Bible 101~ On Being Good

I often find myself thinking and writing some deep spiritual thought that God has given me after fifty years with Him. He is teaching me and giving me such clarity on things, some of which I'd never thought through before. The Bible is a living, breathing Book, and this is a wonderful place to be. Sometimes I share those things with you. But what many people are searching for is the Biblical answer to some very simple questions. In the last two days, I have been asked a half dozen such things. So it dawned on me this morning that the Lord was showing me what others need, and that I should write for them. Duh! So I'll start today with a very often asked question and address it from the Word of God. And then we will take up others as the Lord leads. Our question for today is this: What about being good? I always thought that I had to be good to get into heaven. Romans 3:10 - "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" Here's the thing about sin. It cannot enter into heaven. Not even what people would call the tiniest sin. A thought. A look. God is pure and perfect and without sin. Every human being ever born is sinful. EVERY ONE, with the exception of the Lord Jesus, who was God in the flesh. So the very best person that you can think of is still a sinner and cannot get to heaven on their own. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 64:6 that our own righteousness is as filthy rags. That's the best we have to offer. I won't even tell you about those filthy rags in case you are eating while reading, but they are gross for sure. Sin is an awful thing, and we all sin. No one is good enough!

Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Sin MUST be paid for, and Jesus did that with His own blood on the cross of Calvary. He offers forgiveness to all who will come to Him. You can read about how that can be in this post. People who reject God's gift of redemption will pay for their own sins themselves in a place called hell. After trusting Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God indwells us and that's where the 'being good' and living to please the Lord comes in to play. But it has absolutely nothing in the world to do with our salvation and getting to heaven. I considered addressing more than one question at a time, but I think we'll keep these short and simple. Please feel free to use the 'contacts' page of this website to send questions that you would like to have answered simply from the Word of God. Even if you are a more mature Christian, I pray this helps as you talk to others and show them their need of a Saviour. :)