'And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honor thy father and mother.'

The reason that the Lord has laid this sermon on my heart is because I've been around so many people who are always calling people good. They say things like, "Now they are a good person, at heart," "They mean well," "They really are good people," or "They don't go to church, yet they are good people." People think Abraham Lincoln was a good man. They look at all the things he said about God and they say he was a good and righteous man. Did you know he was never a member of any church? He never went to church. People say because Elvis Presley sang "How Great Thou Art," he was good at heart. He just had a few problems. Then people think he's in heaven because he did some good things. How can we think that way? Why would we call another man good, knowing there is nobody good but God? One of the reasons Jesus asked the young man why he was calling him good, was because the young man really didn't think that there was no one that was good.

When this young man used the words good and eternal life in the same sentence the Lord saw a need to help him see that there is none good, no, not one. When it comes to salvation, man is not good, because salvation is something between you and God. It is not something between you and your brother, or between you and your mother and dad, or between you and your religious leaders. It is an issue between God and man; God comparing you to Himself, not God comparing you to somebody else. Man has trouble with this truth. One of the reasons men can say that the goodness of man can save him, is because they think salvation compares man to man. So that's why the rich young ruler could say, "Good Master." In his mind he thought that man was good. He considered himself good because he had done, most of his life, a lot of good. Now, Jesus did acknow-ledge that he did a lot of good. But, He also pointed out that he did one thing that was bad. What I want to do for you is to destroy the myth that man is good, so that people will understand that to be saved you cannot find any good in yourself.

The inheritance of eternal life, according to the works of the law, says that to get into heaven complete and total perfection is required (Galatians 3:10; James 2:10). The rich young man had a little trouble. He didn't understand about salvation and about how to inherit eternal life. He thought you inherited eternal life because you did mostly good things all your life. I don't believe, however, that the rich young man ever thought that he'd done everything good, but that he had done mostly good. Because when Jesus gave the list of commandments he said, "I've done this from my youth," as to impress God. It amazes me how many people think that's going to count with God. They say, "I've done mostly good. I've made a few mistakes but nothing worthy of hell." Listen, God isn't comparing you to some other man. He's comparing you to Himself. And next to God, we are nothing. Jesus said, "There is none good but one, that is, God." All the good things we have done will never make us good enough to be with God. Man is not good and there is only one that is good and that is God. From the rich young ruler's perspective, he was a good and righteous man, worthy because he had kept most of the commandments. That was how he saw it. Most men's perspective on this is, 'Well, I'm a pretty good fellow. I've kept most of the law from my youth up. I've lived my life doing my best to keep most of the laws of God.'

The rich man was a man who lived by the scriptures. He was a good young man. In his mind he would call himself good and wouldn't have had any trouble calling someone else good. That's why he so haphazardly looked at Jesus and called him 'Good Master.' God wanted him to examine, "Why are you calling me good?" And that's what we need to do. I can understand why he would call him good from the way we as men think about things. From man's perspective, there are righteous men and good men.

Look with me in Romans 5:7. I think Paul deals with this attitude in man. We call a person good because of several reasons. Romans 5:7-8 says, 'For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' Verse 6 says, 'For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.' Now God considers, from his perspective, that everybody is ungodly. But from man's point of view, he says some men would very rarely die for a righteous man. And even more would die for a good man. So man puts people in two categories: a righteous man, and a good man. Now, let me tell you what a righteous man is from man's view point. A righteous man is a man who is trying his best to keep everything right. To do everything in accordance with the written moral laws. A righteous man can get so zealous keeping the moral laws that he'll turn around and hate his brother. He'd almost be mean to you. He doesn't necessarily have a good demeanor, because he's trying to be right. He wants to be so right that he's not even a good person. In other words he's not good to you, because he's got his mind so much on being strict, trying to keep the moral laws. This is why it says this kind of person, very few people would die for them. 'Scarcely for a righteous man will one die.' You hardly find anyone to die for this kind of fellow. But, 'Yet perad-venture for a good man some would even dare to die.' So the good man, in one sense, seems to be a little better than the righteous man. But it's only from man's stand point. We're talking about man dying for man. So this is man looking at man. They might say, "I don't know if I'm going to give my life for him. I mean, I know he keeps the law but I don't really like him that much." But, for a good man, even more would die. In other words, man would look at a good man and more people would be willing to die for a good man. So this would imply that a good man is somebody who is kind of genial and generous and good natured. They are just good people. Now, I've known righteous men who don't have a good demeanor and are morally strict. Who wants to be around them? People don't love those kind of people very much. But I've seen good people who don't keep the moral laws who are just good people. They are nice to you. People to die for. Wicked men, but good. Really nice people. They're not out to intentionally try to hurt anyone. It's like an old Granddaddy person who doesn't go to church. He couldn't care less about church, but, he's a good fellow. People would say, "Well, for him, I'd like to do something. He's been good to me. He's a good man." But that's man's view point.

