Getting Job-ed
Luke 6:45 CSB: “A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”
Luke 18:19 CSB: “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone.”
Romans 3:10-12 CSB: “…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; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.”
These verses can sometimes be hard to accept. If you are like me, then specific people you know probably come to mind who do not know Christ but are “good” people in your eyes. Maybe you are one of these “good” people. I know I thought I was a good person even before I knew Christ. However, Scripture is clear that there is no one who is good apart from God and that one of the biggest lies present in the world is that humans are basically good. Just to reiterate, there is not a single person who is good.
What is ‘good’?
God’s standard of “good” is perfection. It is not based on an imaginary balance scale that weighs good and evil and judges you as innocent if the good outweighs the bad. Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Every single one of us has committed treason against God which is punishable by death (Romans 6:23).
It is essential we understand who we are to get a better understanding of God’s grace, love, and mercy. In regards to who we are, I highly recommend reading Romans 1: 18-32. That passage really changed my perspective on who I was before I came to know (and be known by) Christ. Knowing the truth about how sinful, rebellious, and in opposition to God I really was opened my eyes to how great His grace and mercy are. I do want to highlight the last verse in that passage though (vs. 32), “Although they knew God’s just sentence — that those who practice such things deserve to die — they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.” The very second we first sinned, we deserved death. However, God in His great love for us delayed our sentencing hearing and then sent His son Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for those who have faith in Christ. I did not deserve an opportunity to know Christ, I deserved to be in hell as soon as I sinned against God who is perfectly holy. We see this in Romans 3:24-25 ESV: “…(they) are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation (sacrifice to remove divine wrath) by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”
I’d argue that not only does God show those who trust in Christ’s mercy (by the forgiveness of sins) but He also shows amazing mercy to those who will ultimately refuse God. Every breath they take on Earth rather than in hell is a gift from God, and it is more precious than anything they could ever receive in life (See Romans 9:21-23 for more insight). God is so merciful and loving that until they take their last breath on earth their story isn’t over yet. There is still time given for them to choose life (Deuteronomy 30:15-19) even though God knows the outcome of their life since the beginning of time.
Our sinfulness highlights God’s mercy and grace…
God’s love, mercy, and grace are perfect. However, God’s justice is also perfect and sin will be punished either by the blood of Christ (for those with faith) or by eternal hell. It is so amazing what Christ did for us. Sometimes I regret the fact that I grew up in the church because it’s all I’ve ever known which makes it so easy to take for granted. We sinned against God, against Christ, and said our way is better. We hated God. Yet, Christ still went to the cross and took on God’s wrath for us sinners so that we could be forgiven and washed clean. That will be for all time the single greatest act of love.
Romans 5:6-8 CSB: “For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person — though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
John 15:13 CSB: “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends”
I want to end this article with a prayer for you and for myself. I echo Paul’s prayer in Ephesians Ch. 3:
Ephesians 3:16 “I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses all knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
-Nash Ballinger
