Are you a good person?

Psalm 14:2-3 says "The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.  But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt.  No one does good, not a single one!  Ecclesiastes 9:10 says "Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins."  We don't like these verses do we?  We like to think we're good people; capable of success in our personal battles; positively seeking the betterment of ourselves and society.  But these verses paint a very different picture.  They remind us that not one of us can make it on our own; not one of us can successfully be good.

The sooner we submit to this reality the better off we'll be.  Why?  Because the core problem here is pride...and God hates pride (James 4:6).  Pride keeps us believing we can actually be good...that we actually are good in some respects.  This is a myth and it must be squashed because it alters how we seek God and why we seek God. 

Our only hope is the opposite of pride:  Humility.  Humility resigns us to the fact that there's nothing we can do to get into God's good graces and that Christ's death on our behalf is our only means of being considered good in God's eyes.  2 Corinthians 5:21 confirms:  "God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Face the facts:  We're basically a bunch of self-centered, gain-seeking, lying, cheating, prideful humans and admitting that our goodness is based on our standing in Christ not only clarifies an important doctrinal truth but it makes us love Jesus all the more because, in spite of the fact that we are not good, Jesus loved us so much that he chose to die for us so that we might become the righteousness of God.  Amen!