Only God is Good !

  • Welcome to Christian Forums, a Christian Forum that recognizes that all Christians are a work in progress.

    You will need to register to be able to join in fellowship with Christians all over the world.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

ChristisGod

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2020
6,900
3,846
113
64
California
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
Mark 10:13-27
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 "You know the commandments, ' DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'" 20 And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up." 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

23 And Jesus, looking around, * said to His disciples, "A How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 The disciples A were amazed at His words. But Jesus * answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 26 They were even more astonished and said to Him, " Then who can be saved?" 27 Looking at them, Jesus said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

Jesus point in His questioning of the ruler was rhetorical in nature. Do you know who you are calling good? Only God is good. He was saying to the ruler "Do you know who I Am and who you are speaking too? If you read on it becomes obvious for Jesus turned him away from gaining eternal life. He knew what was in his heart and keeping him away from the kingdom. Only God knows what is in mans heart and can allow a person into His Kingdom. Jesus was clearly claiming to be God in this passage.

No prophet, apostle or teacher has ever talked in this presumptuous way in which Jesus did in the gospels and especially in this passage in the synoptic gospel. The young ruler runs up to Jesus kneels to Him in worship and asks Him how can I obtain eternal life? Jesus answers back and said come "Follow ME!" Do you see what Jesus is claiming? He does not say, these are the teachings that God has given me or follow these rules and you will get into heaven. He did not say to follow God or submit to God. Jesus tells the man to follow Me! Only God has that prerogative.

He was saying indirectly to the ruler, know that whom you are speaking to is God. He was letting the young ruler understand who he was talking to and addressing as good. Look at it this way, Is He saying He is not good, and therefore not God? Or is He saying that He is good, and the reason this man can call Him good is because He is God? I opt for the second statement.

Let’s examine the context of the passage and what is going on when this man approaches Jesus. He says why do you call me good and points out to the man that only God is good. The man is unaware of His identity which Jesus who knew men’s hearts was aware of with the young ruler. This man thought of Jesus as just a mere man and not the Son of God. Jesus response was not one of denying His own sinlessness or deity. The context clearly shows just the opposite to be true. Jesus claims absolute authority over the young ruler by asking him to come and Follow Me. To call Him "good teacher" you better recognize who you are speaking to and this is exactly the point Jesus was getting across to the young ruler. Jesus is eternal life and the man was unaware of this truth which is rather obvious by his questions.

How does one obtain eternal life? Jesus confronted him with His Lordship when He said come and follow Me. Jesus confronted the man's sin of covetousness. It was a sin of indulgence and materialism. He was indifferent to people who were poor and in need. So Jesus gave him the ultimate test, would he obey His Lordship? The antis and non trins get all hung up on who is good and cannot see past the plank in their own eyes to see what one must do to be saved. They're still in an unbelieving state and miss out on eternal life from its very source, Jesus. Rather sad indeed.

If we further examine the context of the question asked by the young ruler in verse 13 we read; people were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them. 17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 "Why do you call Me good?" Jesus answered. Let’s see what question was asked of Jesus. How can I get eternal life?" is the question. "Follow ME!" is the answer that he gets from Jesus. Do you see what He is claiming? He does NOT say, these are the teachings that God has given Me. Follow these rules and you will get to heaven. He did not say, "follow God or submit to God", but he said "Follow ME!". Jesus is Lord and had the authority to ask of mankind, Follow Me!

John 1:6-8
John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through Him. 8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

John 5:39-40
39 " You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

John 8:14
" Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.

John 8:18-20
18 I am one who testifies for Myself; My other witness is the Father, who sent Me."

19 Then they asked Him, "Where is your father?"

"You do not know Me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew Me, you would know My Father also."

Luke 24:27
Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

Luke 24:44-45
44 Now He said to them, " These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

hope this helps !!!
 
Last edited:

Truther

Well-Known Member
Dec 2, 2019
10,295
1,479
113
62
Lodi
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
He was saying to the ruler "Do you know who I Am and who you are speaking too?

Is that what he was inadvertently saying?

Does Jesus inadvertently explain things?

If you were that ruler, would you have come up with your highlighted quote?

I guarantee the ruler had no idea of what you just said.


And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
 

ChristisGod

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2020
6,900
3,846
113
64
California
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
He was saying to the ruler "Do you know who I Am and who you are speaking too?

Is that what he was inadvertently saying?

Does Jesus inadvertently explain things?

If you were that ruler, would you have come up with your highlighted quote?

I guarantee the ruler had no idea of what you just said.


And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
Why of course Jesus did read and believe Him since Jesus is God and opens and closes the minds to receive or reject His truth !

Exodus 4:11
11
The Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

Before He interpreted this parable, He drew His disciples away from the crowd. They said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" Jesus answered them, (Matthew 13:10)

Matthew 13:11-17
11
Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12"For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13"Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14"In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING , BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
15FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL ,
WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR ,
AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES ,
OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES ,
HEAR WITH THEIR EARS ,
AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN ,
AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'
16 "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

Mark 4:10-12
10
As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN."

