When Jesus was approached by the one we call the “rich young ruler” he called Him a “good” teacher and then asked Him a question. Rather than simply answer the question, Jesus first called attention to the fact that no man is good. Only God is truly good (Matthew 19:16-17).
There are a lot of people who claim to be good. The question we should ask is by what standard are you claiming to be good? Those who lived just prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:1-11 thought that they lived “good” lives. The Lord dealt with them accordingly because the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were not good at all. Only God is truly good.
King David is known as the “standard” for the kings of Israel. Unfortunately, David was not a good man. While it is true that David is said to be a man after God’s heart in Acts 13:22. God said that when He first chose David as Saul’s successor to the throne of Israel. Later, David became a convenient liar, a rationalized thief, and a complacent adulterer. David paid for his sins and repented, yet David was not good. Only God is truly good.
King Solomon was the wisest king of Israel and many thought that he was good. Sadly, we are told in 1 Kings 11:3-4 that “3 he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods . . .” Solomon may have been wise, but he was not good. Only God is truly good.
The Apostle Paul is one of the best known Apostles of the church. He is responsible for almost half of the New Testament books, yet Paul was not good. Paul never claimed to be good. As a matter of fact, in 1 Timothy 1:15 he confesses that “. . . Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” Paul knew that no one is good but God alone, which is why he wrote in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Only God is truly good.
Since only God is truly good, then only God can define what is truly good. While people have good intentions and can do good things, those intentions and things are only truly good if they are doing what God says is good. An example might be someone who believes it’s good to do what makes them feel satisfied regardless of whether or not God says it’s good. This is what the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, Solomon, David, Paul, and even you and me might be tempted to do.
The goal for all of us is to learn what God says is good and to do our best to live and act in God’s ways. In doing so, we have made the choice to live a godly life. What we must remember is that even if we are doing the good that God wants us to do, we are still not truly good in God’s site. We can never do enough good, but we are still supposed to do the good that God wants us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10). Only God is truly good. This is why God has given us Jesus.
Recalling Romans 3:23 and then continuing through the first two parts of verse 25, we read, “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness.” In order to be good like God truly is good, we must be justified by God’s grace through Jesus Christ. In other words, we need to have our sins washed away like Paul did in Acts 22:16 by being baptized into Christ and becoming a Christian.
After being made good by Jesus, like Paul and others who have become Christians, we are to continue to “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us (1 Peter 2:12).” The good that Peter writes about in this verse is the godly life that God calls us to live. It is living God’s good way.