God's view point of a righteous man is a person who has trusted Christ, because righteousness comes by faith. Also, in this same verse, God tells us His view. 'But Christ died for the ungodly.' Paul's not saying that God calls any man righteous or that God calls any man good. He's saying man does. What he says in this verse is that God died for the ungodly and all men have sinned and have come short of the glory of God. He died for the world so that means everybody is ungodly from God's perspective. There is no such thing as a righteous man or a good man. But man views things differently. He has a little warped sense of looking at it. And this is why some people have trouble getting saved. They won't change the way they look at it. This is why they're still trying to save themselves because they think that it's in the goodness of man. If they realized there wasn't any goodness in man, they'd quit trying to be good and trust God's goodness to save.

Because men think it's in goodness and in being good, they even convince themselves that people they love are saved because they are good. Without even looking at the reality, that they've never repented, they don't go to church, they don't go to God, they don't need God, don't trust God, don't have a place of repentance, don't have faith, and have never been made a new creation. They say, "But they're good. Don't tell me they're not going to heaven!" But I must tell you, for the truth's sake, they are not going to heaven because man's goodness is not found when it comes to salvation. Man will not find himself to be good when it comes to salvation and eternal life.

Man's natural tendency is to see things the wrong way. Isaiah 5:20-21, says, 'Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!' The rich young ruler could call Jesus good is because he was seeing evil as good. (He did not know that Jesus was God, but presumed that He was just another man). Now when God looks at it, He calls it like it is. He says there is none good but one, that's God. You're calling another man good and that's not true. He probably went around calling a lot of people good. "Well, Good Tim, it's good to see you." 'Good Master' was probably his favorite phrase. He probably did that to appeal to people. Of course, if you call someone good, they feel better about themselves. That was just a phrase. He used it flippantly. Have you called something that is darkness, light? Man does this without knowing it, because 'All the ways of a man are right in his own eyes.'

It's very easy for man to look at something, that in the mind of God is wicked and darkness, and call it light and good. From man's point of view that's the way he sees it. But salvation comes when a man sees like God sees (see I John 1: 8-10). Isaiah 55:8-9, says, 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.' Man's thoughts and God's thoughts don't go together. The way man thinks about things and the way God thinks about things are two different things: two totally different things.

I want to use my wife for an example. Most people would say, if she told her life story, she's just a good young lady. She's lived a good life. She's good. But God would look at her and say, "She's filthy. There's not anything good about her." That's right. She could not have gotten saved until she saw herself like God saw her, not like everyone else saw her or she saw herself in the mirror. When she got saved, that's what God showed her, "You're not the good little girl you think you are." That's what her problem was all her life. That's what my problem was. I couldn't see myself like God saw me. You say, "Why weren't you seeing it?" Because somewhere in my warped mind, I thought goodness was going to save me. Even though I knew Baptist doctrine. I really didn't believe Baptist doctrine. I had heard this preached all my life, but I didn't believe it. I could apply the doctrine of the depravity of man to some, but I couldn't apply it to me or anybody that I loved. Somehow, I made excuses for me and them. I couldn't believe that we were that bad.

God says your thoughts are going to have to become my thoughts, because they are not my thoughts. Proverbs 21:2, says, 'Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.' The rich young ruler was looking at eternal life from his perspective not Jesus'. But it just so happened he went to God and God gave him His perspective on it. There is none good but one, that is God.

