You’re pretty good person right? I mean, you don’t cheat on your taxes, never had an affair, and never murdered anyone… That makes you a pretty good person right? Wrong!
The whole way we judge between good and bad is completely different than how God judges between good and bad. In God’s kingdom, we need help to be good. Here’s why- all humans are born sinful. That sin affects everything that we do. That means, even the good stuff that you do, is tainted by sin. So, not cheating on your taxes and never murdering somebody doesn’t make you a good person in God’s sight. Rather, because our nature is affected by sin, everything you do has the marks of sin on it in God’s sight. This is what the prophet Isaiah said in the Bible, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT) According to the Bible, even your best efforts are filthy rags in God’s sight.
Where to find outside help
So we need outside help to be a good person. We need Jesus’s help. Which is exactly what Hebrews 13:21 says. It says that Jesus equips us with everything we need to be considered good in God’s sight. This means that Jesus is the reason why we can be considered good with God. God looks at Christians and doesn’t see filthy rags, he sees Jesus’s righteousness (good) deeds.
But this verse also implies that Jesus actually gives us the strength we need to do good when tempted to do wrong. After surrendering to Jesus you have the power to do good. If we were honest with each other, we have to admit that we need outside help to do the right thing when were strongly tempted otherwise. Only Jesus can consistently get us the outside help that we need. Your best friend can’t, your wife can’t, your next-door neighbor can’t always be there for you- but Jesus can!
How to be good with God
When you’re good with Jesus you can have peace with God- the peace of knowing that Jesus has settled your sin problem- the peace of knowing also that Jesus has given you credit for his good (righteous) works with God. Then, and only then, are you “good to go”.
