It should come as no surprise to any man that reads these words, whosoever you are, that the world around us is filled with wickedness and evil. It is full of that which is broken, that which is cursed, that which is, by any human means, utterly and completely unfixable. The writers to The Bible, though most of them had a hope in God and His Messiah, (that is to say, His Savior), saw and understood this as well. A man named Eliphaz said, “how much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinks iniquity like water?” [Job 15:16] And again, David writes, “the wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” [Psa 58:3] The LORD, through the prophet Isaiah, reveals to us a grim truth. A truth which we must apprehend if we are to come to any real, saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The LORD says through Isaiah,
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as a menstruous cloth; and we all do fade as a leaf; our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” [Isa 64:6]
The prophet says here, by inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, (for, “the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by The Holy Spirit.” [2 Pe 1:21]), that if you could sum up all of a man’s righteous deeds, whether through action or through word or through any other means, and compare all that righteousness to one object: that object would be a filthy, bloody menstrual rag. Does this offend you, dear reader? If you have said, yes, then well, for it was meant to. Jesus says, “they that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” [Lk 5:31-32] And in The Psalms, it is written, “good and upright is The LORD: therefore He will teach sinners in the way.” [Psa 25:8] Good man, understand what the scriptures declare to you – The LORD God calls to Himself, for that glorious purpose of salvation, those who are sinners. He does not call the righteous. Jesus has not come, as He said, “to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” If you have seen yourself as good, then The Bible would declare, woe unto you! “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” [Isa 5:21] Jesus has not come for you, whosoever of you think yourselves to be good and righteous, whosoever of you think yourselves deserving of eternal life, as He said once again, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” The LORD does not lead righteous men to salvation, but sinners.
The realization a man must come to is this: he is not good. Yes, even further, that he has no innate goodness whatsoever; for The Bible declares again to all men, “the heart is deceitful above all things, and of a malignant disposition: who can know it?” [Jer 17:9] The Bible frankly declares, by divine inspiration, the natural state of a man’s heart is “of a malignant disposition.” The word “malignant” means, “malicious; having extreme malevolence or enmity,” and malevolent means, “having an evil disposition towards another or others.” [Webster] To more fully understand this we must also define the word good. For there are many who may say in response to this, “I know a few good people; yes, more than a few who have done good, why even on occasion I myself do some good deed or say a kind word.” However, The Bible frankly declares,
“There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness…there is no fear of God before their eyes.” [Rom 3:10-14, 18]
Clearly, if a man has seen himself, or another, as good in-and-of themselves, they are in direct contradiction to God’s words. For The Bible flatly states all men are naturally godless and evil at heart. What then does The Bible, what then does God, see as “good”? When a certain man approached Jesus and addressed Him as “good master,” Jesus said, “why do you call me good? There is none good but one, that is, God…” [Mt 19:16-17] The Psalmist declares by The Spirit, “praise The LORD; for The LORD is good.” [Psa 135:3] It is God alone who is good. That quality, which men so flippantly apply to not a few things – good – is, according to The Bible, reserved for God alone. The first time the word “good” appears in The Bible is in Genesis, at creation. The LORD God says seven times, regarding His creation, “it was good.” [Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31] In Romans we learn of God that, “the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” [Rom 1:20] Therefore, we arrive at the same conclusion as before, albeit more specific. What is “good”? Good is anything that perfectly displays and reflects God’s character. As Jesus said, “there is none good but one, that is, God.” And creation, which reflects and points to God, in its perfect state God declared, “it was good.” “O give thanks unto The LORD; for He is good…” [1 Ch 16:34, Psa 106:1; 107:1; 118:1]
Returning our thoughts to the base state of men, perhaps the most wicked thing regarding the natural heart, that heart which has not yet been regenerated of God, is its deceitfulness. For upon hearing this stark truth, yes, even many other sound and good truths, the natural heart will find a great many excuses and justifications for its own wicked choices and meditations. But I urge you, dear reader, allow God’s Spirit to prick your heart, if this truth has indeed pricked you as of yet: for as it is written, “sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better,” and, “godly sorrow works repentance to salvation… [Ecc 7:3, 2 Cor 7:10] Do you find yourself angry at this statement? Uncomfortable? Fretful? Well! God bless you, dear man! Allow The Spirit of God to do His work; as it says, “today if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” [Heb 3:15] Yes, do not harden your heart, but continue on; lest that comes upon you which is written, “wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts,” [Rom 1:24] and you awake one day, not as David hoped, saying, “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with your likeness,” but as Daniel warned some would awake, saying, “many of them that [have died] shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting abhorrence.” [Psa 17:15, Dan 12:2]
If a man is to obtain salvation, he must first be honest; for Jesus speaks regarding the condemnation which is applied to dishonest men, saying,
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that practices evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” [Jn 3:19-20]
