A Good Man

OPEN WITH VIDEO, “BE THE NEW”

Well, here we are, at the closing of another year and we find ourselves with our hearts and minds turned to the New Year that is upon us!

I think that many of us, if not most of us, find ourselves reflecting back upon the passing year and as we face the new one.

And during this time, we ponder the events that took place in our lives throughout the year ending, the good and bad. The happy and the sad. The moments of celebration and the moments of weeping!

I sat Friday afternoon doing that very thing. Looking back over the past year and its events.

As I sat there reflecting, my mind even drifted to the years gone by and what all has changed in my life.

I thought back to the holiday seasons of years ago, when I would join in with all of my immediate family in Chattanooga at my grandparent’s house on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and we would eat and fellowship and share those special times together.

It prompted me to write a message and send it to my uncle in Chattanooga and tell him how much I miss those times of being with my parents and my grandparents, who are now gone to be with the Lord, as well as being with the rest of my family!

And he messaged me back and concurred and said that he had been doing that very same thing the day before. He was looking at some old photographs from the years past and of what all has changed over the years.

In looking back over the years that have come and gone, I had to assess and take account of what all I have done with my life and where it is now!

Especially with respect to this passing year of 2018.

You see, that is part of the reason that we reflect back over the events of the past year; to see where we were and where we are now.

Have we increased in certain areas and decreased in others?

Have we improved on the things from the year before that we said needing improving?

Or have the old habits prevailed and status quo continues?

Have you learned any new skills? Have you read any new books?

Did you do anything different over the course of 2018, from that of 2017?

And regardless of that time span, are you going to do anything new, or make any positive changes for your life in the coming year of 2019?

In reflecting back over the past year, I also went back and read over the message that I gave at this same time, a year ago, which was entitled, “A New And Better You”.

And the premise of that message was of how many of us make resolutions each year for the sake of improving our lives, as well as improving the way that other people view our lives.

I mean isn’t that the reason that we resolve to make changes, isn’t that the motive behind our RESOLUTIONS and the impetus that pushes us forward in making them, that we want to improve areas within our lives?

Whether or not people follow through on their resolutions is irrelevant in what I am asking right now. Would you agree and say that it is safe to say, that the reason, OVERALL, that people make their resolutions, is to better themselves in some way?

And in asking this question, let me share with you a news article from USA Today, that I read this past week, that ties in with what I am speaking about today.

The article asked the question of, “Are you a good person” and in asking this question, it shared something of interest to me about the whole issue of New Year’s resolutions.

The article said, “A Marist Poll found "being a better person" was the most popular New Year's resolution for 2018. It was also the No. 1 resolution in 2017, marking a shift from the previous decade in which “losing weight” topped the list 80% of the time.”

“BEING A BETTER PERSON” was the most popular resolution last year, according to this Marist poll. People want to be construed as being a “GOOD PERSON”.

If I were to ask you the question, “Are you a better person now than you were last year” and you say, “yes”, then I believe that we must consider all factors involved in that answer and that assumption.

For instance, I do not think that you could say that just because Mr. Smith lost weight this past year, he is now a “good/better” person.

A portion of his life may now be healthier, but that still does not quantifiably make Mr. Smith a “better person/good person”!

And if you were to pick any of the top ten resolutions that people all over this nation make each and every year, exclusively, none of these individual things can quantifiably make you a “good/better” person!

The reason that I say this, is that being a “good” person is linked to morality, unless you are talking of one specific part of a person’s life.

This is what I mean. If you are talking to an individual about Mr. Smith and his weight loss and you and this other individual play weekly racquetball with Mr. Smith and you both agree that his having lost weight has contributed significantly to his racquetball game and that he is able to play at a higher level than before, then you could make the safe assumption that Mr. Smith’s weight loss has made him, as a person, a good, or a better racquetball player, right?

But being a better individual at playing racquetball, does not qualify Mr. Smith as being a “good/better” person across the board.

Mr. Smith could go home after a friendly game of racquetball with his friends each and every night and get drunk and proceed to verbally or physically mistreat his wife and /or his children.

He’s now a “good” or a “better” racquetball player since he made the decision to help his physical life and lose the weight, but he is still far from being a “better/good” person just because of this one change!

I could say the same thing about the other top ten resolutions that people make each year.

