No One Is Good But God

"Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is God."

To be totally good in thought word and deed is to be morally perfect. This rich young man does not recognize Jesus as part of the Trinity, instead He sees Him as a mere human "good teacher". Jesus corrected the man's definition of good then used the law to point out his sin and reveal his need for salvation.

Our goodness will never gain us acceptance from God. In God's eyes we are criminals, people who have violated His law and failed to obey His commands. The book of James tells us that even if we so much as break one of the laws of God we are literally guilty of breaking the entire list. Much like a guilty criminal standing trial in court will never please a good judge by placing his good works on display, we will never please God with ours. On the contrary, Christ lived a perfect life, He never sinned, not even one time. God the Father was entirely pleased with Jesus, and when the perfect God-Man was laid on the altar the sacrifice was pleasing to God in that He made full atonement for the sins of His people. You broke God's law and Jesus took the punishment you deserved. When any one of us places our trust fully in the finished work of Christ we are settling our debt outside of court. For those who refuse this offer, and instead choose to trust in their own good works while maintaining their innocence, will pay their own eternal debt when they stand trial on the "Day of Judgment". No one is good but God. If you have not yet done so it's time to surrender to His authority, repent of your sin and run to Jesus for your eternal pardon.