DOES
GOODNESS LIVE IN YOU?
Trying
to live a good life is an never ending, exhausting
job. It is a constant struggle to keep our bad deeds in check. We strive to do good deeds. Controlling our
impulse to do evil requires our full attention.
Another
problem we have is the temptation of this present world. Trials and temptations
drain us of energy to live the good life we want to live.
RomANS 7:18-19 For I know that in
me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:
for to
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Does God understand our struggle?
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Does He just overlook our weaknesses and
failures?
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Does God want us to experience a
different kind of life?
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Does God want us to have the power to do
what is right?
THE CREATION:
God
created the human race without any faults or weaknesses.
GenESUS 1:31: “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very
good”
Why
are we no longer the way God created us to be?
What
caused us to be in the situation we now find ourselves in?
THE FALL:
From
the time of
We
spend all our time and energy into doing good and keeping bad under control.
The bad in us takes over the good when we drop our guard or when someone
offends us. It requires an extreme effort on our part to bring about good in
our lives. Bad happens with no great effort on our part. Bad comes naturally to
us.
RomANS 7:21: I find then a law, that, when
I would do good, evil is present with me.
Our
true nature:
Even
children do not need to learn to be bad. We can constantly correct them and
teach them to be good. Despite our best efforts, they will naturally do wrong
things. They are quick to learn evil and slow o learn good.
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What can you and I do to gain control of
the bad things in our lives?
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How can we bring life back to the good
that God originally planned for us?
Four human attempts to recovering GOD’S good life:
1. KNOWLEDGE:
People
have invented various ways to revive the good in our lives. Some say the key to
the lost life from God is more knowledge. Knowledge without wisdom is useless.
Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge rightly. They think that more we learn,
the more they will change for the better.
But instead people use their knowledge and intelligence to get their own
way or to manipulate other people.
2TIMmOTHY 3:7: Ever learning, and never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Knowledge doesn’t bring life to the
good.
2. DISCIPLINE:
Others
think that a disciplined life is the key. If we are just more disciplined in
our lives, in our thoughts, habits, and so forth, we will improve and do more
good. Yet people closest to us know what kind of people we really are.
Through
discipline we might create a world in our minds, but we still live in this
world.
EphESIANS 4:17: This I say therefore, and
testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the
vanity of their mind,
All
too often exercise seems ineffective in bring life to the good.
3. RELIGION:
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Religion is another option.
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Religion is man’s attempt to reach up God.
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Christianity is reaching down to man.
Perhaps
if we go to church, a mosque, or a synagogue, or if adopt a new religious
perspective, then we will become better people. Unfortunately, what we usually
gain from religion is another outlook on the world that will grow old, not the
start of a new life within us.
Ø
Religion is man’s way of reaching
up to God.
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Christianity is God’s way of
reaching down to man.
4. THE LAW:
Finally,
some say, the law is the best way for attaining the good. If we have
legislation that can regulate our behavior, particularly our moral behavior,
then we will be better citizens and people. Yet more rules lead to oppression
rather than to a desire to do right.
Our
human nature seeks to get around laws by finding exceptions for our behavior
and justifying our actions. We seek excuses why the law does not apply to us.
RomANS 3:20: Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the
knowledge of sin.
The
law doesn’t bring goodness to the life within us.
NONE OF THE ABOVE:
Knowledge,
discipline, religion, and the law can add much to our lives. All these
solutions try to curb bad behavior, but they will never revive God’s good in
us. They are all influences from the outside. When we stop concentrating on
controlling the bad within us, we become victims to its influences again.
EphESIANS 2:12-13 That at that time ye
were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ.
Should
we just be content with attempts at being good some of the time?
ARE WE GOOD ENOUGH?
Because
it is so difficult to be good all the time, many people conclude that it is an
impossible goal. They say we can only do some good deeds and that will to make
up for our bad deeds. It is as though our actions are placed on a scale. Our
job is to make sure the good in our lives outweighs the bad.
Rom:
If
life, then, becomes a test to see if we can do more good then bad?
Created
for god’s purposes:
God
has created us for His purposes, not to test us. The Bible says he created us
for good works. God made us to do good, not to test us
to see if we would do more good than bad. True life is living a fully good life
as God created us to have it. Selfishness causes us to believe our desires come
before God’s purposes. Self reigns supreme.
2TmOTHY 1:9: Who hath saved us, and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
But
the good must first come to life.
work
can’t restore us:
Rather
than being like a set of scales, our lives are like a full glass. The glass is
filled to the top with all the good works God desires us to do. But when we do
a good deed--the best good possible--we add nothing to the glass because we are
only doing our duty, what God purposed for us to do?
We
do not earn anything by good works, rather we were
created to do good works. A dog is not special because it barks, it was created
to bark. It is no special thing on the dogs part when
it does what it was created to do.
EphESIANS 2:8-9 For by
Doing
the good we were created to do is only what God expects of us.
