But I Am A Good Person
But I Am A Good Person
By Dennis Huebshman
Oh, to just have $1.00 for every time I’ve heard, “I’m a good person, and that’s all I need to get me into Heaven.” How about Isaiah 40:12-14;18, ”Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens with a span; enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? (13) Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows Him his counsel? (14) Whom did He consult, and who made Him understand? Who taught Him the path of justice, and taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding? (18) To whom then, will you liken God, or what likeness compares with Him?” Quick answer – No One! (emphasis mine)
How about the famous line, “I’ve done many works for the Lord; he owes me.” Going back to Isaiah 64:6, “We have all (that’s everyone) become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind, take us away.”
To some, this may seem a bit discouraging, and they would give up in frustration. The main key to our peace of mind with the Lord God Jehovah, is to not feel as if we can do “anything” that would make Him love us, other than to form a relationship with His Son, Jesus, and that’s voluntary on our part. There is no “deed” that will earn favor with God.
Our vain attempts to show God just how lucky He is to have us, is totally unimpressive. He is the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, and everything in the Universe. What could anyone possibly give Him? There is one thing He cherishes, and that’s the sacrifice His Son willingly gave for us. (John 10:18) He freely gives eternity in Heaven for all who will receive and accept that gift. We must realize that as Romans 3:23 plainly states, “for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God”. Backing up to verse 10, “as it is written, none is righteous, no, not one.”
Romans 6:23 brings this into plain view, “For the wages of sin is death (which we all deserve); but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” With God, there’s no secret strings attached, as some false prophets would have you to believe. His free gift has only one condition, and it’s so simple that humans try to complicate it with non-existent rules; God says, Jesus is My Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17) If you have Jesus, you have the Father (1 John 5:12)
We have to remember, Jesus and God are One (John 10:30), and this includes the Holy Spirit as well. While Jesus was on this earth, He allowed Himself to be humbled as totally human, and become lower than the angels for a little while. (Hebrews 2:7;9) He deferred all authority to the Father, even though He was still fully part of the Trinity He experienced the temptations that we do, and had all the normal human feelings; yet, He remained sinless for His entire time here. He suffered for our sins, and allowed Himself to die as a human on that cross to give us what we could not earn or buy for ourselves; and we definitely do not deserve His precious sacrifice.
Romans 5:8, “But God shows His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Our Heavenly Father is a God of love, as expressed in John 3:16. His condition for us to obtain our salvation, and “appear” to be sinless is plainly given in John 3:18,”Whoever believes in Him is not condemned; but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
He even gives a pathway for everyone to follow to be saved. Romans 10:9-10;13, “because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes and is justified; and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved. (13) For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The confession with the mouth is to Jesus personally. It can be in public, if you wish; or it can be totally in private, in prayer, to the Savior. At the end of this message, I will give an example of this confession, and a request for Jesus to be our Savior. God is not impressed with long “flowery” speeches, but asks that you “speak” to Him from your heart. (Matthew 6:5-8)
Be sincere. God knows our hearts, and knows if we are serious about our eternal salvation or not. He knows we will never be totally free from sin while here, but our actions should be, “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out.” (Acts 3:19) Once we have Jesus as our Savior, we will want to turn away from our old lifestyle of habitual sin, to one where we are “convicted” by the Holy Spirit, and turn to the Father to ask forgiveness. (1 John 1:8-10)
We have to remember, Jesus is our pathway, and not just a good prophet that lived long ago. John 14:6, “Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
When I mentioned that God is not impressed by our vain attempts at deeds or works; consider Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by Grace you have been saved through Faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, (9) not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
John 1:12, “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”
If you have followed the flow of this message, you have been given the pathway from lost sinner to a child of God. By asking Jesus to be your Savior, you become a part of His “flock” that will “never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My (Jesus’) hand.” (John 10:28)
Revelation 3:20, Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him/her and will eat with him/her and he/she with Me.”
This is an invitation to everyone, no matter who you are, or what you have done in the past. There is one unforgivable sin, and that’s to take your last breath on this earth without ever receiving Jesus as your Savior, not matter how “good” you think you are.
Consider this simple prayer, “Heavenly Father; I have sinned against you, and I want forgiveness for all my sins. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me, and rose again. Father, I give You my life, to lead me as you wish. I want Jesus to come into my life and my heart as My Lord And Savior. My desire is to serve and glorify you in the Name of My Precious Jesus; Amen.”
It doesn’t have to be word-for-word, but it can be. Just say what you mean, and mean what you say. God will not be mocked, so be sincere.
When 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 takes place (Rapture), you will forever be thankful you accepted Jesus beforehand. Or, by not accepting Him, you will forever be in torment.
Your choice. Jesus or satan. There’s no other options no matter what the false prophets and antichrists are saying. Also, He could call at any minute, so don’t take too long to decide.
Shalom b’Yeshua Hamashiakh (Peace in Jesus the Messiah)