Bible Study What is your only comfort in life and in death?

[atpollard]

Often such obvious statements in scripture cause people who hold corruption of the world is so bad there is nothing good a problem.

Two questions if I may, one philosophical and one scriptural.

Philosophical: What IS "good"? (as God uses the term).

Scriptural: What do you make of God's clear statement about mankind in Genesis 8:21 ?

I owe you some answers at this point (fair is fair) ...

One illustration is was the good Samaritan good in his action or not?

• Yes the action portrayed was "very good" by any human standard. That still leaves the question open of what is "good" using "God's yardstick".
  • [Mark 10:18 NASB] 18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
  • [Luke 18:19 NASB] 19 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
• There may be an issue of the difference between "doing good" and "being good" that needs to be examined closer. Can a man BE EVIL and DO GOOD?

Can a believer do a good work and can a non-believer, unsaved do a good work?

• A believer MUST do good works [Ephesians 2:10] since that is the purpose for which we exist and part of the "prepared in advance" plan of God. James warns that a faith with no fruit is a dead faith that cannot save anyone.
• Since we do good BECAUSE we are saved, I actually have doubts. Many unsaved people can do works that meet the "human" definition of "good", but we are not the judge in this matter ... so only God can determine what is really GOOD and what is "pride" (or some other sin) pretending to be 'good'.

 

[PeterJens]

Two questions if I may, one philosophical and one scriptural.

Philosophical: What IS "good"? (as God uses the term).

Scriptural: What do you make of God's clear statement about mankind in Genesis 8:21 ?

I owe you some answers at this point (fair is fair) ...

One illustration is was the good Samaritan good in his action or not?

• Yes the action portrayed was "very good" by any human standard. That still leaves the question open of what is "good" using "God's yardstick".
  • [Mark 10:18 NASB] 18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
  • [Luke 18:19 NASB] 19 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
• There may be an issue of the difference between "doing good" and "being good" that needs to be examined closer. Can a man BE EVIL and DO GOOD?

Can a believer do a good work and can a non-believer, unsaved do a good work?

• A believer MUST do good works [Ephesians 2:10] since that is the purpose for which we exist and part of the "prepared in advance" plan of God. James warns that a faith with no fruit is a dead faith that cannot save anyone.
• Since we do good BECAUSE we are saved, I actually have doubts. Many unsaved people can do works that meet the "human" definition of "good", but we are not the judge in this matter ... so only God can determine what is really GOOD and what is "pride" (or some other sin) pretending to be 'good'.

Thankyou for this response. It helps me because it opens the door of understanding between us. I do not know how Jesus viewed the spiritual side of the good samaritan, but told the story as an example of what loving ones neighbour actually is.

And ultimately pure and holy deeds can only done by pure and holy people.
And quoting Jesus, only God is good.

C S Lewis in the book the great divorce creates an image that I like. Sinners are like ghosts, knowing the shadow of life but not its full reality. Reality hurts them, but the more time they spend in reality of Christ the more real they become.

This metaphor helps to answer the problem of judgements and absolutes. Things done outside Christ are not "good" but they can be loving, meaningful and significant, things the Father sees and notes. It terms of the great spiritual divide they are still done by a rebellious people in emnity with the Father, but equally there is always grace and love, and the hope of them taking another step closer to the Father.

Part of the road to repentance is recognizing my hunger to do good and my failure to achieve it, even in my own eyes. But condemning the attempt at goodness, works against encouraging hunger for its reality, which is fulfilled in Christ.

Jesus said He was like this
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. Matthew 12:20

So I want to encourage everyone to do good, to love, to resolve issues, to work for service and the good of others. It is through our desire to aspire to the things of God that we open ourselves to His reality.

What I found was some believers think they are so lost they can never do good works in Christ, only Christ can do them. And their mission is to condemn everyone, because they believe through condemnation people will call out to God for His substitutional justification without actual life change or reality coming about.

Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. Gen 8:21

This is quite a sad state we find ourselves to be in, that our state leads us to do evil no matter what. Interestingly Noah was still righteous and saved, so inclinations can be resolved into slavery to righteousness, given an encounter with Gods word and a repentant heart. I wonder if our inclination to rebel is because we need love so much, when we find ourselves alone and shut out, we resolve to focus on getting as much as we can at any cost, the true cynic realist response to a doomed world.

If you study the rise of people to responsibility, once they see that personally they can benefit from power, though their path to this place maybe based on good reasons, the realisation of pleasure and self interest over the risk and chances for what is best for others, pleasure often wins out hands down.

So I would summarise my take on this is yes we are lost, but in Christ we can truly be victorious, and in Him there is no potential limitation on the impossible.

 

[Sparkey]

One illustration is was the good Samaritan good in his action or not?

• Yes the action portrayed was "very good" by any human standard. That still leaves the question open of what is "good" using "God's yardstick".
  • [Mark 10:18 NASB] 18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
  • [Luke 18:19 NASB] 19 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
• There may be an issue of the difference between "doing good" and "being good" that needs to be examined closer. Can a man BE EVIL and DO GOOD?

Thank you (and others) for your contribution(s) here. It got me wondering, was Jesus just praying or something? Why the abrupt answer? To the context we go:


The Rich Young Ruler (Title not found in the Greek)

17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

19 “You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ”

20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”

21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

22 But at these words he was saddened (footnote: or became gloomy), and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
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We find a larger lesson is given in the account you've quoted by Luke. Link is given here for convenience sake: Luke 18:18-30.

I get confused sometimes. There is a very strict standard that is spoken of in certain areas. No man can even look at the face of God, is one example. Moses was hidden in the crag of the rock and the Hand of God covered him so that he was only able to see the 'hinterparts' (afterglow? That's what some have said.). We are told that John the Baptist is the greatest but even the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater.

Matthew 11:11-18

There's something strange (peculiar?) going on. It seems that God is working. He is revealing who He is to us. I remember (it was written in me) that although we don't yet know who we are, we shall be like him, for we shall see him face-to-face. Greater experience than Moses? The Children of Israel were indeed invited up, that was God's plan but they were scared. They saw the birds dying as they watched them fly over. There was no way that sinful nature would be allowed into His Presence and live. Even the ground shook. But wait... It wasn't long, in the whole scheme of things that Peter witnessed the Holy Spirit being immersed in the Spirit of God. Their flesh didn't die. We are forgiven and clean. The Holy Spirit (who is HOLY, HOLY - and utterly separate from sin) lives and dwells with us. In us, as a matter of technical fact. Who is Good? He is. I'm thankful for the witness today of His word in your mouth.

We will still need to fly His Banner over us and love the brethren fervently but God will accomplish this too. How good is it to live in these times. Cast your view with me and follow a word picture that James spoke of. He said, in essence, that if we were to throw our view into the future, where we were in heaven with God and look back, our Chiefest Joy would be our trials. "Count it all joy, brethren, when you fall..." That is, Reckon it all joy, or your chiefest joy, consider it that way, it won't feel like that at the time, but seriously, folks ... you will see it that way too. "... when you fall into trial ..." Falling here is like stumbling through no fault of your own. And trials are tests of differing sorts.

Basically we are being taught to look with the eye of faith and be confident in our Trust in God, which is wisely placed according to the working and calling of the Spirit Holy!

atpollard , PeterJens Blessings and God's happiness to you, sir(s). I will not call you good sir(s), except in hope for when we may meet again, in that Day. I would extend the blessing to all those who are given an ear to hear what the Spirit has for us today.