Have you ever just stopped and thought about that truth. That means there is nobody good. Now, what would make him say that? This is something that the Bible says in several places. Romans 3:9, reads, 'What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;' We prove we are sinners: verse 10, 'As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:' This phrase is written in Isaiah 64. Now remember this rich young man was a religious Jew. He knew the Bible, or he thought he did. From a youth up, he memorized it. They were supposed to memorize it. That was their law. Isaiah 64:6-7, says, 'But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.' Jesus was reminding him of what the scriptures say and that he didn't even know what he believed. That sounds like me. All my life I was taught this but I didn't really know it. I would call somebody good and think they were going to heaven because they looked good to me, instead of getting down to reality and asking, "Well, what happened to you when you got saved? When did you repent? When did you believe?" God has chosen faith to be saved and the reason why faith is the way everybody gets saved is so it can be sure to all the seed. If it's based on goodness, some have a better chance of getting in than others. But God has eliminated goodness from it because there is no good-ness in man. So goodness doesn't qualify you because there is no such thing as goodness in man from God's point of view. So, none of us would have hope if it was based on goodness. It's based on faith. All of my life, I judged people by their works to say, "Well, you look saved to me, just look at your works." Why do men say that? Why do men prop up on their works? Because their perspective on it is that goodness is what saves you. That's why you say, "Well, you go to church. You read the Bible and you pray." We look at all these good things that people do. "You don't lie, you're compas-sionate, you don't get angry much. You must be saved." But when God looks at it, He looks at when did you believe Him? When did you repent? When were you made a new creation in Christ. See, all of those things have nothing to do with your goodness. They've got to do with the work of God.

Romans says, 'As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:' God has always said this about man. Yet, somehow, people don't listen to it. It's the most amazing thing about us, that we really don't listen to what we believe. For as long as I can remember, I've believed that the Bible is true. Every word in it is true, but for some reason I didn't understand it. I was like that rich young ruler who would have called another man good not realizing there is no such thing. Let's look at God's perspective. Isaiah 64:6, 'But we are all as an unclean thing,. . .' Everyone - we all are - all. That puts all of mankind, Jew, Greek, and Gentile alike, all under sin. They're all guilty. They are all worthy of hell. There are no exceptions to that rule! And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. I believe He said this because some might say, "Now wait a minute. What about some of these good things that I've done? Now I have done a few righteous things in my life. I've done some things that were right." Verse 6 says, 'All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.' Our very best. The best we can muster up in the sight of God is still like a menstrual cloth. It's unclean in the sight of God. Up next to God the best you can do is a stench to God and worthy of hell. That's why there is no goodness.

You can say, "Well, I did a good act." To me you did, but to God you can do nothing. One of the things that makes our righteousness as filthy rags is our motive for doing it. There is one thing He can't stand, that is self-righteousness in man. We do half of what we do to appear righteous before men. Therefore, whatever you've done was filthiness in the sight of God. God is so perfect and you are so impure, the best you can do is sickening to God. God says, "There is none good, no, not one. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; we do all fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee:" There is not a man alive that would stir himself up to go get God unless God stirred him first. Man will say, "I don't need God." The only time you need God is when you find out you're a sinner. Then, you start needing God. This is what Jesus came and said to the Pharisees. He said, "I didn't come to call the righteous, but the sinner to repentance." Because you don't need repentance, you can't even have God until you realize this one truth, that there is none good but one; God. Man hasn't got it in him to stir himself up and take hold of God; he's self-sufficient. There's not one good thing in man. Some of the best people I know, (looking as a man), are good people who think church is useless. And they are real 'good,' moral, outstanding, American citizens. They are not adulterers or drunkards. They don't smoke, or curse, and they eat well, and exercise, but they have no need for the church. The better they get in their own eyes, the more ridiculous God and judgment and all that seems to them. Good people who have no use for God. God is beneath them.

These kinds of people say that God and church is for the weak and wicked, which really is a true statement. God's salvation and His church are for the help of the weak and ungodly. Jesus died for the ungodly, not for the godly. He's the Savior of sinners, not Savior of good people. He's the Savior of the whole world; therefore, there is nobody in the world that's good.

There are these examples in the Bible: Abraham, in Romans 4:1-2; 'What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God.' Now Abraham according to the flesh, (i.e. the human view point), had some boasting ground. He could get kind of puffed up if he wanted to, but not before God! See, that's the problem. We could all get to talking about who is better when it comes to me and you. But you're not going to do that before God. Salvation is not an issue between man and man. If it were, we could all make ourselves feel good and pat ourselves on the back. You can always find somebody who will call you good. All you have to do is go to Mama and Daddy and they'll call you good. Unless they're honest and say, "Man, there's not a good thing about you, son." That's truthful there. You can always find somebody, if you want to be propped up, that will call you good. If you look at Abraham from man's perspective, you would say, "This is a good, righteous man." I believe Abraham was good and righteous. He kept the moral laws and also had a good demeanor. I believe he was a good man. But, he's not going to be doing any shouting in front of God.

