“Only God is Good!” - Author and Writer Ronald Nelson

BIBLE MEDITATION: 

So, “He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matthew 19:17:

ENCOURAGING WORD:

Why does the young man see Jesus as "good" or the source of knowledge about true goodness? Contrary to what some skeptics claim, Jesus is not saying to the young man that He is not good. Rather, Jesus is emphasizing that the point is a pursuit of goodness. Jesus insists there is only One who is good. That One is God, Jesus, who is God in the flesh. In a roundabout way, Jesus is asking the man, "are you calling me God?" Jesus, as God's Son, is one with Him. It is Jesus' goodness on which we must rely in order to be truly saved; John 3:36; “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

So much of the Bible is taken out of context because they, who try to understand what is written are not filled with the Holy Spirit and they end up relying on their own understanding. If you do not know Jesus Christ personally and do not have a personal relationship with Him, do not even try to understand what the Bible teaches. You can’t do it. Trying to understand the Bible without the Holy Spirit indwelling in you is like trying to explain the colors of a rainbow to a blind man.

In the Bible, the phrase "No one is good but One, that is, God" (or similar) appears in Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18, and Luke 18:19. Jesus speaks these words when asked how to inherit eternal life, establishing that absolute, divine goodness belongs only to God. 

The Bible meditation verse is one of many that have been taken way out of context, especially by the Jehovah Witnesses. They say that this is evidence that Jesus is not God. Can someone tell me where Jesus ever said that He was not God in this verse? While sometimes interpreted as Jesus denying his own goodness, many theologians argue this passage implies that if Jesus is good, he is also God, pointing to his divinity. The phrase is often used to challenge the assumption of human righteousness and refocus attention on God's absolute goodness. We also need to understand that this verse is not teaching "saved by works." When it says keep the commandments to enter into life, it is referring to keeping every commandment every day of your life without sinning even once, then you could enter heaven by good works, however, no one can do that. So, without being born again and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you cannot be saved.

When Jesus asks the rich young ruler “Why do you call me good,”  Only God is good, he is actually asking the rich young ruler if he knows who He is talking too. If he is indeed, referring to Jesus as God then He can call Jesus good. Jesus is just making sure that the rich young ruler knows who He is speaking too. Or, is he implying that Jesus is good based on His flesh. See, nobody on earth is good in Gods eyes. Gods interpretation of good is “Perfect in every way” which means nobody is good enough to earn their way to heaven. Jesus also explains what good is to Him in the next verse.

Isaiah 64:5-7; “You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned, In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved. But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousness’s are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind,Have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities.”

If you knew what the real definition of filthy rags meant in the original text, it would bring a more clearer explanation of what Jesus is saying. I was surprised when looking up Isaiah 64:6 in an English / Hebrew interlinear to find that Isaiah compared his righteousness to menstruation. This verse literally means “our righteousness is as a filthy menstrual cloths”? Since every thought that enters our mind and every deed that we think is good, is like used menstrual clothes. I think that should close the door on salvation by works. In order to be good in Gods, eyes, you have to keep every commandment and never sin once. Anybody want to make that claim? So, if you believe that you can make it to heaven by your own merit, throw that idea out the window. Also under the Old Testament rituals of the ceremonial uncleanness of such a rag, would this be a rejection of righteousness that far exceeds a simple dirty rag from normal dirt and debris?

When Jesus says that no one is good, think about what this is saying. Once again, for those of you that think good works will earn your way into heaven, this teaching should slam the door on that theology. I can’t emphasize this enough because I have too many friends that believe good works can save them. God says no one is good, (NO ONE) and that what we think are good deeds, are as filthy rags to Him. That means that nobody can do anything that is good in Gods eyes. Do you think God will allow people who are full of filthy rags to enter heaven. God cannot and will not allow sinful man into heaven. Now, when you hear this truth, one might say, well if all of our good deeds are as filthy rags, how can we get to heaven. That is the six million dollar question with a very easy explanation. On our own merit, nobody can get to heaven. Now, because Jesus loves His creation, and He doesn’t want to see anybody go to hell, He had to come up with a plan that would save mankind. The only way for sin to be delt with is by someone without sin to pay the price for us. There is only one person that walked the earth that lived a perfect sinless life. In case you do not know, it was God in the flesh, otherwise known as Jesus Christ. God left His perfect environment that He lived in and joined His creation for one reason, that was so He could take the punishment of sin and remove it by shedding His blood.

