Quote:
So what makes a person "good" and why does it matter in the long run?
This question assumes a standard of measurement for good and evil. If humanity chooses the standard then this will always be a moving target.
example:
A good person is one who gives to the poor, a good person is one who doesn't spank their kids, a good person is one who remains sexually pure, or doesn't embrace homosexuality, or believes the white race is superior and that Jewish people should be gassed. See where the problems arise if man selects decides what's good or bad. Also, what if a person is 'good' all of his life, but has an affair? Is he a good person? He's simply having consensual sex with another person?
The Bad News
18 But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
20 These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man." Matt. 15
"There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one."
13 "Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,"
"The poison of asps is under their lips";
14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness";
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace they have not known."
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
All guilty and the moral standard.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The good news.
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
