Approximate Reading Time: 4 minutes
Would you consider yourself a good person? I think for most of us, when we are asked the above question a natural inclination to justify our goodness begins flashing through our minds. We think of our good actions and the good things we have accomplished. We think about the times we have sacrificed for the good of others and the good feelings we have towards them. Just when we think we have convinced ourselves we are good someone reminds us of this verse:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands;
no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” – Romans 3:10-12
Once upon a time, though, humankind was good. In the garden, at the beginning of creation before the fall of Genesis 3 happened God called everything He had created good.
“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good.” – Genesis 2:31
Sin messed everything up for all of humanity. Even though we may do good things and think good things it is impossible for us to do enough good deeds to save ourselves.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romand 3:23
We may be a good person by our family’s standards, our friends’ standards and our culture’s standards, but we are not a good person by God’s standards. This reality can be tough to swallow because it can make us feel that God has impossible standards that we can never meet. This is true, we can never measure up to the level of goodness that God demands. But why? Is this fair?
Is it fair that we are sinners because Adam and Eve sinned? Maybe not, but I’m not sure it is our place to decide what is fair or not; after all, we are God’s creation made in His image. We know Adam and Eve’s sin has impacted all of mankind because all of us face the same penalty as Adam and Eve did, which is death. Every single person has died and all those still living will die someday (Romans 5:12; Hebrews 9:27). But why has sin passed down to us?
Sin is inherited. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 51:5, “Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” This verse is not trying to say the Psalmist was conceived by unwed parents but that he was a sinner at the moment of conception. Sin is something we inherit, passed down to us by our parents. The proof is in the fact that we are all going to die. Everything single person is dieing, it is just a matter of how long before we die.
Not only is sin inherited but it is also imputed to us. Imputation is a fancy way of saying the guilt of Adam’s sin has been transferred to us as well. Romans 5:18-19 tells us that, “Therefore, as one trespass, led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners.” God holds us accountable and sees us guilty of Adam’s sin.
We never had a chance to do good before God. We unavoidably start out in life as sinners and there is nothing we can do about it. We are condemned because of Adam’s sin, we are condemned because we have inherited a sin nature, and we are condemned because of our personal sins we commit on a regular basis. This is a terrible position for us to be in but there is hope!
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:6-8
Jesus is God, taking on flesh to live a perfect, sinless life, when we could not (Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 4:16). Having never sinned and never deserving the penalty of death, Jesus died a horrific death on the cross. He took our place. He died for me and you. He took the penalty of death for us. Jesus was good for us when we could not be good.
“Everyone who believes in him (Jesus) will not be put to shame.” – Romans 5:11
Being a sinner does not mean that you and I are always as bad as we could possibly be. It does not mean we never do anything good. It simply means that no matter what good things we may do those good things never fix the problem of sin in our lives. No matter how good we are, it will never save us. Only Jesus can save us (John 3:16; 14:16) Yes, you can do some good things and not believe in Jesus, but those good things will never save you from your sins.
But are we good? If we are “in Christ” we are considered good by God. God has taken Jesus’s righteousness (His goodness) and clothed us in it. We are declared good, we are seen as good because of what Christ has done on our behalf.
“For our sake he made him (Christ Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him (Christ Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Back to the original question that started this blog post. Would you consider yourself a good person? The only real answer to this question is that, no I am not a good person in and of myself, but I am a good person because of what Christ has done for me.
