We’re No Good
Luk 18:19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except
God alone.
My wife is the most loving person I have ever known. It is so true that love covers a multitude of sins (or wrongs). For she has forgiven me more than anyone on this planet and yet she often times will tell me “You’re a good man”. My response to her is not what you may consider a normal response but I respond this way every time, “There is no such thing as a good man”. Trust me when I say I am not fishing for a greater compliment from her. Because I know that in her eyes I am perceived as a good man. My response is not for her as much as it is for me. It would be easy for me to accept her statement but I know it is not true.
We all like to think of ourselves as good, moral people. But are we? Are we good? Are we moral? What standard have we set to determine goodness and morality? Can we honestly say that there are good men and women in the world? I am here today to tell you that there is no such thing as a few good men or even one good man on earth today. From your birth you have been told you’re a good boy or you’re a good girl. Quite simply this is not true. Humanism has convinced the church that sin is not the core of our nature but the rim of our existence. R.C. Sproul states that it is often said that everyone sins because society has such a negative influence on us. This places the problem on the environment and not the sinner or his nature. But this explanation for the universality of sin begs the question, how did society become corrupt in the first place? Edwards argued that if people are born good and innocent, we would expect at least a percentage to remain good and sinless. There should be pockets of societies that are not corrupt, where the society has been molded by sinlessness and not sinfulness. As Sproul points out still today in the most isolated and dedicated to righteousness communes in existence there are rules to deal with sinful behavior. But what do the scriptures teach us concerning goodness and sin? We must examine the truth so that we are not deceived.
In Luke 6:43 Jesus says; “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit.” Since the fruit is universally corrupt we must find the root of the problem, because it is from the root that the tree springs forth. The Bible expressly teaches that our original parents fell in sin. Here is our root, Adam and Eve. Since they fell in sin every human being from their loins (all of mankind) has been born with a sinful and corrupt nature. Edwards said that even if the Bible did not teach this we would be forced to deduce it by reason of logic based upon the universality of sin. But is there anything else the fall tells us? It informs us of something we call original sin. Original sin does not refer primarily to the first or “original” sin committed by our ancient ancestors. Original sin refers to the result of the first sin; the corruption of the human race. Original sin refers to the fallen state in which we are born. The Westminster Confession, in my opinion, correctly and exquisitely expresses the results of the fall as it relates to the human race:
By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God,
and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul
and body. They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed,
and the same death in sin, and corrupt nature, conveyed to all their posterity
descending from them by ordinary generation. From this original corruption,
whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good,
and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.
R.C. Sproul says the simplest biblical definition of sin is “to miss the mark.” The Bible clearly expresses the universality of sin or missing the mark in many places. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:12 “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10 “As it is written, ‘None is righteous, no not one.’” These are just 3 verses from one chapter of one book. The theme flows throughout all of scripture. We are all sinners and we are all no good left to ourselves and our sinful nature.
What the Bible teaches is that we are totally depraved. John Piper explains it this way: “When we speak of man’s depravity we mean man’s natural condition apart from any grace exerted by God to restrain him” and I would say not just restrain but transform him. God’s grace is upon everyone to some degree. If it were not so then this world would be impossible to live in. Evil would literally make this planet uninhabitable. What some say is that they see unsaved men or women doing good deeds or performing acts of kindness. They may also say that they know unsaved people who certainly do not commit murder or rape or other horrible acts of evil upon others. Piper said, “There is no doubt that man could perform more evil acts toward his fellow man than he does. But if he is restrained from performing more evil acts by motives that are not owing to his glad submission to God, then even his “virtue” is evil in the sight of God.” What this tells us is that any good, as perceived by the human eye and mind, done by an unregenerate person is seen by God as evil because that good would not and indeed could not have been done with intent from that person’s heart for the glory of God. Piper points out that Romans 14:23 says, “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” This is an extreme indictment of all natural “virtue” that does not flow from a heart changed by grace and intent on glorifying God.
