Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. I'll be preaching from the Gospel
of Matthew today. And if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'll be in chapter 19, Matthew chapter 19, beginning
at verse 16. Matthew 19 and verse 16. And this is a portion of scripture
that relates the Lord's dealings with a young man we commonly
call the rich young ruler. He was a young man who had a
question. And it's interesting how this
conversation goes, how the Lord addresses him. And it has to
do with a question that is so important concerning eternal
life. And the title of the message is this, How Good is Good? How
good is good? And we'll just start, let me
just read the first few verses of this episode. You know, our
Lord, when he walked on this earth in his earthly walk leading
up to the cross, he encountered all kinds of different people.
And it says here in verse 16, behold, one came and said unto
him, good master, what good things shall I do that I may have eternal
life? Now what a question, what good
thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And verse 17 says,
the Lord said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good
but one, and that is God, but if thou will enter into life,
keep the commandments. And then from here on it says
in verse 18, he saith unto me, which, the young man said, well,
which commandments? And Jesus said, thou shalt do
no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal,
thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother,
that's verse 19, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
And so the Lord quoted to him what we normally call the second
table of the Ten Commandments. You know, the Ten Commandments
was divided into two tablets, two tables we'd say, and the
first four commandments had to do with man's relationship to
God. Love God with all your heart,
soul, mind, and strength. That's the summation of that.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. All that. No idolatry. And then the last
six commandments had to do with man's relationship to man. And
so it's love thy neighbor as thyself. And that's how he concluded
this in verse 19. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. And then verse 20 says, the young
man saith unto him, all these things have I kept from my youth
up, what like I yet? Very interesting, isn't it? And
verse 21, Jesus said unto him, if thou will be perfect, if you'll
be complete, and we could put it this way, if you wanna be
righteous before God, go and sell that thou hast, everything
you have, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven, come and follow me. But when the young man heard
that saying, verse 22, he went away sorrowful for he had great
possessions. And that's a way of saying that
he had the problem of love of money. Not only did he have great
possessions. So what do we know about this
young man? Well, in the book of Luke, Luke calls him a ruler. And some say, well, he may have
been a civil official or he might have been a religious official,
which I believe that's what it's talking about. Maybe a young
man who had risen quickly in the Jewish religion, maybe a
member of the Sanhedrin, which was the judicial wing of the
Jewish religion, the judges. And this man was very young and
he was very wealthy. That's what we know about him.
But we also know that he had an interest in eternal life.
Going back to verse 16, good master, what good things shall
I do that I may have eternal life? Now this passage of scripture
is so much misunderstood by so many people. For example, the
legalist. You know what a legalist is?
A legalist is a person who believes that you can be saved or that
you can be made righteous by keeping the law. That's what
legalism is, by works of the law. And so salvation or entering
heaven, he says, eternal life comes by keeping the law. That's
the legalist. And of course, when the Lord
tells him here, down here in verse 17, he says, but if thou
will enter into life, keep the commandments, the legalist looks
at that and says, so we'll see there, we can have eternal life
by keeping the commandments, by doing good works. And of course,
that's not what the Lord is saying to this man. In fact, what he's
doing, he's showing this man the impossibility of doing such
a thing. And we'll see that in the context.
And then there are people who deny the Trinity and who deny
the deity of Christ. And they say that this supports
their view when Christ said to him in verse 17, why callest
thou me good? There is none good but one, that
is God. And they say, well, Christ there showing that he's not God.
And that's not what he's doing there. In fact, he's showing
the young man just the opposite, and I'll get into that. The socialists,
they look at passages like this and they say, well, look there.
He said, sell everything you have and give it to the poor.
And that's what they want to do. They sell all and give to
the poor. They want to take money from
some and give it to the poor, but they don't want you to take
their money, they want you to take other people's money. But that's
not what he's teaching here either. And then many professing Christians
misunderstand that, this passage, because they think that salvation
is conditioned on something we do. Something we do, works of
morality, sincerity in religion, trying to be good, activities
such as dying for your country or dying for your fellow man.
