How the "Just Be a Good Person to be Saved" Theology FAILS with God's Standards of Holiness
While watching through Pastor Ray Comfort's videos "Are You a Good Person?" or his other videos that use the Law to expose sin, I felt obliged to also write this article on how the "just be a good person" theology fails with God's standards. Today it's a very common saying especially with the ecumenical movement as its theology is, "It doesn't matter what religion you practice. Just be a good person and everything will be alright. Every religion goes to Heaven except Satanism." What is very crooked in their theology is that they preach that even Jesus could accept other religions ignoring John 14:6 which says, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father EXCEPT through Me." What many people are unaware is the truth of the total depravity of man, man in his nature is not basically good. The problem today is that we are teaching the dangers of liberation theology that says that man is basically good. Today we are hearing the crooked theology that since God created man and that God is good therefore man is basically good. But wait, aren't they missing a huge portion of the Bible? It's very simple how many people quote a few verses but widely ignore the rest. If you shouldn't take any scientific fact out of context how much more the Bible which is the Word of God, He who created science in the first place?
Let us take the good test shall we? Looking at it, if you believe that man is basically good then why not let us take the "good test". So here's a few things I can hear from people whenever I preach to them they need to be saved:
- Well I'm religious.
- I keep most of the commandments.
- It doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you are a good person that you give to the poor, you obey your parents, you don't steal...
Now let us check how good are you in keeping ALL of the ten commandments? Let me ask you these questions then to see if you are truly fit to God's standards of holiness?
Now let us examine these from the ten commandments. Let us try to see if the theology of "just be a good person to be saved" can KEEP UP with God's perfect holiness. Now here's how religions are failing in this theology. If your religion can KEEP all the ten commandments and remember the SECOND commandment against graven images, then I am a liar and you are telling the truth. Let's proceed shall we?
1.) Thou shalt have no other gods but me
How can yo keep this commandment? According to some modernistic preachers like Rob Hell, all religions read to God. The thrust today of ecumenism is unity among religions but the question is do Christians worship the same God with the infidels? The biggest answer is really a no. Here's just a few examples of how this fails-
- Islam while claiming to worship the true God is actually worshiping the false god Allah. Allah is not the God of the Bible. The contrast can be seen that Allah does not love the unbelievers and he is an impersonal god... also archaeological findings have proven Allah to be the chief god of the Sabeans, the moon god who can be linked to Hubal, Baal and all to the worship of gods based on Nimrod.
- Many religions of the world are worshiping many gods. Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism and Hinduism are just a few of the many polytheistic religions. The Bible is clear that there is only one God.
- The Roman Catholic institution however has placed Mary in more importance than God. Talk about how the Rosary has a lot more Hail Marys than Our Fathers. Also many times has Mary been given attributes that belong to God and God alone!
2.) Thou shalt not make unto thee ANY graven image for worship.
This is where many religions are at an epic failure rate. Though Islam has kept this but it has broken the first commandment. The Roman Catholic catechism has taken away the second commandment from their official catechism and split the ninth into two. This is crookery at its best. Isaiah 42:8 warns that God will NOT share His glory with another neither His praise to graven images which the Good News Version calls as idols. Roman Catholics will try to reason, "Well we aren't worshiping the image but the one being portrayed by the image." It is still idolatry and God will not give His glory to idols and the SECOND COMMANDMENT is still in the Roman Catholic Bible. The Douay Bible even calls the same "idols" as graven things which again summarizes God does not tolerate idol worship! Buddhists, Taoists, Hindus, etc. may say that their devotion to the images isn't idolatry but in God's standard, it is idolatry!
3.) Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.
Truth us have you ever been respectful of God's Name? I have found some Roman Catholics despite their claims to religiousness are also very guilty of using "God" a lot in their expressions or to exclaim "Jesus, Mary Joseph" and for one, to even say, "Holy Mother of God..." and these happen a lot in bad situations. People today think it's just okay to say "Oh my God!" and using God's Name irreverently. Have you even done some bad things and tried to justify it in God's name? If you did, you are again GUILTY.
4.) Remember the Sabbath Day and to keep it holy
You might say that you go to church every Sunday but that is NOT just the point. In fact, have you ever even avoided sin on Sundays? If you are a Seventh Day Adventist or a practitioner of Judaism, you might as well consider how many artificial restrictions are being placed. The Pharisees have turned the Sabbeth into an onerous burden and so has Judaism. They had profaned the Sabbath. If on Sundays you are attending church and then suddenly somebody made you angry and you said something bad, that's another way the Sabbath is never kept holy.
5.) Honor thy father and thy mother.
