My dad had this book called "When Bad Things Happen to Good People". I remember the cover having orange horizontal stripes and smelled like smoke. (My dad smoked back then.) I remember thinking...why do bad things happen to good people? I was a kid at the time and didn't think much past that, but as different events happened in my life, I would go back to ponder that very question.
When I first heard the gospel this skinny, wiry Southern Baptist preacher was literally jumping up and down yelling, "Those were your nails! That was your crown of thorns!" I had no idea what that meant...I wasn't there, I didn't do those things to Jesus! Why was he yelling at me? Sunday after Sunday I began to see myself as a sinner. I knew that I had broken God's laws and I was in need of forgiveness and salvation. BUT I didn't see myself as only sinful! I still considered myself basically a good person who had sinned against God.
This is the problem with the age old question, "why do bad things happen to good people?" There are no good people! Not even basically good people. There are only two types of people...sinful people and sinful people who have been saved by grace. The Bible makes this clear in so many verses. (If you put your mouse over the Bible reference, the verse will come up.) Romans 6:16, you are either a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. Ephesians 2:1-5, we were spiritually dead, children of wrath, or God in His mercy and love saved us. Colossians 2:13 tells us that we are either spiritually dead or made alive by God.
So no one is righteous on our own or made right by our own works, Romans 3:10-18. We often compare ourselves to other people to see if we are a good person or not, but that's the wrong standard to use. Sure... compared to others around us, we may be better than they are, right? I mean, we aren't Hitler! But we need a standard that is absolute, that doesn't move and will not be moved by circumstance or otherwise. Like, if you get caught speeding... the officer pulls you over and says, "I clocked you going 85 mph in a 45 mph zone." You can say what you like, but he has the radar gun that is the standard. That's what the 10 commandments are, God's moral standard. If we want to know if we are a good person then we have to compare ourselves to that standard. When we do, we see we fall short. Romans 3:19 says when we compare ourselves to the law of God it stops our mouths from claiming we are good and we see that we are accountable to God. We know it...we see we are guilty. When that Godly sorrow comes upon us, we are able to repent and put our trust in Christ for salvation, 2 Corinthians 7:10.
So the question isn't so much, "why do bad things happen to good people?" but "why do good things happen to bad people?"
Wanna take the Good Person test? Click on the icon below.
When I first heard the gospel this skinny, wiry Southern Baptist preacher was literally jumping up and down yelling, "Those were your nails! That was your crown of thorns!" I had no idea what that meant...I wasn't there, I didn't do those things to Jesus! Why was he yelling at me? Sunday after Sunday I began to see myself as a sinner. I knew that I had broken God's laws and I was in need of forgiveness and salvation. BUT I didn't see myself as only sinful! I still considered myself basically a good person who had sinned against God.
This is the problem with the age old question, "why do bad things happen to good people?" There are no good people! Not even basically good people. There are only two types of people...sinful people and sinful people who have been saved by grace. The Bible makes this clear in so many verses. (If you put your mouse over the Bible reference, the verse will come up.) Romans 6:16, you are either a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. Ephesians 2:1-5, we were spiritually dead, children of wrath, or God in His mercy and love saved us. Colossians 2:13 tells us that we are either spiritually dead or made alive by God.
So no one is righteous on our own or made right by our own works, Romans 3:10-18. We often compare ourselves to other people to see if we are a good person or not, but that's the wrong standard to use. Sure... compared to others around us, we may be better than they are, right? I mean, we aren't Hitler! But we need a standard that is absolute, that doesn't move and will not be moved by circumstance or otherwise. Like, if you get caught speeding... the officer pulls you over and says, "I clocked you going 85 mph in a 45 mph zone." You can say what you like, but he has the radar gun that is the standard. That's what the 10 commandments are, God's moral standard. If we want to know if we are a good person then we have to compare ourselves to that standard. When we do, we see we fall short. Romans 3:19 says when we compare ourselves to the law of God it stops our mouths from claiming we are good and we see that we are accountable to God. We know it...we see we are guilty. When that Godly sorrow comes upon us, we are able to repent and put our trust in Christ for salvation, 2 Corinthians 7:10.
So the question isn't so much, "why do bad things happen to good people?" but "why do good things happen to bad people?"
Wanna take the Good Person test? Click on the icon below.
3 comments:
Great post! I don't mean to hijack, but I have a personal testimony, on this exact topic if you are interested:
http://wretchedsinner.blogspot.com/2008/11/we-lost-baby-my-3-word-response.html
When someone asks me the question, "Why do bad or good things happen?", I typically respond with "The question we need to ask is why do 'things' happen?"
For His Glory,
Mike
Excellent post! I was talking with my mom the other day and she was recalling how Pastor Jeff pointed out that we are sinful creatures from birth. Even babies are sinners!
Nichole
Well said!
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