And all of these misunderstandings stem from the depravity of man,
which when we talk about depravity, what we're talking about is man's
desire to save himself by his works. And so it's all concepts
of relative human goodness and human righteousness. But the
Bible sets forth an absolute perfect righteousness and it
shows that human righteousness is not sufficient. It always
falls short. And understand that God demands
perfect righteousness and perfect goodness. And so how good does
one have to be to have eternal life? That's the question. Go
back. He says it. Verse 16. Now look
at it again. Behold, one came and said unto
him, Good Master. Now notice how he addressed the
Lord Jesus Christ. He said, Good Master. That word
master simply means teacher. It's kind of like the way Nicodemus
approached the Lord when he came to Him in John chapter three.
He said, we know that you're sent from God. You're a prophet
sent from God because nobody could do what you do except they
be sent from God. So Nicodemus believed that Jesus
of Nazareth was a man, just a mere man sent from God. Well, this man here, this rich
young man, this rich young ruler, had the same idea that Nicodemus
had. He knew that Jesus of Nazareth
was a good teacher, but he did not, like Nicodemus, he did not
believe that Jesus of Nazareth was and is God in human flesh. Now, the Bible's clear on this
from the book of Genesis all the way through in the Old Testament
and obviously in the New. that the Messiah, the savior
of sinners, is both God and man in one person. He's every bit
God in every attribute of deity, and he's every bit man in every
attribute of humanity without sin. That's what you have to
understand. This is part of the doctrine
of Christ. What think ye of Christ? Whose
son is he? Remember he asked that question. And they answered him, they said,
well, he's David's son. And he came back, the Lord came
back with him and he said, well, now he is David's son according
to the flesh without sin. But how could David call him
Lord in the sense of calling him God? How could he be both
David's God and David's son, David's offspring? Well, the
Bible tells us his name shall be called Jesus For He shall
save His people from their sins. His name also shall be called
Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. You see, Jesus Christ is God
in human flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness. God manifests in the flesh. The
Word made flesh and dwelt amongst. The Bible presents God in the
triunity of His persons, the Trinity. And that's a mind-boggling
truth. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. And that's not three gods. It's
not a three-headed God, as one old preacher said. It's not one
God in three forms. It's one God in three persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And we can't explain that and I'm gonna tell you something
now. You really cannot illustrate it. There's no earthly illustration
that clears that up for us in our little puny, finite minds.
But Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity. He is
God. Now the issue of goodness here
comes this way. Now that's the doctrine of Christ.
The doctrine of Christ speaks of the person of Christ, who
He is, the constitution of His person, God manifest in the flesh,
and the finished work of Christ to accomplish the salvation of
His people by His redemptive work on the cross, His bloodshed
that ensures and secures the salvation of every sinner for
whom He died. Their sins, charged to his account,
he died for their sins. His sheep, he said, the good
shepherd gives his life for the sheep. And he knows his sheep,
and he's gonna call them into the fold. He's redeemed them,
he bought them, lock, stock, and barrel. He paid their debt
to God's law and justice, and he brought forth an everlasting
righteousness of infinite value, whereby God could be just to
justify them. Now, what he's teaching this
young man back here in Matthew chapter 19, look at it again,
verse 16. And behold, one came and said
unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have
eternal life? And Christ said unto him, why
callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that
is God, but if, all right, now let's stop right there. What
he's showing this man is that his idea of goodness is too low. When it comes to salvation, when
it comes to eternal life and gaining eternal life, when it
comes to a right relationship with God, and this is something
that is so important if you're going to have an understanding
of life as it is and of the scriptures. When we talk about goodness,
We have to understand that when it comes to salvation, when it
comes to having eternal life and a right relationship with
God, goodness has to be measured by God Himself. Goodness cannot
be measured by me or you or the best, you pick the best person
who ever lived on earth other than the Lord Jesus Himself.