These goals may make a positive change in your life, which is good, and they may make you better in “certain areas” of your life, but being a “good person” deals with morality, not intellect, or strength, or appearance or time management, or a person’s works or actions!

Becoming a “better person/a good person”, is a reflection of one’s whole life; not just one area of their life.

So, when the world makes the statement that they want to better themselves and be seen by others as a “good person”, they are stepping into another arena that deals with something that the world and its system cannot offer.

MORALS/MORALITY do not come from this natural life that we possess.

Psychology and philosophy offer many thoughts as to the source of our moral conduct and how and why you and I make moralistic decisions.

As an example, in one psychology report that I read on this matter, the psychologist writing the article said, “At young ages, children know the difference between social convention and morality, and they know it without being taught. You might say that they understand very well the point made by Socrates: Social conventions don't make for morality. It is morality that judges social conventions.” (Social conventions are the unwritten and unspoken expectation of how to behave in society)

The author’s conclusion was that morality is independent of social rules regarding proper behavior. (Psychology Today, April 4, 2012, Dr. Arthur Dobrin, D.S.W.)

In other words, psychologists note that morality is inborn and drives social decisions and interaction, not the other way around.

But here is my thing, where do these MORAL judgments come from in the children?

You can have 2 children raised on two different continents and from completely different socioeconomic and religious backgrounds and yet they both have the same inborn and firmly rooted moral conviction that lying and stealing are wrong, at an early age. HOW?

Where does this moral fiber inherent to people come from?

And if everyone is born with a “moral component” and it is not a learned behavior, then are we not all “good” people from birth?

The answer to that is “NO” and the reason for it, is that although we may have the moralistic understanding of right and wrong, there is something else needed within that drives us to want to be morally right and righteous and not for our own glory and notoriety.

And that force that compels and drives us to towards moral character and righteousness, is not inherent to anyone at birth! It comes later in life, not as a learned behavior and not acquired by works, but by grace and choice through through faith and belief!

In last year’s message on being a “new and better you”, I mentioned one way in which we, as a secular society deem other people as “good” people.

I said that there is a phenomenon in the world of psychology called the “Halo Effect”, or also called the, “what is beautiful is good" principle.

And what this basically says, is that when people behold other people, who are physically attractive, they tend to associate that person as being a “good” person.

Several different studies have found that when we rate people as good-looking, we also tend to believe that they have positive personality traits and that they are more intelligent. One study even found that jurors were less likely to believe that attractive people were guilty of criminal behavior.

In other words, people who are more attractive, are deemed to be more intelligent, more upright and trustworthy and less likely of doing anything morally wrong.

By virtue of their appearance, they are perceived as being “good” people!

This same mindset follows in the political arena. People watch and listen to a politician who is well groomed and attractive, who speaks with intelligence and has a well rounded vernacular and they draw a conclusion in their mind that this person is a “good” person and deserving of the position to which they are running for.

And yet, that same person’s political background and what they have voted for and pushed for in the past is ignored and the moral compass of the voter is suppressed.

Case and point. Why would any Christian ignore

For example, voting for a political figure who wants to restructure tax laws to benefit you as the voter, while you ignore the fact that the same politician strongly endorses and pushes for abortion rights and same sex marriage rights, is wrong if you are in fact a Christian!

You cannot push God’s perfect Biblical and moral law aside and call something that is wrong acceptable; you cannot call something that is Biblically wrong, right! (, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”)

The word “GOOD”, when ascribed to a person, is an adjective about that person, as in their having the qualities required for a particular role, ( i.e. a “good father/mother”, a “good manager”, a “good actor”, a “good athlete”), but the word “good” also and more importantly, has to do with that which is morally right; righteousness.

This is the secular definition of the word “good”, not even the Biblical definition.

So, if the secular, natural word understands that “good” has a moral component how much more so does the Biblical understanding of the word “good” have?

In the NT, the Greek word used for “good”, agathos, means, “positive moral qualities of the most general nature”.

And if the word “good” has that moral component attached to it, both Biblically as well as secular, then when someone says that he/she is a “good person” what are they really saying about that person?

And so, with that same logic, I began to look at last year’s resolution of being a “better person” and what all this truly must entail.