How vital is this view of depravity? Is it really important or are we just being legalists straining at a speck too small to truly see? I will say this with total conviction that if you view this point wrongly you will view all of scripture wrongly. If you do not truly believe man is depraved and so depraved as to be totally unable and unwilling to do anything to reconcile himself to God you cannot fully understand grace and you cannot fully glorify God for His magnificent mercy and grace. For you believe there is some good left in man. Yet the scriptures are clear; Romans 7:18A “For I know that nothing good dwells in me” emphasis added. Psalm 16:2 “I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from You.’” If you think there is some good in man apart from God then you think him able to come to God of his own accord. What did Jesus teach about that? John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” Please understand this that the word draw in the quoted text does not mean to request or to woo. It means to drag in literally against the person’s own desire. Jesus also said in John 6:63-65 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you that do not believe. (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were that did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.) And He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” Note here that Jesus states that no one CAN come to Him not that no one will come to Him. There is a big difference. To state that no one can means no one is capable of. To state that no one will is to imply that if they so desired they could. So Jesus expressly taught that man cannot come to Him. Not only that, He stated that even in saving man it is done against what man wants in his natural state. Man could never reconcile himself to God because left to himself he would never want to. What then do we say about people who come to church looking for God? I say they are not truly seeking God because the Bible states that none seek God, no not one. What they are seeking after are the benefits of a relationship with God. They want peace, they want joy, they want purpose all of which can only be found in God. But they are without good if they are not saved.
But so many people who are not saved do so many good things. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:5 “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” The act itself does not determine if it is good or not. It is the motive behind the act that determines if the act is good or evil. Even the most altruistic appearing act can be done with sinful intent and therefore be sin and therefore evil. For example, what about the man or woman who offers to care for children who are in need? He or she buys the child or children clothes and food and wins the trust of the families. Then when the time is right and the opportunity presents itself the hidden pedophile steals the innocence of a child. Every seeming act of kindness to open the door for an evil act is now revealed for what it was from the start, evil. The overtly sinful act is without question evil. But it does not stop there. Every act that appeared kind, every hug, every gift, every apparent sacrifice made by the perpetrator now is seen at face value, evil. No kindness, no goodness just evil and evil from the start not just now that the climactic evil act has occurred. Consider 1 Corinthians 4:5 again, Jesus will make plain to all the motives of our hearts for the acts we have done. When this happens to you and I what will be seen? This, my dear brothers and sisters, should be carefully considered by us all. This causes me to tremble because I know how sinful I am and I have trouble thinking of anything I have done that did not, in some way, have selfish motives behind it. Yet I still will think of myself as good and or righteous.
How is it possible that we have come to think so highly of our own morality? We must understand the lie in order to expose it for what it is, a tool of deception fashioned to send as many souls to hell as possible.
Pelagius, a first century British monk of the Celtic order, did not hold to the doctrine of original sin. Pelagius did not believe that man’s nature was tainted by the sin of Adam; Pelagius did not believe that man, by his own nature and efforts could only inherit hell or damnation. He dismissed the church’s declaration that man could only gain salvation through Christ. He declared the doctrine of original sin abdominal, detesting it completely. This doctrine which declares that all men are conceived in sin and can only be saved by the unmerited grace of God which is only received through Jesus Christ. The view of Pelagius and his followers firmly held to the Storic doctrine of the free will of man and the innate goodness of nature, which they claimed, was not corrupted but only modified by sin.
Today there are very few if any full blown believers in Pelagianism that I know of. Today we have semi-Pelagianism often called Arminianism. Those who claim man is born totally depraved but in fact do not think he is. Those who think there is within every man, at his birth, some good. Those who think man is capable, of his own will, to decide to be holy. They are following the heresy of Pelagius and they are so blind that when confronted with this truth they do not see it. They have wrapped this lie up in a nice little package called free will or choice. They tell us God can only be a loving God if He allows His creatures (you and I) to have the choice to be saved. True love never forces anyone into a loving relationship. This all sounds nice and respectful if in fact you believe man is capable of deciding to be holy. The only way a man could make that decision is if he has some amount of good (or holiness) inside him already. We have already demonstrated that this is not so. This makes it sound as though men are just falling over themselves to be in a relationship with God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Men, all men, are staying as far as possible away from God and Christ. Detesting any thought of a relationship with Him while embracing their relationship with Satan and loving every minute they spend embraced by the flames of hell. God in His love sees past our hate of Him and wraps His all powerful arms around us pulling us kicking and screaming from the flames of eternal damnation. Not kicking and screaming in pain but in rebellion against His saving grace. Until then we are without good in us at all.
