Are You Good?

Published February 10, 2022

Are You Good?

By Dr. Ken Matto

nice person are you good enough for heaven

Your answer to that question may be an unequivocal “yes”. You may support a children’s hospital or you may volunteer for something and by worldly standards you probably are good, but God has a different standard. Does the Bible teach something different about the description of “good?”

Romans 3:12 says: “They are ALL gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is NONE that doeth good, no, not one.”

Notice the words “all” and “none” which means every human being who ever lived. Good has to be defined according to God’s standards, not ours.

The Bible is like a mirror for your soul. We are going to see if you are good by asking you a series of questions and then letting the Bible either confirm your answers or condemn them.

1. Have you ever taken the Lord’s name in vain? This includes jokes and not only swearing. If you have done this only once in your life, then you are guilty of breaking Commandment # 3.

Exodus 20:7 says: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

2. Have you ever stolen anything? Not just big things but even a paper clip or a pen from work? Maybe you took a few dollars from your mother’s purse or father’s wallet when you were a child. Even if you stole something small and did it only once, you have violated Commandment # 8.

Exodus 20:15 says: “Thou shalt not steal.”

3. Did you ever talk angrily back to your parents or disrespect them, even as a child? If you did, then you are guilty of breaking Commandment # 5.

Exodus 20:12 says: “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”

4. Did you ever lie about someone else or made up a story about them? If you did, then you are guilty of breaking Commandment # 9.

Exodus 20:16 says: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”

5. Did you ever have sex with another person’s spouse? Did you ever lust after another person, whether it be male or female? If you did, then you violated Commandment # 7

Exodus 20:14 says: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Oh, you say I did not commit adultery with them, I just looked at them a little lustfully but didn’t do anything.

Matthew 5:28 says: “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

Jesus made that statement and the principle also applies to a woman who has lusted after a man. Adultery is also in the heart not only in the action. GUILTY!

6. Have you ever told a lie? If you have, then you have a place reserved for you in the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 says: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

You have been given a series of six questions which if you answered honestly then you will have answered yes to all of them. This means you are in trouble with God and your eternal outlook is very bleak. You either answer them honestly here or they will be answered for you on Judgment Day. You say that these are only minor sins plus the Ten Commandments are in the Old Testament. You have a problem because the following verse is in the New Testament.

James 2:10 says: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

This is probably one of the most ominous verses in the entire Bible. It speaks of those who wish to keep the law but if they offend in just one point, they become guilty of not keeping the whole law. The word “offend” carries with it the meaning of “stumbling.” This applies to you that if you believe you are good and yet pled guilty to any of the six questions above, then according to the Bible, you are guilty of violating the whole law and that means you must face judgment for your sin.

1 John 3:4 says: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”

The Bible teaches that if you commit sin you are transgressing the law of God. There is no distinction between big and small sins. In the eyes of God, stealing a pen from work is just as bad as robbing a bank. Transgression means “unrighteousness, wickedness or violating the law of God.”

2 Thessalonians 2:12 says: “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

The eternal sentence for being unrighteous is to be damned as 2 Thessalonians 2:12 states and that is for eternity. The reality is that you and I are only here for a few short years and then we must enter eternity through the sullen doors of death. Physical death is the end of life on earth and to confirm this all you have to do is look around and you will see cemeteries everywhere. On quite a number of old American headstones this saying is written:

Remember me as you pass by,

As you are now, so once was I,

As I am now, so you must be,

Prepare for death and follow me.

Oh, but you say I am a long way from death because I am still pretty young. Oh really? Did those 3,000 people expect to die at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 or did they expect to go home that night? You see the reality is that you may tie your shoes in the morning but someone else may untie them at the end of the day. Physical life is the temporary status for the human being and death ushers a person into eternity which is the permanent state. Unfortunately people refuse to accept the reality that we all must die. People prepare more for retirement which is temporary than for eternity. That is what this message is all about, to help you prepare for death and your eternal abode after death. You may not be religious and you may want nothing to do with religion and that is good because religion is a hoax and a counterfeit which can never prepare you for your afterlife.

Every human being on earth from the beginning of time to the last day will face Judgment Day, whether they choose to believe it or not. Our desires and created belief systems do not decree truth. Truth is determined by the Bible alone. You may never have read the Bible and maybe you don’t want to. The reality of Judgment Day will then overtake you and you will have no defense and eternal damnation will be your lot forever.

BUT WAIT!

You have now been shown the reality that in the eyes of God, you are not as good a person as you thought you were. Once your life is examined more closely, you find that you are in trouble and that trouble is eternal.

The Good News is that your case is not hopeless because the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners such as you and me.

1 Timothy 1:15 says: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”

The Apostle Paul wrote 13 books of the New Testament and he called himself chief of sinners because he had persecuted the church and Christians died under his persecution but the Lord Jesus Christ saved him. Moses killed an Egyptian but God saved him. Let’s bring it up to today. David Berkowitz who was Son of Sam in 1976-77 in New York City is now the Son of Hope because he became saved in prison and now has a great ministry. I know him personally so it is not a jailhouse conversion. Tex Watson who took part in the Tate-Labianca murders in 1969 with Charles Manson became saved and has a vibrant ministry from prison.

Previously, I called religion a hoax and a counterfeit and that is because no religion can save you. Judaism denies the Lord Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Islam only sees Jesus as a prophet. Jehovah’s Witnesses deny Christ is God incarnate. Mormons believe and teach that Satan and Jesus were brothers. Buddhism denies Christ being the Savior of the world. New Age sees everybody as one who can become Christ. As you can see these are just a few major religions which are very heretical in their teachings and they deny the fact that Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the second person of the godhead, meaning He is God.

1 John 2:23 says: “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.”

These religions believe they can go directly to the Father without the Lord Jesus Christ as intercessor. The reality is if they do not have the Son they do not have the Father.

John 14:6 says: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

The only way a person can become saved and not have to face Judgment Day and eternal damnation is to call upon the Lord and if God saves you, then you have passed from death (eternal damnation) unto life (eternal life).

John 5:24 – “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

As long as you have breath, there is still a possibility that you can become saved. As you read this message, you could not argue with the fact that you have transgressed God’s law, even in a small way, but that still qualifies a person to come under the wrath of God. The Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross to blot out the eternal evidence against those who become saved and without evidence, there is no case and we pass from death unto life as we read in John 5:24.

Colossians 2:13-14 says: “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened [made alive] together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”

So now what will you do with the evidence that is daily mounting against you? Will you just ignore this message or will you seek the Lord for salvation because once you die, there are no second chances for eternal life. Your fate is sealed on this side of the grave and it does not matter what the preacher or priest says about you at your funeral.

Isaiah 55:6 says: “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near”

Find and purchase a King James Bible and read it for yourself and you will read what the Lord Jesus Christ did for those He came to save.

Matthew 1:21 says: “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

–Dr. Ken Matto (with some minor editing by ComingInTheClouds.org)