Are we good people?
15 min read
We all tend to believe that we're good people. Most of our friends and family consider us to be good people. However, are we really good people?
We might appear to be good people according to human standards. However, are we good people according to God's standards? We will be judged by God's standards, not human standards, so it's important that we know.
Let's test ourselves using the Ten Commandments from the Bible to see if we really are good people.
Commandments 1 and 2
In the first two of the ten commandments, God commands us to have no other God before him and to make no idols for ourselves.
None of us have lived all our days putting God first in our lives. We have failed to love God above all else. We prefer to give our attention to the gifts rather than the Giver (Romans 1:25).
We prefer to worship ourselves, worship other men and women, and worship things like money, luxury, fame, and success. Most of the music that plays on the radio is about our worship of all these very things.
Anything desired more than God becomes a false god or an idol. Everyone has a god, even atheists. Your god is the object of your greatest devotion. If it's not the true God of the Bible, it will be replaced with someone or something else.
It's safe to say that we all broke the first two of God's laws. Since breaking one commandment equates to breaking the whole law (James 2:10), we don't even have to continue going through the Ten Commandments, but let's do so to learn more.
Commandment 3
In the third commandment, God commands us not to take his name in vain. We have all misused God's name and Jesus' name. We've either used them as swear words or words of surprise and excitement. Thus, we are guilty of blasphemy.
Hitler's name wasn't even hated enough to be used as a curse word. Yet, there we are, cursing with God's name and Jesus' name. Therefore, we've all broken the third law of God.
Commandment 5
In the fifth commandment, God commands us to honor our father and mother. How many of us lived in perfect obedience to our parents while growing up?
We may have forgotten the sins of our younger years, but God hasn't. Thus, we've all broken the fifth law of God.
Commandment 6
In the sixth commandment, God commanded us not to murder. Jesus warned that if we get angry with someone to the point of losing our temper, we are guilty of breaking this law (Matthew 5:21-22).
In Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus taught that being angry enough to insult someone to the point of calling them a "fool" is guilty enough for hell. We have called others much worse things than just a "fool". A lost temper is often a precursor for murder. God is not just concerned with the external act of murder, but also the internal attitude and intent of our hearts.
We've all lost our temper, and as a result, said and did things that we regretted afterwards. We've all wanted to kill someone at one point or other, even if we didn't go through with it.
There is a righteous anger that occurs when we see someone taken advantage of, or an injustice committed. This is not a sin. It is possible to be angry and not sin by losing our temper (Ephesians 4:26). Since we've all lost our temper with someone at least once in our life, we've all broken the sixth law of God.
Commandment 7
In the seventh commandment, God commanded us not to commit adultery. Adultery is sexual relations where at least one participant is already married to someone else.
Jesus also warned that whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28). As a result, we've all broken this seventh law of God. We can claim to be innocent in this area, but God sees and knows every thought we've ever had.
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, the apostle Paul reveals that those who practice adultery, sexual immorality, and homosexuality will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Homosexuality is no worse a sin than any other sin covered in the Ten Commandments.
Commandment 8
In the eighth commandment, God commands us not to steal. Regardless of the value of the item, if we have stolen something, we are thieves.
We've all stolen something at one time or other in our lives. Therefore, we've all broken this eighth law of God. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, the apostle Paul said that thieves will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Commandment 9
In the ninth commandment, God commanded us not to be false witnesses. If we've ever told a lie, even if it was a small one, we are liars. There is no one on earth who has never lied. Thus, we've all broken the ninth law of God.
We might think that the amount of lies that we are guilty of is not that serious compared to others. However, God won't compare us to others. God will compare us to the gold standard of his law.
It only takes one lie to be considered a liar. This is because even telling one small lie reveals the inclination and natural tendency of our heart to behave in a deceitful way.
Commandment 10
In the tenth commandment, God commanded us not to covet. In Deuteronomy 5:21, God commanded that we not covet our neighbor's wife, our neighbor's house, their field, or anything that is in our neighbor's possession.
To covet is to have an unlawful desire for something that is not rightfully ours. We can covet more than just money. We can covet a person's salary, education, fame, advantages, good looks, car, wife, kids, and more.
While some of us might dare to say that we never broke the first nine commandments, none of us can say that we never wanted to break them.
Maybe we didn't take God's name in vain. Maybe we didn't commit adultery. Maybe we didn't steal. But did we ever want to? Of course we did. These are covetous desires for something that's not lawful. Thus, we've all broken the tenth law of God.
This tenth commandment deals with the sinful condition of our human heart. Even though we might not commit any outward acts of sin due to coveting, such as murder, adultery, or theft. Inwardly, we feel jealous, angry, and unhappy for not having what they have.
An adulterer must first want someone other than the person they married before committing adultery. A thief must first be envious of their neighbor's possessions before they go and steals from them.
In the same way, corporations strongly desire to obtain the dominant position in the market. As a result, they play the system to give themselves the competitive advantages over other companies. Similarly, people strongly desire the success and reputation of highly respected people, so they often cheat and lie to obtain it. The list of ways that coveting leads to other sins is endless.
The tenth commandment proves that the Ten Commandments are not just a bunch of laws for ancient Israel. They are the true definition of moral good and they expose the sinful condition of our human hearts.
The results
After tallying our results from the Ten Commandments, we are all guilty of sin before God. Sin is disobedience to God.
To break even one commandment from God's law is to break the entire law of God. If you've committed even one of the Ten Commandments, you are guilty.
This is exactly what the Ten Commandments are intended to do, to reveal that the whole world is guilty before God. This teaches us that we cannot approach God based on our own merits, because we've been found guilty of sin. We need someone to step in and save us.