Luke 8:10
10
And He said, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.

John 9:39-41
39
And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind." 40Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, "We are not blind too, are we?" 41Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.

John 12:39-41
39
For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40"HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM." 41These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.

hope this helps !!!
 
Last edited:

Truther

Well-Known Member
Dec 2, 2019
10,295
1,479
113
62
Lodi
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
Why of course Jesus did read and believe Him since Jesus is God and opens and closes the minds to receive or reject His truth !

Exodus 4:11
11
The Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

Matthew 13:11-17
11
Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12"For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13"Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14"In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING , BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
15FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL ,
WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR ,
AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES ,
OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES ,
HEAR WITH THEIR EARS ,
AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN ,
AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'
16 "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

Mark 4:10-12
10
As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN."

Luke 8:10
10
And He said, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.

John 9:39-41
39
And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind." 40Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, "We are not blind too, are we?" 41Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.

John 12:39-41
39
For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40"HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM." 41These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.

hope this helps !!!
Was the ruler thinking of all the passages you posted or was he in agreement with Jesus saying only a Spirit God is good?
 

ChristisGod

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2020
6,900
3,846
113
64
California
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
Was the ruler thinking of all the passages you posted or was he in agreement with Jesus saying only a Spirit God is good?
he didn't know who he was talking to nor did he know who was good nor how to obtain eternal life and Jesus refused to give him eternal life because He knew the man was a liar and exposed it by challenging him to give up his riches(his god, idol). Jesus knew what was in his heart because He is God and He is Good. Jesus exposed him as a hypocrite- white on the outside but inside full of dead mens bones. He was no better than the Pharisees in Matthew 23 with his religion of looking good on the outside.
 
Last edited:

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
.
Matt 19:17 . . And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is
none good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments

Seeing as none but God are good, then it's obvious that none but God can
enter into life by means of goodness. However, if someone would like to give
it a try anyway in spite of the fact that failure is inevitable; then Jesus
suggests they begin their quest with the commandments.
_
 
  • Like
Reactions: ChristisGod

ChristisGod

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2020
6,900
3,846
113
64
California
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
.
Matt 19:17 . . And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is
none good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments

Seeing as none but God are good, then it's obvious that none but God can
enter into life by means of goodness. However, if someone would like to give
it a try anyway in spite of the fact that failure is inevitable; then Jesus
suggests they begin their quest with the commandments.
_
And Jesus lived them all perfectly hence He is good.
 

Truther

Well-Known Member
Dec 2, 2019
10,295
1,479
113
62
Lodi
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
he didn't know who he was talking to nor did he know who was good nor how to obtain eternal life and Jesus refused to give him eternal life because He knew the man was a liar and exposed it by challenging him to give up his riches(his god, idol). Jesus knew what was in his heart because He is God and He is Good. Jesus exposed him as a hypocrite- white on the outside but inside full of dean mens bones. He was no better than the Pharisees in Matthew 23 with his religion of looking good on the outside.
Are you a mind reader on the side?
You had inferred the ruler thought Jesus was claiming to be the good God or maybe not?

Which is it?
 

ChristisGod

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2020
6,900
3,846
113
64
California
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
Jesus thought exactly what he said....only God(Spirit per his description on John 4:24) is good.
no once again you did not read nor understand the narrative, he addressed Jesus as " Good Teacher" what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?
 

Truther

Well-Known Member
Dec 2, 2019
10,295
1,479
113
62
Lodi
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
no once again you did not read nor understand the narrative, he addressed Jesus as " Good Teacher" what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?
Then the "good master" part triggered Jesus response as "why call ME good..."

If you called me, "good Truther", and I said, "why am I good", you would know what I am saying.
 

kcnalp

Well-Known Member
Apr 5, 2020
7,326
1,782
113
Indianapolis
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
Then the "good master" part triggered Jesus response as "why call ME good..."

If you called me, "good Truther", and I said, "why am I good", you would know what I am saying.
Imagine this, someone who claims to be Christian and is obsessed with proving the our Savior wasn't good!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ChristisGod

Truther

Well-Known Member
Dec 2, 2019
10,295
1,479
113
62
Lodi
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
Imagine this, someone who claims to be Christian and is obsessed with proving the our Savior wasn't good!
Imagine a Christian that disagrees with this statement from the Savior...


And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
 

Webers_Home

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2012
4,612
726
113
80
Oregon
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
.
Matt 19:16 . . And, behold, one came and said unto him, good master, etc.

Not every translation has the man calling Jesus "good". In point of fact,
Strong's Greek Interlinear shows that the word "good" in that verse is an
arbitrarily inserted word, i.e. it wasn't taken from the Greek manuscripts.

Matt 19:17 . . And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good?

Not every translation has Jesus' question worded like that; not even close.
_