If you or I say that we want to be a “better person”, then this is an overall, holistic description. We are not saying, “I want to be a “better scrabble player”, or a “better cook”, or a “better financial steward”, but rather the phrase, “a better person” is a broad spectrum statement that implies across the board for your whole life, or my whole life, we are wanting to be a “better person”, period!

And with this blanket statement, “a better person”, one must include the moral fiber that is involved in being “good”, because being “better” implies the understanding of moving from a place that is less than desirable to a good, or better place.

If I am mediocre at being a father and I my desire is to improve my status as a father, then saying that I want to be a “better” father is also in line with saying that I want to be a “good” father.

No one wants to move forward in a positive direction and not be “good” at what they are talking about!

EXAMPLE: If I say, “I want to be a better Sunday school teacher. I don’t want to be good at it, just better.”

“I want to be a better golfer. I don’t want to a good golfer, just better”.

Do you see what I mean?

Moving from “worse” to “better”, is moving in the same direction a going from “bad”, or “not so good” to “good”!

And so, I would like to speak briefly about this issue of being a “better person/good person” from the worldview versus how the Bible views it.

In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, there is an account of a rich young ruler who approaches Jesus and asks Him a very intriguing question. I will read this account from , although I will actually be combining all three of the gospels recording of this account to make a point.

Mark 10:17–22 NLT

17 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?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 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.’” 20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” 21 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.” 22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

So, from all three gospel recordings of this event, we can see a young man who is very wealthy approaching Jesus and saying, “Good teacher, what “good” deed must I do to have eternal life?

Now the first thing that I will mention here, is the initial response that Jesus gives before answering the young man’s question.

Jesus said, “Why do you call Me good? Only God is truly good.”

Being called “agathos/good” had a strong moralistic understanding attached to it and Jesus quickly lets this young man know that only God is morally right and righteous.

And in saying this, it also forced the young man to look deeper and make a stronger connection between Jesus and God the Father. If this young man called Jesus “good” and Jesus (not denying the title of “good”) says that only God is “good”, then what else could He be telling this young ruler?

That He (Jesus) was “good”, as God is “good”; they are one and thus both they are both “good”!

The next thing to mention is that the young ruler is looking to earn his way into eternal life, by his works and “good” deeds.

Jesus reminds him of the commands of God (though Jesus intentionally only mentions the second half of the decalogue), to which the young man says that he has kept throughout his life.

And herein lies the fallacy of mankind’s thinking; that we can do enough good deeds and works to be considered a “good”, a morally right and deserving person.

That if we do not break any major moral precept then we are basically a “good” person and not deserving eternal punishment.

Works and deeds do not, nor can they ever justify us before God, because, no matter how many good things you or I do, in our lives, they can never cover and remove our sin!

If I only sinned once in my life, by the age of 15, by stealing $50 and then went the next 50 years without sinning again, those 50 years of good deeds and moral excellence, still could not erase and cover that one sin!

The only thing that can cover the sins of any person, is the precious blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for remission of all sins and that comes through our faith and belief and profession of Him in our life.

Just as Paul said in , he had every reason to boast, in the natural, about his accomplishments in religious practice and works. And yet, Paul said that his being found righteous, didn’t come from his works, but rather from his faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends upon faith!

It is as Martin Luther said, "Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works."

The righteousness of Jesus Christ within us, compels us and drives us to bare fruit and do good works before God and to God, for His glory! But never for our salvation or our own glory!

And this is where this young rich man found himself, as countless millions do today, thinking themselves to be “good” in action and deed and not deserving eternal punishment.

The truth is, God will not eternally punish you or I because of our sins, but rather, He will eternally punish us because of our unwillingness to repent and have our sins washed clean, by the atoning blood of His Son, Jesus!

And so, when the young man says that he has kept all of the commands, then Jesus throws the wrench into the system. Jesus (knowing the man’s heart) says to him, “There is still one thing you haven’t done, If you want to be perfect (morally complete before God) go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

The Bible says at Jesus’ response the young ruler’s face fell (his countenance turned sad) and he walked away from Jesus.

Why? Why did a man who, from the world’s perspective had everything going for him, become sad at this news and turn and walk away?

He wasn’t just walking away from a situation, he was walking away from God!

