Famous quote by a famous guy: “No one is good but God” – Jesus The Christ
If you want to be judged by God based upon what you have done in life then you are going to be very disappointed. Based upon your own goodness you will only find condemnation and an accusing finger….not from God for He never condemns us but from the Accuser.
If however you come down from your high estimation of yourself and accept Jesus as your only strength and only righteousness–then you shall find the joyful approval of God.
Mat 19:16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” Mat_19:17 So He 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.”
How funny is that! Using the New Covenant as a standard Jesus would qualify as teaching false doctrine here to this rich young man. A lot of precious brethren get their noses bent out of shape by the Apostle Paul’s teaching suggesting that he was a heretic and did not teach what Jesus taught. In fact Paul said if anyone comes to you preaching any other gospel than what I have taught you let him be accursed. Paul’s Gospel definitely does not include what our Saviour told the Rich young fellow to do.
Here’s the thing….Jesus knew exactly what He was saying to this guy.
Here is this wealthy young man coming to Jesus to prove himself worthy of some praise from Him. He wrongly assumes that Jesus is like Him…RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY. He wrongly assumes that Jesus is a Good man doing good things.
To rock this guys boat a little Jesus says, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God.”
This is another “Get behind me Satan moment” like when Jesus rebuked Peter.
I have heard people say that Jesus said this statement to see whether the man was equating God with Himself. But no, Jesus said this to get at the root of self righteousness that lurked beneath the surface in this young man’s imagination.
No one is good but God. That is a definitive statement. It is a true reality and a simple fact. NO ONE IS GOOD —-not even JESUS!! ONLY GOD IS GOOD!!
All Humans are neither good nor bad
Humans, all humans, even Jesus are merely containers, earthen vessels, temples, dwelling places. As a container we are neither GOOD nor BAD. It is who or what we contain which is either good or bad. We are SPIRIT SOUL AND BODY. Our Spirit is the LIFE of our body for without the spirit the body is dead.
But here’s the thing –Humans are made by God to be a UNION of S/spirit with Him. The GOOD GOD comes into union with our spirit and becomes our LIFE. Of our own selves we are only a container. It is the Lord Jesus –the spirit of God–who comes into us and joins Himself with our spirit so that we are said to be one spirit.
1Co 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
We become JOINED TO THE LORD when we first repent and believe into Jesus Christ. He does this for us, including giving us repentance and faith. He joins us with Himself.
So the Bible says, “…. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Act 10:38
Jesus did not do anything of Himself–NOT ONE THING!! It was the Father with Jesus Who with Jesus did the miracles and gave the words.
2Co 5:19 that is, that God was in(side) Christ reconciling the world to Himself,
The Father—the one who alone in himself is all goodness, love, compassion, merciful etc etc etc WAS INSIDE JESUS CHRIST doing the reconciling of all mankind to Himself. It was not Jesus in and of Himself doing the reconciling but the Father.
It is the exact same thing for us believers in Jesus ever since.
The Father comes with Jesus into your heart to make their home inside you. You are their dwelling place, the chosen place for them to reside forever. That is what being TRULY HUMAN looks like. God with us in human form–YOU!! ME!! And all other believers in Jesus.
God is the good one living in you and as Fred Pruitt says AS YOU. You are the visible expression of the invisible God. You are His body, His dwelling place. When you are up and down, in and out, good bad and ugly–YOU ARE GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH!!
Read Jesus is come in the flesh
When Jesus told the young ruler to keep the commandments He was again aiming at exposing the root of self righteousness.
This man thought or imagined like most of us that we are all alone and are responsible to be like God in and of our own selves.
He was doing his best to do good works in order to please God.
Jesus knew the one thing the Ruler could not do….sell all you have and come follow Me.
You see the Law is there to expose our self righteousness and trust in self to be good enough. Jesus of course knew that no one inherits eternal life through doing…but through believing on Him.
But He told him to do do do to bring the man to the end of his trying so he would cry out to God for GRACE.
If that is you today or tonight, lay down your pride and all your trying to be righteous…and accept Jesus as your only righteousness before God.
Denounce any perceived goodness you think you may have separate from God….and receive Jesus as your only righteousness now.
Dear Jesus —I need you to be my LIFE…To come into my spirit and bring my heart alive in your love. Father God I receive Jesus as my saviour and my right standing before You. Amen.