When Jesus hung on the cross, He took the sins of the world on His shoulders and took the punishment that we deserved. When Jesus took all the sins of the world, He nailed them to a cross, and He shed every ounce of blood that He had. By the shedding of innocent blood, we can be saved from eternal damnation. In other words, when you accept Jesus Chris as your personal Lord and Savior and become born again into the Holy Spirit, it is as if your filthy rags have been tossed out and you will be cleansed of all unrighteousness and you will be spotless in Gods eyes. If you don’t accept Jesus Christ and become born again, you will stand before Jesus at the white throne judgement with all you filthy rags that will be accounted to you. Since you will stand there with all those filthy rags, and God cannot allow sin to enter heaven in that state, there is only one more option, yes, you guessed it. The Lake of Burning Fire. Once again, this is where we come in, To receive this gift of eternal life, we need to give our life over to Jesus Christ, become born again into the Holy Spirit and live life like we mean it. Our confession of faith will only apply to us if we sincerely give our life to Jesus. Words don’t mean anything if it isn’t backed up with righteous living. Righteous living without giving your life to Jesus Christ first, will be in vain.

John 3:1-8; “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

This is what the Bible refers to as the second birth. Let me put this in a way that everybody should understand. If you are born once, (from your mother’s womb) you die twice, If you are born twice (Born again into the Holy Spirit) you only die once. The second birth is when you become born again. Once you become born again, you have become justified, which means, your sins are cleansed and it will be as if you never sinned. At that point, God can look at you as if you are good. Since Jesus is good and you traded your sins for His righteousness, you are saved. Now, when you hear about the second death, that is when you get judged and sentenced for every sin that you ever committed at the "WhiteThrone Judgement" and as a result of your unrepented sins you will be cast into the Lake of Burning Fire. That is the second and final death. See, if you do not accept God’s gift of Grace before you die, you will remain in your sins until you die. That is the first death which we all will go through barring the rapture of the church of course. At that point of death, if you are not saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, you will end up in Hades, the abode of the dead. This is where everybody that dies outside of Gods will, will be cast into Hades where they will remain until after the one thousand year Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ on earth at which point you will be judged and sentenced for all eternity. If you don’t understand what I'm saying, read this over and over again until you get it. This simple message will determine where you spend eternity providing you were sincere in your conversion to Jesus Christ. If your conversion was not sincere, you will hear these words when you stand before Jesus at the White Throne Judgement.  

Matthew 7:21-23; “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

If your conversion to Jesus Christ was not sincere, these will be the last words that you will ever hear. To me, these are the scariest words you would ever want to hear. In other words, it is over, no more hope for you. 

Now, there is a sect of Christianity that believe purgatory exists. That is a lie from the pit of hell, and if you believe this heresy, you will be very disappointed when you find yourself in Hades with no escape. You will have no one to blame, nobody can pray you out of hades, so you can blame the religious sect that you put your faith in. Here are a few Bible verses the rebuke to idea of purgatory.

Hebrews 9:27; “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Let me ask you a question, what does this verse say? We are appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Once you die, you either go directly to be with Jesus Christ or you go directly to Hades, no purgatory.  There is nowhere in the Bible that even hints about a place like purgatory. You have until the day you die to accept Jesus Christ as your lord and Savior. Think about this. If we all could have a second chance, how many would live righteously now. Nobody would because they would believe they can pay for their sins in purgatory and be purged of all sin. If you want to believe in this heresy, it’s your choice. I believe in the Word of God. 

Revelation 20:12; “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

Standing before the great white throne are the resurrected dead who were not saved, those who did not accept Christ during their time on earth. John 3:36; “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” These doomed individuals represent all classes of human beings, from paupers to princes. They will be judged by the Faithful and True Judge, who died to provide a way of escape from sin and eternal punishment.

John 3:16–18; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Those assembled at the great white throne rejected Jesus' redemptive work and His gracious invitation to believe on Him and have everlasting life. If someone invited you to go to Hawaii, would you go? Of course you would. Then why would you reject the invitation to go to heaven by God Himself? Heaven will make Hawaii look like a dump. Don’t reject this once in a life time to reserve your trip to heaven.

John 6:37; “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

As a result, rather than being judged on the basis of Christ's work, those that have rejected Gods plan for salvation will be judged for their sins when the books are opened. The record shows they sinned and failed to repent. At the same time, another book is opened, which is the book of life. As verse 15 points out, the doomed are sentenced to eternal punishment because their names are not written in the book of life. Being judged "by what was written in the books, according to what they had done" may imply there are degrees of punishment in hell, but the absence of a defendant's name from the Lamb's book of life is the determining factor in his or her consignment to hell.