Now, is it possible in this life for even a saved person to do an act that is entirely selfless? I will not say it is impossible for I know not the entire counsel of God’s word or all of His ways. I can say this for a fact. I have never done such an act myself. To my shame I can honestly say I’ve never done anything without a shred of myself in it. Even if at the time I thought the act was entirely selfless after the fact I’ve thought to myself that was a great thing for me to do. I stole from God what was His, credit for the act. I sang my own praise and not God’s. I placed myself on the throne of my actions, as I do daily, and told God He didn’t do anything, it was all me. Oh what a wretch I am! But praise be to God He has redeemed me from the pit! Oh that I could love Him just a fraction as much as He loves me, I would never dare to take the glory that is His and His alone.
What is the hope for our depravity? The fact needs to be realized from the start that as far as natural understanding is concerned the condition of fallen man is beyond repair, that as far as self-help or human skill is concerned his case is hopeless. Matthew 19: 25 and 26 “When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”
A. W. Pink said, The deadly disease which has infected man is not a simple but a complex one, consisting of not just one element but a combination, each of them by them self is fatal. Look at some of them. Man’s very nature is thoroughly corrupt, yet he is in no way horrified because of it. Not only is sin part and parcel of his being, but he is deeply in love with it. He is filled with enmity against God, and his heart is as hard as a stone. He is wholly unable to move Godward, and completely under the dominion and sway of Satan. He is without righteousness, a guilty sinner without a speck of holiness, a moral leper. He is utterly incapable of helping himself, for he is “without strength” (Rom. 5:6). The wrath of God abides on him, and he is dead in trespasses and sins. Fallen man is not merely in danger of ruin and destruction, but is already sunk in them. He is like a brand on the very edge of a raging fire, which will swiftly be consumed unless the divine hand plucks him out (Zech. 3:2). His condition is not only wretched but desperate, inasmuch as he is altogether incapable of devising any means for his cure.
Many think that God must pardon all those who cast aside their rebellion against Him and ask for mercy. I can find no logical reason for God to forgive anyone because they merely repent. This would not be consistent with His moral rule. The contrition of a criminal will not exonerate him in our human courts of law. Mere repentance offers no reparation for the crimes he has committed. Any sinner who embraces the idea that his repentance gives him a claim to divine clemency demonstrates that he is a total stranger to true repentance. (A.W. Pink rephrased)
What then is the cure for man’s complex and fatal malady? How can he take it? He cannot. It is administered to him by God. It must be of His devising, His providing, His applying, His making effectual. It must be wholly of Him from start to finish. If any part is left to the sinner, at any stage, it is certain to fail. Pink also said, It must be pointed out that God was under no obligation whatsoever to make such provision, for when man deliberately fell away from Him he gave up all favorable consideration from his Maker. Not only might God righteously apply the full penalty for His broken law on the entire human race; consistent with His holy nature He could have left all mankind to perish eternally in the condemnation into which they had cast themselves. If He had utterly forsaken the whole of Adam’s fallen posterity and left them as redemptionless as the fallen angels, it would have been no reflection whatsoever on His goodness, but rather a display of His unalterable justice. (rephrased again)
But God to make His glory known and who is rich in mercy did apply the healing salve to those whom He loves. He has looked past our rebellion and hatred of Him and seeing our miserable estate provided the cure that He alone could provide. Jesus sent by the Father and loved of the Father was the cure for our sin nature and the reparation for our crimes. When we would not and could not love Him, He loved us. While we fought His saving grace He made it effectual. He knowing the depth of our depravity looks upon us through the shed blood of His Son and calls us clean and pure and holy! Run to that mercy today. Cling to the provision made available through Christ. Seek out the cure daily for you are not yet made perfect and your sickness is terminal apart from the provision made by Christ.
