Are You a Good Person?

 

I’m pretty sure that what I am about to tell you can be classified in the category of “TMI,” but I do some of my best “authorly” thinking in the shower! Something about that warm water washing over me makes something in my brain wax profound I guess, but this is not without its drawbacks: First, there is no convenient way to write any of these thoughts down; and second, I am at that age where I don’t remember as well as I used to! So while I was contemplating writing my continuation of my previous blog (http://wp.me/p4tk5J-3b) on the high cost of spiritual deception (next time for this one, Lord willing—stay tuned!), today’s blog that I was planning on writing in the future practically wrote itself in my mind.

Let’s talk about the subject of evil for a bit. We think of evil people as ones who do horrible deeds, such as murder, kidnapping, rape, terrorism, pedophilia, and the like. We may be willing to include people who have done “less horrible” deeds, such as destroying others’ reputations, or leaving the scene of a hit-and-run accident. If we have not done any of these types of “evil” deeds, we tend to think of ourselves as “good,” and certainly we are “nice”! We help others, give to charity, would never knowingly hurt anyone, and so forth.

We come to these conclusions about “evil,” “good,” and “nice” by measuring ourselves against the yardstick of the standard set by others. It is easy to find ways to commend yourself when comparing yourself to others! However, a higher, more accurate and absolute standard exists, and that is God’s. That is why the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:12:

For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

If God’s standard of good and evil is the determining factor for a person’s eternal destination, then we had better become acquainted with His standards for differentiating between the two! We start with Romans 3:10-12:

As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.  They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.”

Romans 3:23:

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Note that these verses do not categorize sins into “big ones” and “little ones” like humans do—sin is sin. According to God, all humans are evil! If you think you are going to heaven when you die because you’ve been a “good person,” think again! By God’s definition, “nice” does not equate to “good”? Does this offend you? If you feel you have been placed in God’s category of “not good” in error, let us examine some sins that have become quite socially acceptable, yet are singled out by God as worthy of mention.

Ephesians 4:31:

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Are you bitter, or in other words, have you allowed unforgiveness a place in your life? Are you holding a grudge? How’s your temper—do you demonstrate outbursts of anger or desires for revenge? How are you at expressing dissatisfaction? What kinds of words proceed from your mouth on a regular basis? Do you harbor ill will or ill intent towards others?

Ephesians 5:3-5:

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Do you act in a manner that is “fitting for saints” when encountering sexual matters? Are you accepting of fornication and uncleanness? Do you regularly joke about sexual matters, or make “sexual innuendos,” or participate in the company of those who do? Do you post sexual jokes on Facebook?

I’ll only give worldliness an honorable mention (see 1 John 2:15-17), and mention lastly:

Psalms 10:4:

The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.

Are you a “nice” person? Of course you are! But that does not mean you are good in God’s eyes—I am not, either. I believe that I have been in some form or fashion at some time in my life a participant in each sin that was mentioned. However, a problem exists when a person claims to be a Christian and continues to engage in these activities without any remorse or repentance. Scripturally, that brings their claim into question.

Luke 13:3 (and Luke 13:5):

I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

Luke 6:46 (the words of Jesus):

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”

Much, much more could be said on this subject, but I’ll end by saying that only by agreeing with God can this situation be remedied.  He already knows we are evil but loves us anyway! His “fix” for this problem can be found in Romans 6:23:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Talk About Expensive!

What comes to mind when you think of the word “expensive”? Usually, money comes to mind, as we are used to thinking that something that costs a great deal of money is expensive. Most all of us would expect that a luxury villa on a beautiful coastline somewhere would be expensive, yet “expensive” has a relative side, too. If you could buy a $0.59 candy bar at the store, and find the same one at a movie theater for $4.00, that is expensive as well. Something that costs a great deal of money but yields a great deal of value for us may not be deemed to be expensive, and we would say it is worth the price we paid. The Merriam-Webster (online) Dictionary definition of the word is “commanding a high price and especially one that is not based on intrinsic worth or is beyond a prospective buyer’s means.”

