Friday, August 8, 2008

The Good Person Test



Also see:

Way Of The Master Good Person Test

Have You Taken The Test?

Living Waters: Are You A Good Person?

What Happens After You Die? Would You Consider Yourself To Be A Good Person?
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

3 comments:

Dr. Russell Norman Murray said...

I am not bad with computers...

I am too sinful to be perfectly good.

August 9, 2008 at 8:08 AM
Jeff said...

Russ,

I am not bad with computers...

LOL! So, you are a 'good person' when it comes to computers, eh? Funny.

August 9, 2008 at 2:54 PM
Jeff said...

Related to being 'good':

Mark 10:18:
"And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God."

To this, one person on another website commented:

"Notice he didn't say he wasn't good. He simply said that no one is good except God. So if this man said he was good, Jesus wanted the man to realize what he was really calling Jesus. Did he mean to do that, or was he just buttering Jesus up to get a good answer?

Several times Jesus does step away from openly declaring his divinity. This is usually to avoid misunderstanding of what the Messiah was meant to do in Israel; most thought he would be a political ruler which would throw off the bonds set on them by the Romans. He wanted people to hear his message without having that preconceived notion in the way. Then, once they heard that message and they had faith in him, they did not hesitate to call him Christ, Messiah, or Son of God- something which Jesus never denied when people called him that."
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/528376

And, from still another website:

"Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?''
So He (Jesus) said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.'' (Mt 19.16-17; also Mk 10.18, Lk 18.19)
In the passage quoted above, a rich man came to Jesus in order to find out how to have eternal life...
Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?'' (Mt 19.16)
It is clear that the rich man had no idea of the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.

Rather, the rich man regarded Jesus as being merely a Rabbi -- a teacher of religious principles...
Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher..." (Mt 19.16a)
Obviously the rich man believed that Jesus had Himself obtained eternal life. If the rich man hadn't believed that, he would never have come to Jesus for advice on how to go to heaven.

Moreover, the rich man believed that Jesus had earned eternal life because Jesus was a "good" person...
Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher..." (Mt 19.16a)

In summary, the rich man was sorely in error on three vital points...

* Error #1 - The rich man thought Jesus was merely a man -- a great teacher, yes -- but merely a man.
* Error #2 - The rich man thought this "mere man" had achieved such a degree of "human goodness" that He had EARNED eternal life in Heaven.
* Error #3 - Accordingly, the rich man believed that he, too, could earn eternal life merely by doing good deeds under his own steam...

Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?'' (Mt 19.16)
Because the rich man was measuring the goodness of Jesus according to merely human standards, Jesus responded as follows...
So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. (Mt 19.17)
When Jesus said, "Why do you call me good?" He was merely asking a question in order to teach.

He was not saying, "I am not good."

Rather, He was saying, "Don't assess anyone's goodness based on human standards of goodness."

Then Jesus immediately told the rich man that the ONLY standard of goodness is God Himself...
So He (Jesus) said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. (Mt 19.17)
Thus, Jesus taught the rich man the same lesson He had taught in His "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew chapter 5).

Namely, "good" isn't good enough. You have to be as perfect as God Himself...
(Jesus said...) Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Mt 5.48)
The main point that Jesus taught the rich man was that he couldn't achieve God's state of perfection. Therefore, he couldn't obtain eternal life by his own good works.

The bottom line -- eternal life can be obtained only as an out-and-out gift from God, through faith in Jesus...
Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.'' (Mt 19.21)

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Eph 2.8-9)"
http://www.biblebell.org/mbag/mailbagaf.html#good

August 9, 2008 at 2:56 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)