None
righteous:
Most
often we take from my glass and so fall short of God’s purposes for our
lives. This happens when we do a bad
deed or pass by an opportunity to do a good work. It also happens when we do a
good work only because it serves our ends or desires. For example, we can be kind to my wife
because we want to ask for something later.
In
these ways, we miss God’s plan for us to be truly good. Throughout our lives,
we take from the glass, and end up short of the good life God intended for us
to have.
Rom
We
can do good and still
only
hope:
Our
only hope to become a truly good person lies only in God, the one who created
us. All other schemes fail to bring us the desired result of the good life. How
will God help us?
Acts 4:12: Neither is there salvation in
any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved.
What
has God done for us to control the bad and give life to the good in us?
GOD’S SOLUTION:
God
has the power to recreate all the people in the world, without evil. Instead of
doing this, he respected and preserved his creations right of choice. He chose
to use His power in another way to intervene in our lives. He would destroy the
hold
1JOHn 3:8: He that committeth
sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might
destroy the works of the devil.
Ø
Doing evil is disobedience
and is of the Devil and displeases God.
Ø
Doing good
is obedience and is of the Lord and pleases God.
THE WARRING FACTIONS:
The
battlefield between God and
Finally,
EphESIANS 4:8: Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity
captive, and gave gifts unto men.
To
defeat
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§
§
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He
alone can make the good live within us again.
How
does
FOLLOWING
Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath
sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To
preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
What
happens when we follow
LIFE IN
When
2CorINTHIANS
What
is this new life called in the bible?
THE OLD MAN:
We
still have a problem. The old man, the bad part of us continues to live within
us. In heaven, God promises to remove the bad in us and restore us to the same
condition as when he originally created mankind. Until then, we will have a
struggle inside between the good and the bad.
1CorINTHIANS 10:13: There hath no
temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
We
still must learn to deal with the temptations of this world.
THE DRAW OF THE WORLD:
We
also face external pressures to worldly compromise. The world in which we live
is not neutral. Circumstances or other people try to influence us to compromise
our new nature. For example, our coworkers may not want us to tell the boss
that they are cheating on their time cards or taking things from work. They
want us to do the same things so we won’t tell on them.
How
has God given us help for this struggle?
THE
God
has not left us to fend for ourselves. Not only has God revived the good in us
through
God
has given us three very important elements to provide us with a full and
meaningful new life:
Ø
The Bible
Ø
The Holy Spirit
Ø
A new community called the Church.
What
are the four provisions God has given us?
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THE BIBLE
o The
Bible is our guideline for living. It will counter the lies of
o In
it we find not only God's law, which now is our delight and desire to follow,
but also God's perspective on life and this world.
o The
Bible is the Word of God, and it guides us in understanding the will of God.
Without it we will lose perspective.
o Since
we are not neutral, we need God’s word to influence our lives.
Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It
is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
What
role should the Bible play in your and my life?
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HE HOLY SPIRIT:
o The
Holy Spirit is God's Spirit who lives in us when we receive new life from
o He
tells the person who is alive in
o It
is God who lives in us, so we don’t have to be afraid of
o When
a person listens to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit, he will make right
decisions and will be able to follow the will of God.
What
role does the Holy Spirit play in our lives?
§
THE CHURCH:
o The
church is the community of God's people. We belong to a new family, the family
of God.
o This
community of believers serves several purposes.
o The
church models the new life in
o It
also gives us examples of people who follow the Holy Spirit, even in situations
where there might be a high price to pay for obedience. These examples are
positive role models for the new person in
o The
church provides encouragement and direction to live this new life as we
struggle through life’s perilous paths and trials.
Hebrews
How
important is the church to your personal life in
VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN
LIVING:
If
any of these three ingredients is missing, a person who is new in
Romans 10:17: So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Ephesians
Does
new life in
JUDGEMENT DAY:
We
often think that God will judge us according to the good or the bad we have done.
However, what we do is a reflection of what lives in us.
God
will judge us according to whether or not we have the new life from Him. If we
have this new life, God will remove the bad in us when judgment day comes. We
will be as God originally created us to be, and he will bring us into heaven.
If we do not have this new life from God, then the understanding we have of
good will be removed, and we will be sent to hell, a place intended for Satan
and his demons.
Do
you have this life in
Do
you want to truly be a good person?
Rv 3:5: He that overcometh,
the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name
out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and
before his
Will
you be judged upon your works or the works of
YOUR DECISION:
More
religion, knowledge, discipline, or laws will not give new life to a person.
2CorINTHIANS 6:2: (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day
of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is
the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
How
do we receive this new life?
The
key to living a truly good life lies in what
Ø
He led a perfect life.
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He allowed the power of evil to destroy
him and then overcame its power by coming to back to life again from the dead.
Ø
Now
The
Bible says, "But to all who received him, he gave the right
to become children of God." All you need to do is
to ask him for new life and trust him to give it to you. All
those who believe him and are reborn and become His children.
JOHn 1:12 But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name:
Have
you invited
Have
you asked Him to be the Savior and Lord of your life?
Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Do this and be saved!
