Mark 10:17-18 NIV
As Jesus started on his way, and man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good except God alone."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
In the passage transcribed in the previous note, Jesus declares himself to be the Truth. Here, Jesus says no one is good except God.
In a previous section, absolute morality was determined only to exist in an absolute being. Jesus affirms this with his declaration that ONLY God is good.
It is noteworthy here that Jesus never refuted the application of the word good to himself, which is especially significant after his declaration that only God is good. Jesus places himself in equality with God by declaring himself to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The great "I AM" declarations of the Bible are God's declaration of His character.
Back to morality: If God is the only one that is good, then all else is not good. We can only become good if and when we align our morality to His absolute morality, align our truths with His absolute Truth, and submit ourselves to the absolute authority of an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God.
Copyright, Mark Metcalfe, 1992 August; 2003 April
See my published Christian Men's Articles
See my Sunday School series on Marriage and Parenting
Created: March 23, 1999
Updated: April 9, 2003