Making sense of the results
Sin is not just some religious vocabulary meant to oppress people with feelings of guilt. Sin is the human condition. Sin is defined as a violation of the law of God. It's rebellion against God.
The word "sin" is taken lightly today. We make jokes about sin. Many of us think that as long as we don't kill anyone, we're good people and not actually sinners. Murder is the only sin that most people think matters nowadays. However, all sin is deadly, not just the sin that kills the body.
The problem is not just that we all have a few sins. The problem is that ever since we were born in our sinful state, all we have ever done is sin.
The result of being born in sin is that the intentions of our hearts are evil from childhood.
Pretend for a minute that I could show the recording of every thought you ever had in your heart, from your first moment of life to now. If I offered to show this recording in a theatre and invite all of your closest friends and family members, you wouldn't let me. You would do everything in your power to stop me. If you could not stop me, you would run far away and never show yourself again.
Why would you act this way? The reason is because we have all thought things and done things that are so evil and so twisted that we can't even share them with our closest friends and family. If our closest friends and family members knew the thoughts that we have had against them, they would not want to associate with us anymore.
The Bible teaches us that all men and women are evil. A reason why so many of us have a problem with the Bible is because it hurts our pride. The Bible exposes the truth about us, that our human heart is deceitful, sick, and evil, and needs to be saved.
We're all born evil and we don't even need to read the Bible to see it. No one has to teach a child to lie, to be selfish, or to be mean to other children. They learn all of that on their own. If you leave a child without discipline, that child will grow up to be a wanted criminal.
What about all our good deeds?
Psalm 14:3 says that there is no human who is truly good. Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned. Jesus said, "No one is good — except God alone" (Luke 18:19).
How can this be? There are people who don't believe in God but still do such nice things for others. This is true. We are all capable of doing "good deeds". We can be kind, thoughtful, give generous gifts, and care for others.
However, no amount of "good deeds" can change the fact that we are all sinful by nature. We are all born hating God and having no interest in God whatsoever. We are not naturally inclined to seek after God and to aim to please God. We don't want to live God's way. Like Frank Sinatra said in his famous song, we prefer to do it "my way".
Many of us think that we could redeem ourselves from our bad deeds by adjusting our behavior and doing more good deeds. However, God is not like the justice system of today that will let criminals off on good behavior.
Doing nice things does not change the fact that we have committed sins and have the sinful predisposition in our hearts to repeat those sins.
Our good deeds won't be enough to save us. Even our best works are like filthy rags before God. Why? It's because we were arrogant enough to think that our good works and our good efforts would be enough to make us good people.
Good works may change our reputation amongst men, but they don't change our heart before God. If we do our good deeds while relying on ourselves rather than on God, and we take all the credit for them, it only confirms our godless and self-centered human condition.
We can do good deeds for the rest of our lives, die, and still spend eternity under God's wrath in Hell. Even the sum of all good works done by all the nicest people who ever lived would not be enough to bail out the human race from the guilt of our sin. Our good deeds do not change the fact that we have broken God's law.
How can a loving God judge me?
We might think that we could appeal to the goodness of God to overlook our sins. However, it is because God is good that he will demand justice for our sins. Anything or anyone that goes against what is good must be met with justice. This is also how our justice system works. You cannot be truly good if you are indifferent toward evil.
It's true that God is love. However, it is because God is love that he must hate. If you love children, you must hate anything or anyone that harms children. A God who is good must not only love, he must also hate. He must hate what is evil - that which is contrary to his goodness.
There must be a punishment for all lawbreaking criminals. If we were asked whether a judge should let a murderer go free because he promised to be nice, would we say to set him free? No. We would cry out for justice!
By breaking the law, that criminal is in debt to the law and to the justice system. His debt must be paid. Justice to be served. The punishment must be served.
Many people cannot bear the truth of what the Bible says about them. They would rather be deceived and listen to messages that boost their self-esteem and make them feel good.
People don't want to hear such things, just as a person dying of a terminal illness would be in denial of their diagnosis. However, by resisting the truth, we just close ourselves off to the remedy.
Once we are ready to be honest with ourselves and with the Bible, we will be able to acknowledge that we have sinned. The only thing we deserve is the wrath of God (Romans 1:18).
We are hopeless on our own
If all our hopes are not destroyed with regard to our own goodness, we will never be able to receive God's salvation. The Bible exposes our sinful condition to make us realize that we are hopeless on our own. We need someone to step in and save us.
What must we do to be saved? We must repent and believe in the good news about Jesus who has come to save sinners (Mark 1:15). We're not doomed to go to Hell because of our sins. A savior has come for us.
Jesus saves us from the wrath of God (Romans 5:9). In Matthew 26:39, the cup that Jesus prayed to the Father about, asking if it could pass from him, was the cup of God's wrath. That's why Jesus asked if there was a way not to have to drink it. However, in the end, Jesus surrendered to the Father's will. Jesus drank the cup of God's wrath (Psalm 75:8, Isaiah 51:22).
No one goes to heaven because they are good people or because they have done enough good deeds. Jesus is the only way to heaven (John 14:6).
When we repent, we turn away from our sinful ways and our sinful thoughts (Isaiah 55:7), and we turn to Jesus instead. There is no salvation without repentance. Repentance is what leads to real, saving faith (Ephesians 2:8).
Even if we reject the idea of Jesus becoming our savior, we will still have to meet him as our judge on that day. It's better that we turn to him now that salvation is still offered to us. On the day that Jesus returns as judge, it will be too late for us to be saved.
God's love is so great that he shows love to us even while we deserve his wrath. With one hand, God is holding back his wrath against sinful humanity, and with the other hand God is pleading for us to turn to him (2 Corinthians 5:20) - but one day, both hands will be dropped (Revelation 16:1).