Why all this talk about this word? In the long run, there is nothing that is more expensive than spiritual deception. This cost of this deception is not measurable in mere money—it goes way beyond that. Spiritual deception will cause one to expend his or her entire life—money, time, and everything else—for things that seem worthwhile but in truth have no intrinsic worth. One’s efforts are directed at pleasures, ease, and even the necessities of this life with no view to the eternal. Or worse yet, a person may think his efforts and perceived goodness in this life are enough to earn him a pleasant eternity. The cost of spiritual deception is your eternal soul, forever separated from God in everlasting punishment in hell—talk about expensive! Jesus Himself asks:

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? Matthew 16:26

Let us start by examining a Bible verse that teaches us about deception’s high cost:

Thus says the Lord: “Do not deceive yourselves, saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely depart from us,’ for they will not depart.” Jeremiah 37:9

In the context of this verse, God had told Judah and King Zedekiah through the prophet Jeremiah that their enemy the Chaldeans would defeat them, bringing His judgment on them for their habitual sin. Instead of believing the reality and certainty of God’s words in this verse, that the Chaldeans would not depart, they substituted a message that was more palatable to them—they deceived themselves! It was easier and more appealing for them to believe what was not true, so they lied to themselves by telling themselves the Chaldeans would depart! They put more weight in their own opinion than in what God, who knows everything, had said! They later paid the price in being destroyed by the Chaldeans, as God had said they would be, ignoring the remedy God had given elsewhere which would allow them to escape with their lives.

Many people do the same when encountering God’s initial message to them in the good news of the gospel. God tells everyone to turn away from their sins and believe in His remedy, Jesus Christ, to escape this world with their eternal souls intact. Instead of believing the reality and certainty of God’s words, they believe what is more palatable to them, which can come in a number of different forms: “I’m a good person; God wouldn’t send me to hell.” “I can’t believe in a God who would send anyone to hell!” “I don’t believe all that stuff.” This list could go on and on, but the point is that by putting more weight in their own opinion rather than God’s truth (or what they deem to be someone else’s opinion), they are only deceiving themselves! They will pay the price, as God said they would, in the loss and punishment of their eternal souls, ignoring the remedy God has freely provided! They will in no way be able to say that the expensive price they will pay for all of eternity will have been “worth it.”

Wow, already an entire blog written, and only one verse covered! The Bible has more to teach us about the cost of deception, so I’ll get into that next week. Until then, I’m praying for you!

An Ounce of Prevention…

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” We all recognize the wisdom in this Benjamin Franklin quote, that it is better to try to keep a bad thing from happening than it is to try to fix the bad thing after it has happened. (Thanks to idioms.thefreedictionary.com for the quote and definition!) When we find that we have been the victims of deception and its lies, how we wish we could have prevented being deceived instead of having to cure what has happened to us! We determine to be wiser the next time, to be alert for any subtle signs we may have missed, to be more cautious about who and what we trust.

In the Bible, God implores, warns, instructs, and commands us to prevent deception from affecting our lives—spiritual deception, that is. He knows, and wishes us to know, that a person who exits this life spiritually deceived will encounter the fate of hell from which there is no cure. If we fail to be continually wise, alert, and cautious about who and what we believe in this life, we will not get a second chance to make things right.

Here are some scriptures with general warnings (and their implications) about this deception:

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.  James 1:16

James, out of love, implores that we not be deceived. He does not want us to experience the cost of spiritual deception.

And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.”  Matthew 24:4

Jesus Himself, also not wanting us to experience the cost of spiritual deception, instructs His disciples to be cautious about being deceived by anyone.

Similarly, in Deuteronomy 11:16a:

 “Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived…”

This deception in our hearts is dangerous—it makes us elevate our own reasoning or feeling above God’s word (for more information on this, see my recent blog http://wp.me/p4tk5J-2N). We believe we are smart enough in ourselves to not fall prey to deception.

Consider Jeremiah 37:9:

Thus says the Lord: “Do not deceive yourselves, saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely depart from us,’ for they will not depart.”

Here is a warning that you can even deceive yourself by convincing yourself that what God has said will not come to pass! (God, of course, was right because the Chaldeans did not depart from Israel.)

1 Corinthians 3:18 says:

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.

It is bad enough that we may be deceived by others, but so sad to find that we can even deceive ourselves! We lie to ourselves! A common example of this is found when people encounter bad news or bad situations and tell themselves, “Everything will be all right.” That is what they hope for, of course, and tell themselves this so they can feel better. However, the truth is that they have no way of knowing or controlling whether or not everything will be all right—sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t.

Time and acceptable blog length do not permit me to list the additional warnings against deception given in the Bible—there are several more! What we can glean from these multiple warnings is this: Deception must be a definite danger for God to warn us about it this many times. Deception’s insidiousness is this: People can be deceived without realizing it! A life apart from God and His truth is one of deception, even if a person “feels normal.”

The good news is that God tells us how to prevent being deceived. We have the entirety of His absolute truth contained in the person of Jesus Christ:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

As long as we rightly divide His word of truth (see 2 Timothy 2:15) and do not twist His words (see 2 Peter 3:16), Jesus is the way to prevent the high price, the eternal price, of spiritual deception. My sincere prayer is for all to escape deception and believe Him and His words today!