“GOOD IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH”

6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

Isaiah 64:6

Some would argue that they deserve God's favor by virtue of their personal goodness and achievements. Is there any biblical support for this belief?

Our previous release mentioned that our best effort would not be enough without God's grace and favor. Here’s another reason why I think the saying, “God helps those who help themselves” is unbiblical and thus wrong:

In and of ourselves, we cannot produce anything eternally good.

The passage from where today’s verse is taken shows a lament over human failure to do what is right. It also provides an answer to why God allows this condition to take place.

Israel was a nation chosen by God to serve as a light to the world—provided that they lived a holy, righteous life. However, they had failed to perform this role and are now blaming God for their stubbornness. They are “unclean” and even the good things they do are polluted by their uncleanness. This is a deeper understanding of sin, specifically because it acknowledges an offense against the very nature of life, which ultimately ends in death and decay.

This verse gives us an awareness of the lack of spiritual life in Israel. In fact, people have become hopeless, and no one is interceding for the nation anymore. God has given them up to their corruption and its consequences.

How do we make sense of a verse written to describe Israel's spiritual condition at a certain point in time? We can relate to it through the basic truth that sin alienates us from God. If we sin long enough that we have lost sense of what’s right and wrong, it won’t be long before God abandons us and allows us to self-destruct. Even if we try to cover it up with good deeds, it won’t help our case as our hands are still stained by sin.

With that in mind, none of us can actually gain God’s approval simply by means of good works. Without sin continuing to corrupt our hearts, we lack the ability to produce anything of eternal value. On Judgment Day, we can’t come up to God and argue that we helped the poor, built hospitals, or gave our possessions to charity and we therefore deserve to be welcomed in heaven. All of our personal achievements would be garbage in the eyes of a righteous and holy God.

Therefore, it would be biblically inconsistent to say that God helps those who help themselves.

Pursue the Savior today!