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| Modern Idolatry series |


* Can Society Be An Idol?
* Have We Idolized Reason?
* Why is Good So Good?
* Why is Faith the Answer to Sin?



More Than Righteousness



There are some verses in the Bible that challenge our use of the word “good”. I think we often get confused, thinking that “good” is the same as “righteous”. There are so many verses in the Bible that show us that there’s so much more to the story than rules and “righteousness”:



For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die.Romans 5:7



Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?Ecclesiastes 7:16-17



If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.Colossians 2:20-23



Throughout the story of creation, God repeatedly declares that things are good without mentioning anything about rules. There is so much more to “good” than rules. God intentionally used a word that should get us interested/excited (“good”) not a word that feels weighty and difficult (“rules”). Whereas our idea of “righteousness” emphasizes following the rules as the goal, “good” instead is meant to emphasize our benefit as the goal.



What Happens When We Get Good Wrong?



We saw last time that God alone defines good and evil. Anytime we decide for ourselves what’s good and what’s evil, we repeat the sin of Adam and Eve when they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Whenever we try to take on God’s role and decide good and evil we will inevitably miss the mark.