I put a tape into the player in the car as I drove home, listening to some old songs by
Marty Robbins about come cowboy heroes of days gone by. As I listened, I thought of all
the old movie cowboys we loved to watch on the big screen and on t.v. When we played
we pretended we were they and emulated their heroic acts and the morality they
represented. They were the good guys. They were always the good guys, standing for
right, resisting and opposing evil in society and making wrong things turn out right.
People never had to fear the wrong doer because there was always a good guy to the
rescue, whether it be Zorro (who didn't wear a whaite hat, carving a “z” on everything that didn’t move and a few that
did) or the Lone Ranger riding his mighty stead, Silver, or Roy Rogers and Trigger, Gene Autry, John Wayne or even the Cisco Kid.
Now that they are all gone (Roy and Gene having both died in 1999), it is hard to tell
the heroes from the anti-heroes, the good guys from the bad guys, the victors over evil
from the villains. In those old days of the movie heroes, plots were simpler and easy to
understand, heroes were rife and we were presented with two classes of characters, the
good guys and the bad guys. Lines of distinction were clean, clear, distinct with no
blending or shading, and the two groups were easy to tell apart. And just in case you
might be a little slow in putting it together, they were color-coded. The good guys always
wore white hats and the bad guys always wore black ones.
The bad guys were really bad guys, evil through and through, rotten to the core and, in
fact the was rotten too. The good guys were characterized as being really, really good.
They were almost above making a serious mistake or entertaining an untoward thought in
any respect. In fact, they were usually just about “too good to be true”. No man (or
woman, for sake of equality) who was born on earth, excepting the Lord Jesus Christ was
or is inherently good, incapable of error, unable to sin, consistently above reproach and
never doing wrong at any time in any circumstance. Herein lies the weakness of the old
movie heroes, but they were never intended to be so closely philosophically scrutinized.
They were actually moral plays which were written to extol the virtues of having faith and
doing good, as opposed to the pain and eventual downfall suffered by those who oppose
good and right.
If the good guys were not Naturally good, what was it that made them stand against
the wrong in the world? Faith. Faith in God Who revealed and epitomizes what
righteousness, “good” is. Their world view was central to their deeds, demonstrating that
all who will live righteously and defend good are blessed by God. Those who stand against
good stand against God and are in line for His punishment for their wickedness.
A medical doctor with whom I once was acquainted shared with me his view about
people and their actions and philosophies. His idea was that people, all people, no matter
what they believed, no matter what world view they held, no matter who they were, no
matter where or when they lived were good or evil because that was their particular nature
or drive and nothing would change it. Now that is pretty concise, pretty simple to grasp
and pretty pessimistic. it’s also a lot of hog wash! It certainly isn’t scriptural nor is it very
realistic from a man who fancies himself a scientist and an absolute realist. He attempted
to drive his point home by using what he considered safe ground for an example of natural
goodness, me. Just for the record I am not the epitome of goodness in human flesh, Jesus
is! I am not your example of righteousness in shoe leather, Jesus is! I am no fit to be your
savior from sin and incapable of wrong, Jesus is! I hope you see a theme here. I have a
typical human heart and will and the Bible teaches about it in Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
He’ll never know how badly he blew his whole argument. Whatever goodness people
see in you or me has nothing to do with us personally, inherently or innately. Whatever
good he may have seen in me, or in any Christian is due to the saving, forgiving, cleansing
and life changing power of God through the cross of His Son Jesus Christ. That doctor’s
theory that people are who and what they are because of the-luck-of -the-draw from the
family gene pool, or the influences of parents or peers, or from society in general is just
plain wrong. He makes us poor, unsuspecting pons who have no moral choices. We are
victims, becoming what others make us not what we choose to become. In his view, we
have no blame for the sinful people we become. I have noticed his chest swelling with
pride, though, when it comes to accepting credit and accolades for the presumed good he
has accomplished in his career.
No, the doctor’s solution is a bit too pat for me and does not hold water in his
scientific empirical reasoning nor does it make biblical sense. In simple terms, it just isn’t
consistent with what we observe in personal life experiences. At best, it is an escapist’s
attempt to keep from dealing with what is reasonable, rational, truthful and observable
concerning good and evil in mankind. For instance, I have known (and so have you) good
guys who have not always been good guys. in fact, their pasts make some bad guys look
like good guys. I have also known some bad guys who were good guys and changed into
bad guys. I have likewise known some good guys who have become better than good
guys. CONFUSED?
The point is this. We determine whether or not a person is a good guy or a bad guy by
comparing him to ourselves and all other people around us. And in contrast to all the evil
in society, we see a person as “good” because he is better than what we consider bad.
Conversely, we see a person as “bad” because he doesn’t measure up to our definition of
what is good or righteous. Our model is faulty. We tend to compare (or contrast) people,
especially ourselves to an uncertain and changing criteria. To determine whether or not a
person is a good guy or not, we would have to find a certain, unchanging, non-varying,
stable and concrete standard. Can such a standard be found and, if so, where?