Those who are dishonest with themselves, who repress God’s conviction, who lie against the truth, who, instead of coming to God to have their way searched out and made better, seek to conceal their deeds and avoid that dreadful phrase, “repent!” – yes, these are the men for whom Jesus has not come, has not called. For they are wise in themselves, prudent in their own sight; they refuse the truth of God and think themselves worthy of salvation, think themselves good, think themselves just fine. Dear reader, if this is you: beware! For the love of God abides upon the man who is in Christ Jesus alone; but if you are without, there shall be on that day of judgment, “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” when at the last you shall “go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched;” for, “he that is not believing The Son [Jesus] will not see life; but the wrath of God is abiding on him.” [Mk 13:42; 9:43-44, Jn 3:36]
Good man, have you seen your condition? If you are unsaved, if you are not continuing to believe upon the Jesus of The Bible, you are yet in your sins. For the scriptures say that the unregenerate man is “dead in trespasses and sins,” [Eph 2:1] and that he is, “walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan].” [Eph 2:2] If you have not given your life completely and unreservedly over to Christ you are “taken captive by [the Devil] at his will;” [2 Tim 2:26] you are, God declares, in bondage to Satan, “the god of this world,” who has “blinded the minds of them which believe not.” [2 Cor 4:4] The Bible declares you as utterly “without strength” to save yourself, an enemy of God and of His King, Jesus Christ; [Rom 5:6, 10] for Jesus Himself says, “he that is not with me is against me: and he that gathers not with me scatters.” [Lk 11:23] If you are without the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, I declare to you by God’s word, that you are a “stranger from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” [Eph 2:12] You sit on the edge of eternity, on the edge of hell itself; your life but nothing, for “man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passes away;” [Psa 144:4] and, “as for man, his days are as grass…” [Psa 103:15-16] Therefore, today may you do as Moses exhorts, and number your days “that [you] may acquire a heart of wisdom,” [Psa 90:12] and so be saved.
But there be some who have read thus far and will still say, “I have no need of Christ; I am good, and shall be accepted of God at the last, for my good is far better than what I have done badly.” Dear reader, today may you see the stark truth of the matter; and not just that you are not good, but that even if you were, your good works would not be accepted of God. For it is written, “therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in [God’s] sight;” [Rom 3:20] and again, “but that no man is justified in the law by the sight of God, it is evident: for, ‘the just shall live by faith.’” [Gal 3:11] No man will be accepted based on their work; no, for obedience to the law or good works done towards fellow-man – neither of them will grant you but one moment in God’s presence. For if you have broken but one command of God’s you are guilty of all; as it is written,
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For He that said, ‘do not commit adultery,’ said also, ‘do not kill.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, yet if you kill, you are become a transgressor of the law.” [Jam 2:10-11]
But how is it that a murderer, or a liar, or a thief, can be also simultaneously guilty of adultery? Thievery is hardly associated with adultery after all, and likewise murder. To understand this, let us read again from Romans, wherein it is written under inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, “all have sinned, and are falling short of the glory of God.” [Rom 3:23] Herein we see a succinct definition of sin: that is, to fall short “of the glory of God.” The glory of God is not spoken here of God’s shining brilliance, of that heavenly light; no, but of His life. When speaking of Jesus Christ, John wrote,
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we gazed upon His glory, the glory as of the One-and-only-unique [Son] of The Father,) full of grace and truth.” [Jn 1:14]
See here that the glory of Jesus Christ, The Word, was His life: that wonderful, living manifestation of “grace and truth.” Again, in his epistle, he writes regarding the same matter, saying, “for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness…” [1 Jn 1:2] So then, when we speak of sin, we speak of that which falls short of God’s glory, of God’s character/nature. Herein lies a deep problem. For there is not a man on earth who can claim such heights of excellency, as to be equal with God. Again, if it has not been clear, let us say it quite bluntly: anything and anyone which does not perfectly mirror God’s character in every single aspect, whether in word, deed, emotion, or thought, is utterly and totally sin, devoid of good, and worthy of “everlasting destruction.” [2 Th 1:9] Does this offend you? “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” [Gal 4:16] If you have become offended at such a statement, I pray it is to your repentance and reconciliation with God. For no man shall be accepted by God of their own merit. If you have trusted in your own righteousness, today is the day to turn from such things and instead trust in Jesus’ righteousness. For His righteousness is the only one which is accepted of God; as the prophet declares,
“In [The Messiah’s] days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, The LORD our Righteousness.” [Jer 23:6]
And again, “in The LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” [Isa 45:25] True righteousness is not from oneself, nor is it that “which is of the law, but that which is through faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith;” [Phil 3:9] for Paul writes,
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and prophets; even the righteousness which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.” [Rom 3:21-22]
May every man who reads these words today come under the conviction of God if they have not already. The condition of man apart from Jesus is helpless and without hope. There is no hope of salvation through any other means except continued belief in Jesus Christ and what He has done. If you have therefore become aware of your condition, read on; for God has provided mankind with a glorious solution to our problem, a solution full of love, grace, and tender mercy.