Okay while I don't think there's any recognized religion that does not teach for the respect of parents but let me ask you, if your parents spanked you for doing bad, wasn't it because you have dishonored them by doing bad? Besides, you might as well think that if you were grounded, timed out and scolded it's because you have dishonored them. You didn't even have to answer back to your parents to dishonor them... doing bad was just as bad as answering back.
6.) Thou shall not kill (murder)
Okay maybe you have said, "I have not murdered anyone." But the Bible says in Matthew 5:21 and 1 John 3:15 if anybody hates another, that person is already a murderer. Murder is rooted by hatred. Murder is not only unconstitutional killing but it is defined as, "the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought." The problem is also by merely hating another and wanting them dead, you are already guilty of murder. Murder stems out of hatred and to God, if you are already angry with somebody and wanting them dead, you are guilty of murder. Also should I mention that witchcraft actually does involve murder of infants? Also if you have committed abortion then you are also guilty of murder. Atheists argue the death penalty is contradictory to this commandment YET support abortion? How hypocritical can they get?
7.) Thou shalt not commit adultery.
God's Law for marriage now is one wife for one life, that is one man to one woman. The hypocrisy of today's liberals is that "Well Islam is okay." but these women will get mad when their husbands commit infidelity and Islam tolerates polygamy for men while other ethnic tribes tolerate the sinful practice of sharing a wife. God's rule for marriage as said by Jesus in Matthew 19:5-6 is that it's between one man and woman in legitimate grounds becoming one flesh. Then somebody can say, "Well I haven't cheated on my partner nor have I desired another man's wife." However Jesus also warned in Matthew 5:28 that if any man looks at a woman lustfully, it's considered as good as adultery even if no sexually immoral act was done. Think about how David's lust for Bathsheba was already adultery to begin with even without the sexual act taking place.
8.) Thou shalt not steal
You might say, "Well I have stolen just a candy bar before." or "It was just paper clips." The worse can be the argument like the Nursery Rhyme poem that goes, "Policeman, policeman don't take me... take that man behind the tree. I stole brass and he stole gold..." which tries to justify a crime. But in God's eyes stealing whether just small or just big is already a huge crime in His eyes. Achan didn't need to steal millions, he just stole a few stuff and guess what- it got him and his family (who were in cahoots) STONED to death.
9.) Tho shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Lying will always be a sin. To be honest, how often have parents lied to their children about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the list can go on? Even if it was just a "little lie" it really is still in God's record as a big lie no matter what. God has kept records and every little lie no matter how "white" it is is a huge offense to a holy, righteous God. Also, the religious of the world are teaching various lies one after the other and contradicting each other. In fact, many religions of the world are lying about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and so on. For example, Buddhism teaches the lie of reincarnation. Homosexuals are also liars as they are lying to the world and to themselves they are the opposite sex. Atheists are liars because they know in their hearts that God exists but they say He doesn't in an effort to try and escape God's judgment. Also astrologers usually con people with false predictions the make themselves to make a lot of money which again is also stealing.
10.) Thou shall not covet what is thy neighbor's.
It's very impossible to say you have not even once coveted after something not yours. For example, some people may covet other people's boyfriend/girlfriend because of jealousy... that's covetousness and is already as bad as adultery. Envy is covetousness like how so often can a person want something that does not belong to them. Even without stealing, they are guilty of covetousness. Today many religions are bordered around greed despite the teaching of the so-called "emptiness" like how Chinese folk religion is bordered around MONEY and Feng Shui is also involved in the worship of money.
If you have broken even one of these rules, you are GUILTY OF ALL and you have to be a liar to even say you have not sinned (1 John 1:18). God's standard is not at least keep eight out of ten, nine of out then, five out of then... no if you want to work for your salvation YOU BETTER MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NOT SINNED ONE BIT. James 2:10-11 says that for whosoever tries to keep the whole Law yet offends at even one point is guilty of all. Romans 3:10-23 declare the sad state of man as being not righteous, no not one because ALL have sinned. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 is clear that the unrighteous CANNOT inherit the Kingdom of God, that means they cannot enter... they are damned. And problem is we are all plain unrighteous. In fact there is no difference between "mortal sins" and "venial sins" they all will damn unsaved man into Hell for all ETERNITY? Sounds unfair? No. God is holy and He cannot allow even the tiniest sin into His presence. God's justice has damned everyone because of the total depravity of man. Adam and Eve did not need to murder anybody to get cast out of the Garden of Eden, all they needed to do was to eat from the Tree of Knowledge which God FORBADE them to eat!
