Being Good

 

“Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”

—Psalm 51:2

“If only good people would just be good.”

The pundit on the afternoon talk radio show spoke with a frustrated wistfulness. Concerned about those who hold a political viewpoint that laws should be enforced without making special exceptions, this pundit seems to want to be the one who picks and chooses who has to obey the law and who gets a pass.

Those of us who follow in the pathway of the Great King Jesus recognize that no one is truly good. Yes, for a limited finite period of time, some individuals can exhibit “good behavior.” But ultimately, some “bad behavior” will always surface.

We believers know the Bible teaches we are all sinners. The only goodness we can possess comes by way of a life-transforming relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Psalmist has summed up our position quite well in Psalm 51:1-4:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

Let’s stop pretending we can become good. Instead, let us rely fully on the work of the Holy Spirit to create in us the mind and heart and behavior of Jesus.

 

_{Copyright © 2014 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

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