Are You a Good Person? (The Gospel in Less Than 7 Minutes)

The Ten Commandments Expose Human Sin

Are you a good person? Sure, you might say. I try to do what's right. I think I'm generally nice to other people. By what standard do you think you're a good person? You might say, well, there are others who are way worse than me.

I mean, I'm not Hitler. Okay. Glad to hear you're not guilty of genocide. Are you familiar with the Ten Commandments? It's a good short list of basic moral instructions, would you agree? So let me ask you this.

Have you ever told a lie before? Yeah, who hasn't? What do you call a person who tells lies? You call that person a liar. Have you ever stolen anything before? No? Are you sure? Because you just told me you're a liar.

Have you written down hours that you didn't really work? Not returned something you borrowed? Downloaded pirated music movies or software? Ah, now what do you call a person who steals? We call them a thief.

Have you ever looked at someone with lust? Of course. Both men and women do this. Jesus said, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Have you ever hated someone or called them names?

Yeah, I'm sure you have. Jesus said, whoever has done this shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Have you ever used God's name to curse? That's called blasphemy. It is a serious sin. And God will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain.

Right here we've just gone through five of the Ten Commandments. And by your own admission, you're a lying, thieving, adulterous, murderous blasphemer at heart. If you did only these five sins every day, that's 1 ,825 sins a year.

If you lived another 50 years, that's 91 ,250 more sins on top of what you've already done. The Bible says each of us will give an account of himself to God. Jesus said, I am he who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

If God were to judge you just by half of the Ten Commandments, do you think he would let you into heaven? Or would he send you to hell? But isn't God loving, you say? Won't he just forgive me? If a judge in any of today's courts had a reputation for letting people get away with breaking the law, would you call that loving?

Certainly not to the people whom those lawbreakers hurt, right? Say a wealthy, influential man was guilty of murder, but he told the judge, So I killed someone, but I've done way more good than bad. And he laid out an impressive resume of all the millions of dollars he's contributed to good causes to help improve people's lives.

If the judge were to say, well, you make a good case, and pardoned him, what would you say about that? How would that be reported in the news? You and most everyone else are going to say that judge is corrupt and unjust for letting a man get away with murder.

God's Holiness, Justice, and the Nature of Sin

God's standard is much higher than any earthly court. He is holy, totally perfect and without error. His law is just and unchanging, whereas man's laws can be unjust, and we change the rules and the definitions of right and wrong all the time.

Sin is breaking God's law. As 1 John 3, verse 4 says, sin is lawlessness. The Bible calls sin a crime against God, enmity with God, and a debt so great that we cannot repay it. The Bible says all of us have sinned.

The wages of sin is death, and what we deserve is judgment, eternal separation from God in hell. Then what hope do we have against a standard like that? I'm glad you asked. If a sinless person offered to stand in your place and take your punishment for you, then justice would be served, and you would be set free.

Christ's Atoning Death and Resurrection

God, being merciful, has made just such a sacrifice. John 3, verse 16 says,. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, and whoever believes in him will not perish under the just and righteous judgment of God, but have eternal life.

God's Son is Jesus Christ, the only good person who ever lived. Jesus came down from heaven and was born as a baby. He grew up and became a man, keeping God's law perfectly, living a sinless life which we could not live.

He willingly gave his life, dying on a cross as an atoning sacrifice for sins, taking upon himself the punishment that we deserve. Through his death, the wrath of God is satisfied. Then Jesus rose from the dead, according to the Scriptures, conquering death itself before ascending back to his Father in heaven.

He reigns over all of creation, and he will return again to judge the living and the dead. Whoever has faith in him, puts their trust in him alone for the forgiveness of their sins, they will be saved.

Adoption, Eternal Life, and the Hope of the Resurrection

No longer an enemy of God under his wrath, you will be made a friend of God and the object of his affection. No longer in rebellion against God, you will be made to desire God and to serve him. No longer a child of darkness, you will be made into a son or a daughter of God, adopted into his family.

More than this, the Bible says, he will give you an inheritance in his eternal kingdom, and you will live forever with God. In that place, he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death.

There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

Repent, Believe, and Live the Christian Life

What you have just heard is called the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Now, how will you respond? Jesus said, repent and believe the gospel, meaning that you must turn from your own way and believe in Jesus.

If you confess your sin to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Believe in Jesus Christ. He alone is worthy of our love, our worship, and our obedience.

You learn how to do that by reading his word, the Bible. If you believe, go to a good church that teaches the Bible and grow with other Christians. Understand what it means to be baptized, showing that the old you is gone, and you've been raised with Christ to walk in new life.

The Christian life is not about what we can do. It's about what Christ has done for us. Share the good news of the gospel with others, for you know many people, friends, and family who are going to hell.

The only way they can be saved is the way you are saved, by the grace of God, through faith, in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, when we understand the text.