2. I’m Not Good If… I Have Not Obeyed The Gospel Of Christ: – We often make the mistake of judging our spiritual state by our physical state: Health, finances, general morality, family… We’ve got control It’s when we start to see the frailty of life and have problems arise that we start to see our need for God… Why? Don’t make Laodicea’s mistake – They thought they were good because they looked good. Looks are deceiving! – We need Jesus because we’re not good. That’s why we obey the gospel. None are righteous (Rom 3:9-21) The Great Court Scene – All have sinned. None are righteous. The verdict is guilty. The penalty is death. We say, “Im not that bad…” – But we’ve all sinned and that destroys our righteousness. Still condemned, still lost Jesus paid the penalty for our justification…come to Him!

3. I’m Not Good If… I Have Not Obeyed The Gospel Of Christ: –Paul describes our state and relationship to God when we are outside of Christ (Romans 5:6-9) Feel the strong language – Weak, ungodly, unrighteous, sinners, enemies, deserving of God’s wrath Before Christ, this was us and there was nothing we could do about it. God had to act on our behalf in Jesus. Good? This can all change through Jesus… Why would you stay in this lost state without fellowship with God? – You aren’t good because you are dead and living among the fellowship of the lost (Eph. 2:1-5)

4. I’m Not Good If… I Am Living In Religious Error: –Our culture says everyone is good as long as they are sincere and religious. “As long as you worship Jesus…” – “We all believe in the same God” – “You have your faith, I have mine” – “We’re all going to the same place, just taking different paths” Churches resemble more of a buffet line than a pillar and ground of truth… Instead of church houses we have club houses. You can find any practice & any doctrine! If you question the beliefs and practices of others you are labeled as unloving, intolerant, Pharisaical, & a legalist We’re told not to judge, as long as they believe in Jesus – Yet Jesus prayed for complete unity among His disciples (John 17:20-23). Paul said there should be no division (1 Cor. 1:1). There is one Lord, God, faith, baptism (Eph. 4:1-6)

5. I’m Not Good If… I Am Living In Religious Error: –You’re not good because it makes you guilty of living in lawlessness (Matthew 7:21-23) Are these religious? YES! Are they sincere? YES! Are they doing “good works?” YES! Are the saved? NO! Why? Lawlessness – “Without-Law” – They were off in what they did. Something wasn’t right according to God’s will. They looked God in man’s sight, but not in God’s sight. You need to know that authority is a salvation issue! Road to salvation is strait & narrow… the road to destruction is wide and broad. Go against His laws & we’re not good! – If we don’t abide in the doctrine of Christ we aren’t good because that means we don’t have the Father or Jesus (2 John 9-11)

6. Faithful Submission To God’s Will And Laws

7. I’m Not Good If… I Am Not Taking My Own Faith Seriously: –Sometimes we feel we are good where we are at in our spiritual growth, development, and service: We get a false sense of security from our successes of the past We may feel we are doing enough… more seems unnecessary We get complacent by comparing ourselves to others – Not good because we aren’t growing. Its uselessness, blindness, sin, & hopelessness (2 Pet 1:5, 8-11) May reject the concept of “once saved always saved” & all the while live out the concept by acting like we get a pass It’s not just about desiring growth, its about doing what it takes to grow… we are to “make every effort” Faithfulness, fruitfulness, maturity, strength over sin, and hope of heaven are not accidental… Product of growth!

8. I’m Not Good If… I Am Not Taking My Own Faith Seriously: –Our faith is inactive and uninvolved (James 2:14-17) May reject the idea of “faith only” but do we live it in a practical way… as if works & obedience aren’t all that important Context: Not treating others with partiality, being merciful, serving others by providing needs… It’s faith in action! Faith that doesn’t is dead faith… It’s useless. Saying, “I’m a believer” is meaningless. We live the false doctrine! This kind of faith will not save us… We’re lost. Not Good! – Appreciating grace means pursuing the kind of good works God has prepared for us to walk in. If not, I’m not living in grace! (Eph. 2:8-11; Ti 2:11-14)