Posted on December 23, 2022 by Elizabeth Welte in Freedom Fighters
“A Christian is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God.” ~ Manning
Can I be good? The answer is no, only God is Good (Matthews 19:17, Mark 10,18) but… I can know goodness and I can participate in the goodness of God by putting on the righteousness of Christ, and by doing so, I can reflect His goodness.
Paul tells us that, “whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Cor 3:16-18).
The veil is the belief that we don’t need God, that we can live without Him, achieving some kind of happiness in our own. When the ‘self’ is the perspective we take, we can then try to define ‘Good’ by how someone or something affects us. These things can be ‘good’ to the degree that they make me ‘happy’. Notice though that when ‘I’ or ‘self’ is the reference point to define ‘good’, the happiness of others is diminished. Happiness found within the Creation is always at the cost of something or someone else, therefore it is temporary and always fading away. But goodness established in The God who is Good, Eternal, and never changing produces a contentment and rest that is also eternal and never changing for those whose faith is in Him.
No, we can’t ‘be good’ because ‘God alone is Good.’ But you can know and participate in all the goodness of God through His Son, Jesus Christ; for if “He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). God, who is Good, has promised that All who turn to Him through faith in His Son will be saved from endless striving; having the veil of works removed by Jesus, we will be declared justified, forgiven, and sanctified… no longer having to strive for these things.
Choose wisely…
“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.” (Psalms 86:5)
Praying u choose Jesus today!
Written by David Brown: David Brown is a husband, father, grandfather, Pastor with a Masters of Religious Studies and a Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions. Dave is the Associate Pastor of Pemberton’s First Baptist Church. He is the author of two devotional books, “From a Chair by the Window.” And “#PrayerWinsThe Day”.
Think About This: “There is no mystery about Happiness whatever. Put in the right ingredients and it must come out. He that abideth in Him will bring forth much fruit; and bringing forth much fruit is Happiness. The infallible receipt for Happiness, then, is to do good; and the infallible receipt for doing good is to abide in Christ.” – Henry Drummond
The Daily Bible Reading: Habakkuk 1-3; Revelation 14 You can download our 2022 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here.
This Week’s Verse to Memorize: “But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.” Psalm 69:13
Consider a retreat at America’s Keswick retreat center.
