standing.

To be saved and have eternal life, one needs to pray and ask Jesus to forgive your sins, believe that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was and is enough to pay for your sins, believe that Jesus rose from the dead on the 3^rd day and is even now alive and seated with the Father in heaven.

Your trust needs to placed in Christ, not yourself, and not anyone else in the world either.

However, all this being said…you cannot pray a prayer and then go back to living the way you always have and expect that you would be truly saved. Praying a prayer for salvation with no change in life will do nothing for you! We are NOT saved in any way by works, but we DO need to live lives that honor God. In other words, you cannot pray to receive Christ as your Savior and then sleep around and party every weekend and think you have eternal life through Jesus…you are deluded if you believe that.

Love to you all and may God bless you!
Greg

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