Good News for Bad People and Bad News for Good People
First, the good news for bad people:
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool,” Isa.1:18. “Christ died for the ungodly,” Ro.5:6. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” 1 Tim.1:15. “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost,” Lk.19:10. “This Man (Jesus) receiveth sinners, and eateth with them,” Lk.15:2. “The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,” Mk.2:10. “The blood of Jesus Christ... cleanseth us (who trust Him as Savior) from all sin,” 1 Jn.1:7. “Whosoever believeth in Him (Jesus) shall receive remission of sins,” Acts 10:43. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” Acts 16:31. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” Jn.3:16. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” Ro.5:1. “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him (Jesus) is not condemned....He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life ....”Jn.3:17-18,36.
But now the bad news for good people:
“None is good, save one, that is, God,” Lk.18:19. “Jews and Gentiles...are all under sin....There is none righteous, no, not one....For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” Ro.3:9-11,23. “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags,” Isa.64:6. You see, the truth is that there are no people good in God’s sight.
Christ warns those who think they are good, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,” Mk.2:17. “Except ye be converted...ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven,” Mt.18:3. “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish,” Lk.13:3. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” Jn.3:3. “Ye must be born again,” Jn.3:7. “He that believeth not (on Christ as Savior) is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,” Jn.3:18. “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,” Jn.3:36.
The only people who are good in God’s sight are those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, for in response to the question, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Christ replied, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent,” Jn.6:28-29. People may be moral, religious, kind, generous, church-goers, Bible-readers, and a host of other things that men count good; but in the end, it is only God’s opinion that matters, and the only person HE counts good is the man or woman who has accepted Christ as Savior.
Where do you stand? Do you see yourself as so bad that you need a Savior to save you from hell and fit you for heaven? Then you can be saved, by believing that Christ died in your guilty place for your sins.
Do you see yourself as not completely bad, as having some good about you? Then you are lost, and cannot be saved until you are willing to abandon the thought that you have even a shred of righteousness. Remember, God warns, “ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” Ro.3:23. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God....Ye must be born again,” Jn.3:3,7.