When Good Isn’t Good Enough

Opening Scripture:

Mark 10:17–27 NLT

As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”

Jesus corrected the rich man for calling Him good because even though He and the Father are one Jesus had not yet ascended completed His purpose and was still in the flesh in which was already corrupted by being born into a world of Sin.

Upon calling Jesus good the rich man proceeds to ask how to inherit eternal life… Jesus response was to obey the commandments

The Rich man felt proud because he kept all of the commandments and it was confirmed by Jesus

Jesus then instructs him that if he truly wants to be good or perfect to sell all of his possessions and give it to the poor.

The rich man went away sad or distraught because he was attached emotionally and even spiritually to his wealth.

This opened up a conversation about goodness with Jesus and His disciples.. As always they went to Jesus asking questions that they had from what they observed.

Jesus tells us that it is easier for camel to go through the eye of a needle for a rich person to be saved

We all have possessions that we may have grown attached to just as the rich man was to his wealth

Often times Jesus calls us away from it so that we can seek Him more through the word and prayer

through the scene Jesus reminds us that we aren’t perfect on our own and without God we can’t be truly good

It’s not about what we do or don’t give up but more so our act of obedience to Him through His word and the Holy Spirit.

The Contagiousness of God’s Goodness

Romans 2:3–4 NLT

Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things? Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

Often times we feel that because we are saved that we have the right to judge others

We MUST be careful how we Judge others because scripture teaches us that in the way we judge our brother and sister will be the same way that God judges us.

To correctly judge someone should only be done in love and from the perspective of God through the leading of His Holy Spirit through His word.

To correctly judge we don’t look down upon others but instead we look to see how we can help them in their walk with Christ.

To correctly judge we MUST NOT judge the person but instead we must judge the action according to God’s word and the leading of His Holy Spirit.

As we are in the process of helping someone we need to make sure that our heart is right and that we are truly being lead of the Holy Spirit.

Because God showers us with His kindness, love, grace, and mercy we can experience His goodness

When we experience God’s goodness is positions us in a place where we want to share it with others to see.

Transformed Into Goodness

Romans 12:2 NLT

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

In order to be in a posture where we can fully experience the goodness of God we must be rightly positioned with Christ.

We get correctly positioned with Christ by 1) Repenting of our Sins, 2) Fully surrendering everything over to Him, and 3) Giving Him complete control (Lordship) of our Lives…

When we are in a posture of complete Surrender to Jesus we can effectively have a relationship with Him.

It’s in our relationship with Jesus that we have a foundation in which we can be truly transformed.

We walk into transformation when we fill the capacity of our minds with the Word of God — taking captive every thought making it surrender to the will of God through Christ Jesus.

The Call To Be Good To Do Good

Galatians 6:10 NLT

Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

We should always strive to do what is right and fair in the eyes of God

We should treat everyone with the love of Christ and the kindness of God

We build community through becoming the hands and feet of Jesus

Regardless of our position or status in the Church and the kingdom of God we are to do right by everyone

God is constantly providing us opportunities to reflect His goodness to others in some cases people who we may not even like in our flesh.

As we live in the goodness of God we are called to reflect it others!

How will you reflect God’s goodness this week?