Do your remember the “halo effect” that I mentioned a few minutes ago. (How people tend to categorize someone as intelligent and morally good, based upon their appearance), well this applies here to this man.

In those days, the Jewish people regarded someone who was wealthy, as having God’s favor upon their life and thus a “shoe in” for eternal security.

When Jesus told him that he lacked “one thing”, it was a BIG one thing!

Jesus, told him to sell ALL of his possessions (which were many) and give them to the poor and then, come follow Him.

The reason that this saddened the man, was because his wealth was a “god/idol” in his life and he WAS NOT willing to let go of “his god” in order to allow Jehovah, the one true God, to reign in his life!

You see, by this young man’s own estimation, he was doing really good in keeping the commandments of God in his life and yet, because of his love for the things of this world, he was blind to the fact that he had already broken the first and most important of the commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me.”

This is why Jesus listed the second half of the commandments to the young ruler, up front and didn’t start off with the first one, because Jesus knew that the young man had already horribly broken the first command of God.

Whenever you have another god in your life, you cannot serve Yahweh. You have already transgressed His commands completely.

If you are not serving and revering God as supreme and Lord of your life, then the rest of those commandments are just some mere moral guidelines for your life that you feel good about keeping and that keep you feeling morally right and a “good person” that God is surely pleased with!

Jesus, Himself, said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

You cannot serve God and the things of this world!

Jesus was not out to belittle or “brow beat” the guy, in fact the Bible says, “Jesus felt genuine love for him” and thus was trying to reveal to the man, the very thing that was keeping this young man from entering the kingdom of God.

This young rich man, like countless millions today, believed himself to be a “good person” and not deserving an eternity in hell. The mindset is that, “As long as I am doing what is morally good and working to be a good person, then God would never send me to hell”, right?

Does this sound like any of you: “I don’t cheat, I don’t steal from people, I have NEVER committed adultery (at least not physically), I have never committed something as heinous as murder, I give to the church financially, I serve in the church sometimes/or faithfully, I acknowledge God before others and even tell people about Him. I have been on missions trips for God. There is no way that I am not getting into heaven!”

If that sounds like you at all, then you are like the millions around the world, who believe themselves to be a “good person” and going to heaven. And yet, I am reminded of what Jesus said in ,

Matthew 7:21–23 NLT

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

You see dear friends, this is why I said that being a “good person” has a moral component that does not come from this world, or any works, or good deeds that you or I do.

That is why the prophet Isaiah said of us, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”

Our righteous deeds, our works, the things that we do that we and the world esteem as morally “good” are all like filthy rags before the Lord and undeserving of an eternity in heaven.

Our salvation comes only as a gift through God’s grace and never from anything that do we to earn it. says,

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

If our actions and deeds could save us, then Jesus would have never came and paid the horrible price that He paid to save us! It is by GRACE through FAITH in Jesus that we are saved!

Some of you may be thinking today, “Hey Pastor Chris, that was a little bit heavy for a New Year’s message, don’t you think? Couldn’t you have given us something a little more lite and encouraging?”

Let me says this to all you, if you can say with 100% assurance right now that your life is morally right in the eyes of God and that God sees you as a righteous person, a “good person”, because you have Jesus Christ as the Lord and savior of your life and thus God sees His son and the blood of Christ when He looks at you, then this is VERY encouraging!

And if that is you, then this should message should prompt and encourage you all the more to go out and share with everyone the truth and the good news of the gospel message.

People need to hear that actions and deeds and works will NEVER give them into heaven! Just as a friend of mine told me several years ago, “God would never send me to hell, because I am a “good person”, so also many, many others have this same belief!

They need to hear the truth of the gospel message and you and I are the ones called and equipped to tell them the TRUTH!

That is encouraging, the fact that God has entrusted you and I with the authority and the power of His kingdom, to help set the captives free!

If you have a secular job, then share with your co-workers the gospel truth, if you are a parent/grandparent then teach those little ones the truth of salvation! (Tell joke of mother and daughter)

And if you came here today and heard this message and you are not right with God through the blood of Jesus, then you also should be encouraged, because today is your day!

If you are feeling convicted right now and want assurance of your eternal destination, then I am going to ask you to come down front in just a minute and I or one of our leaders tell you what you must do to become “born again” and saved!

There is no greater and more encouraging word than the truth of the gospel message!