“No one does good, not a single one.” Romans 3:12

Are you a good person? I am not asking if you do good things for others. Instead, I am asking if you are morally excellent, not by society standards but by God’s standards. While our good deeds may please the people around us, kind works done with sinful hearts will not make us good people. God’s criteria for being good are the ten commandments. We will go through a few of them and see, based on your responses, if you are genuinely a good person.
Some of the Ten Commandments (Not in order):

#1. Have you lied? (Exodus 20:16, Proverbs 12:22)
#2. Have you ever stolen something? It does not matter if it was something small like candy or a pencil. If I took one dollar from your wallet, you would still consider me a thief, even though a dollar is a small amount. (Exodus 20:15)
#3. Have you ever committed adultery? This includes lusting over people of the opposite (or same) sex, be it in person or through pornography. (Exodus 20:14, Matthew 5:28)
#4. Have you committed murder? Your immediate answer is no, right? Well, Jesus equates anger at someone with murdering them in your heart. (Exodus 20:13, Matthew 5:21-22)
#5. Have you ever used God’s name in vain? Such as oh my ─? (Exodus 20:7)

While these are only five of the ten commandments, if you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not a good person—none of us are. Society might laud us as good people, but the truth remains that we are sinful in God’s eyes.
Some people argue that our perception and standard of being good determines whether we are good, not other people’s opinions. However, thinking that you are a good person does not make you good. I am sure that serial killers like Ted Bundy felt that they were good, but we all know that they were not. Most people argue that the standards of being a good person stem from society. Well, take the Nazi German society, for example. In that society, being a good person meant being someone that killed Jews. Does this example really support the argument that society determines whether a person is good? No, it does not. 
Only God determines whether a person is good, and that person must keep all, not nine, but all his commandments. You can try to justify your claim of being a good person by citing your good deeds, but it does not work that way. For instance, if a guy is convicted for raping and killing two girls but says, “Judge, you know that I volunteered at the soup kitchen every day and organized various clothing drives for the homeless. I did all these good things, so I should be let go.” Do you think a just judge cares about the criminal’s past good works? No! Of course not! A just judge convicts a criminal based on their crime and crime alone, not on their good deeds, no matter how many or beneficial. 
The same applies to God. When we stand before God, He will judge us like the sinners we are. Yes, we can give the homeless the shirts off our backs, but as long as we break God’s commandments and refuse to turn from our sins, He will judge us on our sins alone. Yes, God is love. But God is fair and impartial and will mete out the required punishments to those who are deserving of them. 
Luckily, there’s good news! God sent His son to die for us so that He can forgive our sins. Repent of your sins. Do this by asking God to forgive you and by turning away from your sins, and He will save you. He will give you the grace to keep His commandments so that when you stand before Him on judgment day, He will find you worthy of entering His Kingdom. Failure to repent will result in eternal damnation in hell. There are no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. The ball is in your court. Make the right decision. Choose life; Choose Jesus.

Come back next week to learn more about the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have any questions about God and why He is so significant, do not hesitate to email me at [email protected] Remember, Jesus loves you!