The Bible asserts that there is only one God, emphasizing monotheism across several key verses. 1 Timothy 2:5; states, "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus," while Deuteronomy 4:35; “To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.” declares, "The LORD Himself is God; there is no other besides Him." 

Here is another teaching in the Bible that the Catholics rebuke or just bypass. They pray to Mary; They pray to the Saints of Roman Catholicism and everybody else that they declare is deity, when Gods word clearly states that there is only one way to the Father and that is through Jesus Christ. If you try to reach the Father through any other form of being, your prayers will not be heard or honored, You might as well pray to a wall.

John 14:6; “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus Himself said that the only way to reach the Father is through Himself. If you believe there are other ways, you call Jesus a liar. Ber careful whose name you slander.

You may think I’m bashing Roman Catholicism, but I’m not. I’m teaching the Bible as it has been written. I love my Catholic friends and I have many. Everything that I am saying is written in the scriptures of the Bible. I don’t want to see anybody mislead by false doctrine, I want them to know the truth and if you don’t believe me, then please search the scriptures for yourself and let the Holy Spirit guide you in all truth. You can go on believing that Roman Catholicism is the way to heaven or you can turn to the Bible and get the truth.

I’m going to close with a few more verses about God, being the only God.

Deuteronomy 4:35-39; “ To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.”

Deuteronomy 4:35 and 39 emphasize the uniqueness and sovereignty of God, urging Israel to recognize that the Lord is the only God in heaven and on earth following His miraculous deliverance of them from Egypt.

Deuteronomy 4:35; "To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him."

Deuteronomy 4:39; "Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other." These verses are part of Moses' address to the Israelites, highlighting that God revealed Himself through miracles and the giving of the law so they would understand His exclusive power and authority.  

John 17:3^; “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”  

Elsewhere, the gospel of John points out that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ; John 3:16–18; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Salvation brings "eternal life," in contrast to the eternal death of being separated forever from God. Matthew 25:30; “And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’  

Only by faith can a person be saved. Titus 3:5; “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”  

And only by faith in Christ; Acts 4:12; “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 

In Acts 4:11, Peter calls the Sanhedrin the "builders" who are responsible for the Jewish people and the proper observance of the Jewish religion. As "builders," the elders, priests, and scribes should have recognized Jesus. Several places in their Scripture, our Old Testament, give very specific descriptions that identity Jesus as the Messiah they have been waiting for. In just the last week of His life He fulfilled prophecies of the donkey He rode into Jerusalem on. The way the Roman guards cast lots for His clothing, and the fact that His bones were not broken John refers to the idea of eternal life numerous times in his writing.   1 Timothy 2:5; “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.  

This is one of the most memorized, quoted, and useful verses in the Bible. Paul begins with the Old Testament truth that the God of the Bible is the only God who actually exists. This statement is the Shema, meaning "the saying," the foundational saying of the Law: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" The second phrase transitions to the concept of a mediator. A mediator is a person who serves as an intermediary between two people or parties. Jesus serves to bring people to God and is the only way to God.

Hebrews 9:15; “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” 

The same thing is mentioned in; Hebrews 12:24; “To, Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.”  saying, "Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant …" Similarly,  uses the phrase, "Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant." Paul also highlights the humanity of Jesus, calling him "The man Christ Jesus." He is God in human form, one hundred percent God and one hundred percent man. Now, I hate to keep harping on this issue, but if you are of the catholic faith and you believe you can pray to Mary (The Rosary) or any other catholic deity, you are being lied to. The verses that I mentioned in this blog are proof positive that you cannot pray to the Father through anybody but Jesus. You can go on believing what you are being taught by Catholicism or you can turn to the Bible for truth. Rebuke me if you wish, I’m just trying to wake people up to the truth. The Holy Bible is my guide; it should be yours also.   Believe what you will, it will have eternal consequences. And once again, there is no purgatory for you to fall back on. You will be judged for what you accepted as truth. Don’t you agree, the Bible should be your authority on everything that you believe?  

One more thing, if you believe that Buddha, Mohammed, Joseph Smith or any other false prophet is your sourse of salvation, You are badly mistaken. Only Jesus paid for your sins, no other false prophet such as the three that I just mentioned paid for your sins, in fact they themselves will be in hell. If you want to follow any other false prophet, you will find yourself in hell with them for all eternity.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!