Mere man, the best mere human being, mere man or mere woman.
who most people would say, that's a good person. You cannot measure
goodness by that person here on earth in human terms. We all
know people that we'd say, well, that's a good man or a good woman. They take care of their family,
a good father, good husband, good wife, good mother, all of
those things. But when it comes to the standard
of goodness that only God has, None of us are good. That's what
the scripture says. Now, let me show you that over
in the book of Psalms, in verse 14, or chapter 14, the 14th Psalm,
rather. It starts out, this is a Psalm
of David, Psalm 14, one. And it says, the fool has said
in his heart, there is no God. And literally, that would be
like saying, no God for me. And so it says, in verse, it
says, there is no God, they are corrupt, they have done abominable
works, there is none that doeth good. You see that? And then
in verse two of that Psalm, Psalm 14, it says, the Lord looked
down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any
that did understand and seek God. And verse three says, they
are all gone aside. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no not one. None that doeth good. Now that
is repeated over in one of the other Psalms, I think it's Psalm
53. That same thought is repeated.
Another Psalm of David, he says in Psalm 53, verse one, the fool
hath said in his heart, there is no God, corrupt are they,
and have done abominable iniquity. There is none that doeth good. And then it says, God looked
down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any
that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them has
gone back. They are altogether become filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. Now the goodness that he's talking
about there is goodness according to God's standard of goodness,
not man's standard. And when it says that God looked
down from heaven to see, he's not saying that God was trying
to find out information. He's saying that God is making
the point that among men fallen in Adam, ruined by the fall,
born dead in trespasses and sins, and the fact that all have sinned,
There's none good in the eyes of God according to God's measure
of goodness. The Apostle Paul repeated that
over in Romans chapter three. Look at that passage. And listen
to what he says there in verse 10. This is Romans chapter three.
He says, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. Now what's the difference between
righteousness and goodness? Now let's read on. Let me read
this next verse. Verse 12 of Romans 3. They are
all gone out of the way, that is the way of God. They are together
become unprofitable. And let me make sure you understand
this. When it says they are all gone
out of the way, let's picture a person who has determined in
their minds, like that rich young man that we're talking about,
that listen, I'm going to keep the law and earn my way to God,
earn my way to salvation and eternal life. And I'm gonna do
my best to be the best person I can be. That person has gone
out of the way, the way of salvation, the way of goodness, the way
of righteousness, the way of God. They've developed their
own way. You see, God's way is the way
of salvation by grace, not through your works, but by grace through
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the works of Christ. That's God's way. So a person
who's determined in their minds like this rich young man that
I'm going to keep the law for eternal life, They've gone out
of the way. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. So look back at Romans 3. Verse
10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.
There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. Now what's the difference between
righteousness and goodness? Well, goodness is what we would
call godly or moral behavior. Now, there can be a difference
between godly behavior and moral behavior in the eyes of men.
In God's eyes, any work that is done aimed at earning salvation
from sinners Any work done by sinners aimed at earning salvation
is immoral because it denies His glory. It denies Christ. It's unbelief. But in the eyes
of men, it may be moral. But goodness has to do with morality,
moral behavior. Righteousness is the perfect
standard of the law by which all goodness is to be measured.
How good is good? Well, what does the Bible tell
us about goodness in the eyes of God? Well, goodness must measure
up to the perfection of righteousness that can only be found in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And so when he says there's none
righteous, he's not saying there's none who are moral in the eyes
of human beings. He's not saying there are none
religious or none sincere. He's saying there are none who
have a righteousness that answers the demands of God's law and
justice. He's saying that nobody can be
good enough to equal the perfection of righteousness that can only
be found in Christ. And the conclusion of that is
what Paul wrote here in verse 19 of Romans 3. Listen to this. Now we know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified. forgiven of sins,
declared righteous in God's sight. Now that's the key. In God's
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. You see that?