In fact here's a sharing from the Reformers. Martin Luther said, "That expression 'righteousness of God' was like a thunderbolt in my heart... I hated Paul with all my heart and when I read that the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel (Romans 1:16-17). Only afterward when I saw the words that follow, and in addition consulted Augustine, I was cheered. When I learned that the righteousness of God is His mercy, and that He makes us righteous through it, a remedy was offered to me in my affliction." Martin Luther spent time praying to Mary, going to confession and all yet he discovered he was just cut short of the holiness of God. So many people tried to do everything to gain God's righteousness, they are all cut short. No amount of penance can help. MAN MUST REPENT OF THEIR SINS AND TURN FROM SIN TO CHRIST! That is to turn from sin is not to try one's self to live a righteous life but to plead guilty before Christ who is righteous as a sinner, coming in guilt, broken and fed up with that life of sin. Unless men repent of their sins, I don't see any reason why they would repent of their unbelief and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. No, unless man repents of sin they can NEVER repent of their unbelief. John 3:20 is clear that the love for sin is a blockage to repentance towards life and believing the Gospel.
Presbyterian preacher Robert Charles Sproul also wrote this in his book "Holiness of God" pages 108-109, "When the Bible speaks of God's justice, it usually links it to DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS. God's justice is according to righteousness. There is no such thing as justice according to unrighteousness. There is no such thing as evil justice in God. The justice of God is always and ever an expression of His HOLY character. The word justice in the Bible refers to a conformity to a rule or a norm. God plays BY THE RULES. The ultimate norm of justice is His holy character. God's internal righteousness from His external righteousness. What God does is always consistent with who God is. He acts always according to His holy character. God's internal righteousness is the moral excellence of His character. It is rooted in His absolute purity. There is now shadow of turning in Him. As a holy God, He is utterly incapable of an unholy act. Only unholy beings commit unjust and unrighteous acts. There is a consistency in God a "straightness" about Him. Human righteousness is often described in terms of our being not straight. We are crooked. It is not by accident that we often refer to criminals as "crooks". Crooks are so called because they are crooked; they are not straight. God is straight. His straightness is seen in His outward behavior. His external righteousness. In all eternity God has never done a crooked thing. He killed Nadab and Abihu. He killed Uzzah. He did the same thing to Ananias and Saphira in the New Testament. These are righteous acts of judgment."
Praying the Rosary, lighting candles on altars, burning incense, etc. will not bring man one step closer to God, the gap will always fall down as seen by this illustration. But how can that gap be filled? Man tries to do good works to either earn or maintain salvation but that is NOT the way. Man can say, "But Lord I even crucified myself." but the Lord will not accept that person. Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is the only Way to the Father and nothing else! While they accuse me of not being loving like Jesus, they FAIL to see the politically incorrect language of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus warned in Matthew 7:13-14 that the way to life is NARROW while every other way will lead to destruction. Bigotry? No it's the truth. Sad to say, people say I am upsetting God and if that kind of talk were true, Jesus would be upsetting His Father whenever he enforces the harsh truth of John 14:6. Jesus' love for sinners makes him speak the hard to believe truths of Scripture.
But the good news is that Jesus came as God becoming man. Jesus who is God the Son, the Son of God came to offer Himself up. God loves His Son but He made a way for lost sinners. Sinners DO NOT deserve God's perfect love and only the merits of Christ can save the sinner. 2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 2:5 and Hebrews 7:26 mentions that Christ took OUR PLACE. Romans 5:21 says that while man was yet stuck in total depravity, He died for their sins but man must receive the free gift of salvation. Forget about the so-called bloodless sacrifice of the Roman Catholic Mass or the blood sacrifices of Islam and Judaism, Hebrews 10:12 is clear that only one sacrifice was offered once and for all. Hebrews 9 the blood chapter of Hebrews talks about the precious blood of Christ which was in speaking His bloody death... not just blood and not just death, it had to be both. Hebrews 9:14 declares the purging of the conscience of men from their dead works to true good works that is in service to God. 1 Corinthians 6:11 mentions the new life in Christ. Titus 2:11-14 shows God's life changing grace. One thing, only Jesus saves and in Hebrews 9:22 it declares without the shedding of blood there is no remission and Jesus DID IT ALL so no more blood has to be shed, only His blood and His blood alone! Today many preachers deny the need for blood atonement. Remember the blood did not stay at the foot of the cross, all if went back into Christ's body during His resurrection and He sat down at the right hand of God when He ascended into Heaven.
Hard to believe? Very hard to believe because man is so shrouded by sin and pride. In fact, some people are so sinful yet they even think they have no sin. It takes a lot of ground-breaking effort to break the heart of stone in sowing God's Word. Forget about the watered down evangelism. If we're to beat the works salvation theology, we really need to preach the Bible as it is!