THIS MAY BE MY SHORTEST POST EVER!:)
God's sovereignty is for our PEACE - so we can rest in the fight, sleep amidst petition, testify in peace (John 5:19/Isaiah 26:3/Ps 127:2). God's sovereignty is not an excuse - nor a correct biblical theology - if we name it in order to not contend, not pray, not witness.
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Growing up I had a problem with the term 'good' when applied to humans, because of this verse here. Jesus said to the rich young ruler, 'No one is good except God alone.' (Mk 10:18). This sometimes led me to be a little confused and confusing when dealing with real people in life. It was a limited understanding of 'truth', but thanks to God - if we keep pursuing him and his word (Phil 1:9) - we grow upward and outward...
Let's jump straight to the punch line here: Jesus did not mean that there is no 'goodness' in people. What he meant is that when it comes to 'holy' and 'pure' and worthy of salvation, and worthy of giving salvation, only God could do this, only Christ could do this, because Christ is God. No man is 'good' enough to get salvation, only God good enough to give salvation. There is goodness in people. We are told in Acts 11:24 that Barnabas '...was a good man...' There is also a relative 'badness' in different people. We are told in Acts 17 that 'bad characters' were rounded up in the marketplace to wreak havoc (vs.5). In fact, there is 'relativeness' in where people stand in relation to God (like people stand in relation to one another). Jesus said to this man, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God...' (Mk 12:34). There is a relative/comparative innocence in children, too, that Jesus liked; children are not holy, but compared to me as an adult, they are closer to the Lord in many ways, and in many ways of seeing life and truth and Jesus. (Mt 18:3,10; Mk 9:45; 10:14-15) I hope you find these treasures of God's word and of Christ himself (Col 2:3), as liberating as I did! They set me free! I can now look at people and consider them 'better' than myself (Phil 2:3) - that is, comparatively 'more good'. I now love to see the goodness in people, and commend it, honor it (Rmns 12:10), and by God's grace tell them of a holy God that is off our grid of good/bad. (Eph 2:8-10) |
AuthorPeter Walker. Archives
March 2022
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