gabriel
2009-12-26 16:36:46 UTC
www.answersingenesis.org/get-answers/features/good-for-goodness-sake
Just be good
Being good can get you far in our world. Good behavior wins
praise, commuted jail terms, and tangible rewards. Good deeds net
accolades and often tax benefits. Good things come to those who
wait, who do good for others, who spread good karma. And we
celebrate goodness the most during this time of year.
But what if our good deeds are just a mask for the bad things
we hide inside?
For goodness sake
Atheists tell us that we should be good for goodness sake, that
people can be good without God. But they dont tell us how they
know or how they measure what is good.
The problem with the worlds understanding of goodness is that
theres no foundation, no solid definition. We all have our own
ideas about whats acceptable and whats not or what deserves
praise and what doesnt. In fact, one person may condemn what
another person sees as for the greater good.
The truth is that being good is not good enough. In fact, our
own good deeds are nothing more than filthy rags we hope will
cover our faults and failures.
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our
righteous deeds are like a filthy garment. (Isaiah 64:6)
But you dont have to make your own wayyou dont have to hope
that youre doing enough.
Who is good?
A little over 2,000 years ago, something truly good
happenedsomething that is like nothing else before or since. You
may have heard the story before, but have you really listened?
Jesus came to earth because He knew that our own attempts at
being good would never get us anywhere. God had given us laws to
obey and we completely failed to keep themwe have sinned against
a holy God. He saw us strugglingand He came to struggle right
alongside us, to know what its like to be human. And the amazing
part is that He lived a perfect life never sinning by violating
any of Gods laws. He understood goodness because He is the
living definition.
But He didnt do that to rub it in or to make us feel bad. He
lived a perfect life so that He could show us the way, could make
us right with our Creator. Gods penalty for sin is death, but
Christ has freed us from the bondage of death by dying on the
Cross as a substitute for us. He took the guilt and showed us how
empty being good is without Him.
No one is goodexcept God alone. (Luke 18:19)
Your own good deeds, theyll never get you anywhere, never make
you free of your sin debt. But Jesus Christ came to earth, died
as a substitute, and rose to life to do something we couldnt do
ourselves: He gave us new life, new hope, new birth.
If youve never experienced this freedom, you can do so right
where you are. Ask God to forgive your sins against Him in the
past and believe that Christ came to take the penalty for your
disobedience and show you what goodness is all about.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
(John 3:1617)
Just be good
Being good can get you far in our world. Good behavior wins
praise, commuted jail terms, and tangible rewards. Good deeds net
accolades and often tax benefits. Good things come to those who
wait, who do good for others, who spread good karma. And we
celebrate goodness the most during this time of year.
But what if our good deeds are just a mask for the bad things
we hide inside?
For goodness sake
Atheists tell us that we should be good for goodness sake, that
people can be good without God. But they dont tell us how they
know or how they measure what is good.
The problem with the worlds understanding of goodness is that
theres no foundation, no solid definition. We all have our own
ideas about whats acceptable and whats not or what deserves
praise and what doesnt. In fact, one person may condemn what
another person sees as for the greater good.
The truth is that being good is not good enough. In fact, our
own good deeds are nothing more than filthy rags we hope will
cover our faults and failures.
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our
righteous deeds are like a filthy garment. (Isaiah 64:6)
But you dont have to make your own wayyou dont have to hope
that youre doing enough.
Who is good?
A little over 2,000 years ago, something truly good
happenedsomething that is like nothing else before or since. You
may have heard the story before, but have you really listened?
Jesus came to earth because He knew that our own attempts at
being good would never get us anywhere. God had given us laws to
obey and we completely failed to keep themwe have sinned against
a holy God. He saw us strugglingand He came to struggle right
alongside us, to know what its like to be human. And the amazing
part is that He lived a perfect life never sinning by violating
any of Gods laws. He understood goodness because He is the
living definition.
But He didnt do that to rub it in or to make us feel bad. He
lived a perfect life so that He could show us the way, could make
us right with our Creator. Gods penalty for sin is death, but
Christ has freed us from the bondage of death by dying on the
Cross as a substitute for us. He took the guilt and showed us how
empty being good is without Him.
No one is goodexcept God alone. (Luke 18:19)
Your own good deeds, theyll never get you anywhere, never make
you free of your sin debt. But Jesus Christ came to earth, died
as a substitute, and rose to life to do something we couldnt do
ourselves: He gave us new life, new hope, new birth.
If youve never experienced this freedom, you can do so right
where you are. Ask God to forgive your sins against Him in the
past and believe that Christ came to take the penalty for your
disobedience and show you what goodness is all about.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
(John 3:1617)