Are You Good or Bad?

1 Timothy 1:15

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How can you tell if people are good and bad? I think it’d be nice if there was some kind of a meter. You met somebody new, and as you walked up to them, the meter would go good or to the bad. It would be nice because then you could think about how they’re going to be helping you. Are they going to be trusting or are they going to be somebody you can’t trust? Or is it going to be somebody that is going to harm you?

Now, sometimes we think we can run into people and say, Yeah, I think they’re probably bad because they’re getting punished. Maybe they’re even getting sent to prison. Would you call the Apostle Paul someone, good or bad?

Before Paul believed in Jesus, he called himself good. He thought he was even pleasing to God, and yet he was hurting people who believed in Jesus as the Savior. He thought he was actually doing God a favor by having them arrested and doing things like putting them in prison or hurting them or even having some killed. He even was so zealous to do what he thought was good that he went to another city to try to find more Christians who believed in Jesus and stop them. But

Jesus stopped him on the way and told them that what he was doing was evil, that it wasn’t good at all, and that instead he needed to be sorry for his sins. Paul repented and he trusted in Jesus’ forgiveness. And Jesus did totally forgive him. And then He told him that He was even going to go out and be a missionary and do good to bring real blessings to other people.

Now you would think that the Apostle Paul, as he now is a Christian, would think of himself. Well, now I’m good. But actually he thought just the opposite. He wrote in first Timothy chapter one, verse 15.

This saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” of whom I am the worst. (1 Timothy 1:15)

What about us? Are we good people or are we bad people? Well, as we think about how other people may judge us, we may say, Yeah, we’re pretty good as compared to others. But when we think about what God has done in setting the standard for what is good. We’re not good. He wants us to be perfect. And rather than perfect, we’re falling way short of that. Instead of helping people, instead of being kind through our words and actions, we’re not doing that at all or we’re not doing it enough. We also, like Paul, deserved to be punished for the things that we have done. But God, out of love for us, instead of punishing us, sends his Son into this world.

And you might want to ask, was Jesus good? How do we know he was good? Well, of course, he was always helping people, showing kindness to them, telling the truth. He did everything according to the will of God, His Heavenly Father, even God from heaven one time said, This is my son. I’m well pleased with him. He is good.

And yet out of love for us he had his perfect son take the punishment that we deserve for all the bad things we’ve done. But then Jesus rose from the dead so that it showed everything was right and everything was good. And all who trust in him can now be good. Not on their own, but from the very goodness of Christ himself.

And so if someone should ask you, are you good or are you bad? The answer’s yes. Without Christ, we can’t do anything good according to God’s standard. But with Christ, God sees us as perfect and we will enjoy that goodness forever. Let’s pray.

Lord God, your word tells us that we have all sinned against you. We cannot make up for the bad we do. Please forgive us in Christ and replace our sins with His goodness. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.