The scripture says, 'Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.' Abraham didn't get saved because he was good! He got saved because he believed God! That's it! Romans 4:4-5 says, 'Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.'

Salvation is an issue between God and man. When it comes to God, no man is good! Paul said the same thing in Philippians 3:3, 'For we are the circum-cision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.' We are those who believe that when it comes to God, there is no such thing as a good man. There are no good people. We have no confidence in the flesh. We're not going to make our way to God because we are good. We don't have that confidence because that has been worked out of us. There are a lot of folks whose confidence lies in their goodness to be saved. Their confidence that others are saved, is in their goodness. Confidence in the flesh. Why do you have confidence somebody in your family is saved? Where does your confidence lie? Is it because they are nice? Well, I don't have any confidence in that. I don't have any confidence that you are saved because you go to church. I'm sorry. That doesn't mean a thing to me and I'm still burdened for your soul. I'm not confident until I hear of a place of repentance and faith and a new creation. Then I'll have some confidence in your salvation. Until I hear that, I will have no confidence in the flesh. I don't care how many years you've taught Sunday School, how many years you've preached, or how much money you've given, I will not! I refuse to do it! It's for your own sake, for your own soul. I want to be in that group that has no confidence in the flesh. That's where I stand. I have no confidence in the flesh. Now, don't get me wrong. I could find a few things. If I wanted to prop up and have some confidence in my flesh, I have a few things. You must remember that I've been going to church ever since I was a little boy. I was raised in the Baptist church, in a Christian home, taught that the Bible is true and believed the Bible was true. I have studied the Bible since I was a little child, have been in church, have been a leader in the church, zealous toward God, loved the church, and loved going to church. I was morally pure in the eyes of men. Isn't that what Paul is saying? Now, if I wanted to brag, I'm telling you that I could outshine a few. That's why I give my testimony. I want to tell you, if goodness could save you, I would have been saved, compared to men. If we wanted to start bragging about our righteousnesses, we could all be slaughtering each other, couldn't we? Philippians 3:4, says, 'Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:' He said if you think you could prop up on it, I tell you I could do it more than you could. That's what Paul said, "I more." He was a zealous man.

I know folks who think they are saved and they go to church once a week. I wasn't saved and I went to church all the time. Where does that put you? That's what he's saying. You know what Paul had to do with all his righteousness; and all his little confidences; and all his little good things he called good? He had to call it dung! In order for him to win Christ what he had to say about his goodness and all his works were that they were dung! Filthiness, unclean; everything he had ever done. Every act of goodness was a bunch of refuse! People fight conviction because they cannot admit that everything they've done is a bunch of junk. Paul said those things that were gain to him, which were good to me, which were profitable to me, I count it for loss for Christ. Philippians 3:8, says, 'Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.' He said I want to know God more than anything. I'm willing to call it dung. For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I might win Christ. Do you want to win his favor? Let me tell you how. Start admitting what you are. Forsake your thoughts about yourself and see yourself like God sees you. You'll win the Savior. What must you do to be saved? Confess you've got no righteousness and He's all that you need. He's got what you need.

Jesus said, "There is none good but God." Then He proved to the young man why. He said, "One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come take up the cross, and follow me." Oh, he loved the moral law, but he didn't love God. This religious world today loves the morals but they don't love God. They love the morals because they get to show off with them in front of man, but they don't love God. He said, "One thing thou lackest." This is the thing that makes us all sinners. The law says this in Deuteronomy 27:26, 'Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.' He didn't say confirm them by saying, "Oh, I believe it's so." He said confirm it by doing it. If you don't confirm all of it then you are cursed. You say, "Well, I haven't ever committed adultery. I've never killed anyone." Have you ever lied? Then you are a murderer and you are an adulterer. You are cursed. You'll die right with them. That's exactly what's going to happen to every man in this world. If you haven't come out of this world, you are going to die with this world. You'll get the same judgment. Hell is what they are going to get. Hell is what you are going to get until you come out.

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