by Rev. Joda Collins
" And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? Why do you call me good?" Jesus replied, "No one is good except God alone." Mark 10:17-18, KJV.;
You are not a good person. I am not a good person. Your best friend is not a good person. Your pastor is not a good person. There is not one good person on the face of the Earth; except for the Lord Jesus Christ, there never has been and never will be. The Apostle Paul quotes from Psalms 14:1, "For it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one."
You are a nasty, vindictive, hateful, self-centered and jealous person. So am I. For the serious Christian, every minute of every day is a fight against the sin nature that we are all born with.
When the man said to Jesus, "Good Master," Jesus asked the man if he intended to address him (Jesus) as God because only God is good.
When we are nasty, vindictive, hateful, self-centered, jealous and/or whatever could be added to this list that is vile, we are just being us -- just normal, natural human beings. The closer we are to God in our personal relationship with him, the more we realize how sinful we are. When we are very close to God, we live in a constant state of being ashamed of ourselves.
We often write about "The Great Apostle Paul." I guarantee you the Apostle Paul seldom, if ever, thought of himself as great. Here is how he felt about himself; "Oh wretched man that I am...." (Romans 7:24)
Yet the Bible orders us to be good, be holy, do right and to live right, think right and speak right. In my own power and limited to my own will these things (qualities) can never happen. I am a captive to my sin nature. That is why I can never be a good or even a decent person. Neither can you! Sin is our only norm. There is no hope for me and there is no hope for you. We must die. That is the only option.
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." The Apostle Paul. (Galatians 2:20)
The pathway of living right is to draw close to God and stay there, allow the Holy Spirit of God to make us ashamed of ourselves and stay there, turn to God in repentance and stay there, ask for and accept God's forgiveness offered through the Cross of Christ and stay there, begin and/or continue the process of dying and stay there, and live in the power of the resurrection and stay in it. Otherwise, there is no hope for any of us to live above habitual sin that rips at the fabric of our soul and relationships, because sinfulness is natural.
God empowers us (believers in Christ) and expects us to be supernatural as our new normal. No one will do that perfectly all of the time, but we can get better at it with devoted practice. No more excuses, delays or whining. Just do it. Do it because you should. Do it because you can. Do it because if you do not, nothing is going to get better in your life. Be supernatural.
Rev. Joda Collins
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/jodacollins
I make no claim that anyone else agrees with me.
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