Yes, we do have such a standard to compare ourselves and others to. God, Who made us,
gave us the standard in His revealed, written record, the Holy Bible. God the Father is the
Standard of good or righteousness; His Word (the Bible) reveals it; His Son demonstrates
and reflects it and His Holy Spirit empowers it. When we compare our ideas of ourselves
to God’s idea of us, we find that we have been very lenient with our own personal sins.
The Bible reveals that we, the best and the worst of us are exactly the same before the
eyes of an holy and just God. There is no difference. We are all sinners! We are all
condemned not because of the amount or kind of our sin, but because of the fact of our
sin. The Bible teaches universal sin -- from the greatest to the least of us, from the best to
the worst of us, from the richest to the poorest of us, from the most religious to the most
irreligious of us.
God’s conclusion is the same, “they are all under sin” (Romans 3: 9). ‘As it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans
3: 10-12). “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3: 23).
The Bible teaches, then, that there is no such thing as an inherently good person, one
who is good by nature, or by genetics, nor by parental or societal influence, for “all” are
concluded to be “under sin”. We have all determined our own course, apart from God,
thereby bringing upon ourselves the curse of death, physical death (temporal) and spiritual
death (eternal) upon ourselves. Our man-made course may look right to us but it is failing
and it is disastrous to our souls.
“There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death”
(Proverbs 14: 12). Again, it says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6: 23).
We find that when we compare ourselves, flaws, faults, foibles and all to the Lord
Jesus Christ, we are seriously lacking. We also find man is confused about who is actually
in control of all he has and all that he touches. He is in no wise “the captain” of his own
soul nor the lord of his destiny. When compared to the perfect, righteous Son of God, we
see ourselves as hopelessly lost in iniquity.
“Behold, Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is nothing before
thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. Surely every man
walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and
knoweth not who shall gather them” (Psalm 39: 5-6).
Our poor attempts at goodness are seen as a vain struggle when we contrast them to
the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus “is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and
made higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7: 26); He is perfect “For it becometh [God] ...
to make [Christ] the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:
10); “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto them that
obey him” (Hebrews 5: 9); Christ “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin”
(Hebrews 4: 15); “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow
his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile [deceit] found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2: 22);
“For [God] hath made [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5: 21).
Jesus told a young, wealthy land owner that none is good except God when the man
addressed Him as “good Master”. Jesus wasn’t rebuking him nor was He declining to be
called good. it is only that He was helping the land owner to realize that in order for him
to inherit eternal life, as he had requested of Jesus, he would have to think of Him as more
that a righteous teacher, but God Himself and he would be rewarded. We are told the man
went away disappointed. Jesus went on to tell the young man that he could only be
justified through his own efforts if he were righteous enough to keep the entirety of the
Law of Moses without contradicting it in one point, in thought and practice. No wonder
he went away disappointed, he had the wrong idea about justification and righteousness
from the start. He thought he could be justified by depending upon his own effort and
mere religion. Religious intent cannot save a soul from hell, neither can our own efforts on
our own behalf nor for someone else. No one can keep the Law of Moses well enough to
be considered justified, even if it were possible to be justified by it. As James reminds us;
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend [transgress] in one point, he is
guilty of all” (James 2: 10). Jesus is the only One Who is capable of being “holy”,
“righteous”, or even “good” in and of Himself, for, He , as God the Son is perfect.
Perfection, absolute sinless perfection is the standard, but we have all sinned through
self-will and cannot attain that goal.
Is there a way to unload the load of guilt we all possess, as well as the load of sin we
bear? Can we, as imperfect people be made good, or even better, can we be made
righteous? Can we be made just in the eyes of God? Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes, to each and
everyone of these questions. How can it be possible that we could be justified before God.
By trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin. Abdicate the throne (the
place of control) of your life and allowing God’s control of all that you are to become all
you can be by His power. Believe with all you heart and soul that He , Jesus died on the
cross to take your eternal hell upon Himself, freeing you from the curse of sin and death
from you, freeing you from hell and making you a citizen of heaven forever. My friend,
Jesus Christ loves you! He desires to build a life that is truly “good” within you, from the
inside out. He indwells you through the presence of God the Holy Spirit Who takes up His
abode within the believer. Believe, not just in your head, but from the heart, from the
depths of your very being:
for “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:
9-10); “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3: 16); “Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: Whom God hath set
forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God” (Romans 3: 24-25).
Sound like good news to you? It is. Here’s better news, this life can be your s, too,
right now. Simply pray from your heart, confessing to Him that you know that you are a
sinner and in need of His forgiveness. Ask Him to forgive your sin and to be your Savior
in accordance with what He has promised in His Word. He will if you call upon Him. Call
upon Him now. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”
(Romans 10: 13). No matter how you stack up to other people. It doesn’t matter if you
are a bad person or a good one in man’s eyes. God sees you and me for what we really are
and good guys need a Savior, too!
If this sounds like something God is leading you to do, pray now. Pray a prayer
something like this:
Dear God, I know I am a sinner and am worthy of judgment. Thank you for sending
Jesus to accept my judgment so He could offer me eternal forgiveness and eternal life.
Please come into my heart and life and make me a new person, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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