Nobody can be saved by works, for by grace are you saved. Through
faith, that's not of yourself, not of works, lest any man should
boast. Now this young man that Christ
was approaching over here in Matthew 19, He's wanting to say,
what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life? And he
said, good master. And Christ said this, listen,
if you, and here's what Christ is saying in that, in Matthew
19. He's simply saying, why do you
call me good if you don't believe me to be God? Because they're
among men and women, fallen in Adam, born dead in trespasses
and sins. And Romans 3.23, all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. All missed the mark. What's
the mark? Righteousness. The goodness that
only lies in God, that equals the perfection of righteousness
that can only be found in God. That's what he's saying. If you
don't believe me to be God, why are you calling me good? How
good is good? God is good, man is not. Even the best of men, even the
best of women, there's none good, no not one. And so when he says
down here, now back in Matthew 19, he says, but if thou wilt
enter into life, keep the commandments. Now, notice, he didn't say there,
if you would enter into life, try to keep the commandments.
No, that's not what he's saying. When he says keep the commandments,
he means keep them all perfectly. That's how good good is. Over in the book of Galatians,
chapter three and verse 10, the apostle Paul was addressing the
church here concerning false preachers who claimed to believe
in Christ, claimed to be saved by grace. but who said that people
have to keep the law, certain aspects of the law, in order
to be really righteous, in order to be saved. And look what he
says in verse 10 of Galatians 3. He says, for as many as are
of the works of the law, that is trying to keep the law for
salvation, for righteousness, are under the curse. For it is
written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them." How good
is good? He's talking about perfection. He's talking about the perfection
of righteousness, you see. And the reason he tells this
young man, he says, well, if you would have eternal life,
keep the law. He's going to show this young man that he doesn't
keep the law. He thinks he does. This man thinks
he keeps the law, but he doesn't. The law reaches not only the
outward works and actions, what we do, but the law reaches the
heart. You know, the Bible says, thou
shalt not covet. Covetousness is not a sin of
action. It can work its way into action,
but it's a sin of the heart. The law, you know, Christ taught
this in Matthew chapter five, when he was taught in the Sermon
on the Mount. And I believe it's in verse 20.
He said, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter the kingdom
of heaven. Well, how righteous do we have
to be? How good is good? And he begins showing them that
the law not only forbids the act of murder, it also forbids
the thought of murder, the thought of hatred, the thought of wishing
that kind of ill on somebody. He goes on to show them that
the law not only forbids the act of adultery, but it forbids
the thought of adultery, the lustful thought of adultery.
And you see, the goodness of the law, the righteousness of
the law, is perfection not only in deed, in action, but in thought
and motive. And that shows us how we have
all sinned and comes short of the glory of God. What is the
glory of God? It's Christ. And so when he says,
verse 17 of Matthew 19, if thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments. Now, here's what he's saying.
If you're going to be saved, if you're going to have eternal
life based upon your keeping the law, you've got to keep it
all. In the book of James, James wrote
that to be guilty of one, breaking one law is to be guilty of it
all. It's all together. You can't
keep a tally and say, well, now I've kept three out of four,
three out of 10, or what, no sir. To break one law is to break
them all. Now what is he showing this young
man? We are all sinners. And we have no righteousness.
by which to recommend us unto God. And we cannot make ourselves
righteous by doing good because good is better than whatever
we can do. Good is measured by God. Only
God is good. So what is our hope? Salvation
by the grace of God through the goodness, the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's our only hope. That's
the way of God. I have to have a righteousness
that answers the demands of God's law and justice. How am I going
to have it? By looking to Christ. With the
heart man believeth unto righteousness. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. There's no other
way. I can say today, I'm going to
begin to work my way to heaven and I'll fail. look to Christ. I'll pick up here next week on
this same subject, how good is good. I hope you'll join us next
week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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today, and may the Lord be with you.