God Myth #1: Goodness

Tuesday, September 14, 2010
God Myth #1: Goodness. Our society at large tries to convince us that mankind is by nature good. Just yesterday a well known cable news personality that I happen to think a lot of said these words, “People are good. We are just, by nature, deep down inside, good.” There’s only one tiny problem with that idea…it’s wrong. God’s Word says we are, by nature, just the opposite. Every single one of us has sinned, according to Romans 3:23. Just ponder on this idea with me for a moment, would ya?
I don’t ever remember my parents having to give me a lesson in how to lie. I didn’t have to be taught that – I was born a pro! I never received a lesson in how to steal. Nor did I have to have lessons on disobeying my parents, or disrespecting them. I didn’t have to be taught how to hate people, or treat them badly. I never remember seeing anyone giving murder lessons, or writing self-help books on how to commit adultery. Nope, we don’t need help with this stuff. We were born professionals.
But I do remember my parents trying to raise me up to learn how to live in honesty. They taught me how to respect others, including them. How to love people, and treat them the way I wanted to be treated. They taught me it was wrong to take something that wasn’t mine, and to hurt someone or kill them wasn’t right. And purity – there’s another trait I had to be taught as I grew up. Because by nature, I wasn’t good, and neither are you. By nature, we’re messed up.
Think about it – do you really think if there had been another way, that God would have still sacrificed His only begotten Son on the cruel cross in such a horrific way? If getting to God was a multiple choice test – if we can just attain goodness that is enough to make us right with Him, would Jesus have had to go through what He went through? Absolutely not. To try to be convinced that we are naturally good is to say that what Jesus did wasn’t really necessary. That we can just become who we’re supposed to be on our own because, after all, we’re naturally good anyway.
No, God knew that we were, and are, totally depraved sinners. Not only are we naturally not good, there’s nothing good in or about us. The truth is, we weren’t born knowing goodness. As soon as we were big enough, we were getting into everything we could get our hands on. So the first of our “God Myth Series” is this: we aren’t good. He is. That’s why He gave us Jesus.

That’s just a thought, and I welcome yours.
Until next time,
Blake

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