Are you a good person? Here is what God says-
Romans 3:
“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.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Was there ever a time when you thought this was you? It is sometimes hard to accept how God sees us.
Before God does His supernatural work of salvation in us: We feel like pretty good people; we try to do what’s right; we “do unto others…”; we have a strong sense of justice and morality – however, our standards are not God’s standards. we fail to see how God can condemn because we cannot see through His eyes. we stand toe to toe with God and shake our fist because we think we’re good and “life isn’t fair”.
“Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once and He volunteered.” RC Sproul Jr.
Romans 4:7
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,
And whose sins have been covered.
But when we apply the Ten Commandments; we apply what Jesus taught, that we break those commandments simply with our hearts and minds – we see through the eyes of God and we cannot understand why He thought us worthy to save.
It’s ironic that when we are saved we still, often, do not see ourselves as God sees us. we finally see ourselves as that wretched sinner because we now understand God’s perfect standard. we now see what we were but we fail to see what we are; we are wearing the righteousness of Christ – sin no longer stains us if we have been made eternal.
We are still sinners but sin cannot leave a mark on us or we could not be fit for heaven. Sin no longer convicts us if we are “In Christ”. The law is a guide to be better and a reference point for perfection. This is part of the peace of Christian living, to see ourselves as God sees us, as His children; His beloved; the very ones He prepares eternity for – as clean as Christ in the eyes of the Father! This is not to say we needn’t feel bad when we do sin – As bad as we feel when we hurt anyone that loves us. But our lack of perfection is not a surprise to God, He knows we will grow into what He desires us to be. When we are lost in our sin we are like pigs at the trough. We grunt and snort and gobble the slop, content that this is goodness. But through faith we realize we are no longer pigs in a sty, but lambs in the Shepherd’s flock. Romans 9:15For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”i 16So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.” Evil can be abandon for good only because Good refuses to let evil in. Good made the first move at the Cross and provided a perfect plan to deliver us. There is none Good but God, and “Whosoever believes in Him will not perish…” because He is “the perfecter of our Faith” in His grace.