Charity does not oblige us to think any man good, because Christ says, “there is none good.” (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
The words of Christ in this passage should help all see themselves in the right light. If human beings could see themselves in light of these words and the great truths that are communicated by them, it would dash all pride and self-sufficiency. But the Holy Spirit alone can illumine the soul itself and give light to the truths and reality that these words point to.
Jeremiah 5:23 ‘But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed. 24 ‘They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest.” 25 ‘Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you. 26 ‘For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch men. 27 ‘Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich. 28 ‘They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; And they do not defend the rights of the poor. 29 ‘Shall I not punish these people?’ declares the LORD, ‘On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?’ 30 “An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?
If the ministers who are to preach the words of God to His people do not preach the truth that no man is good and that all good must come from God, then what happens? Men will trust in themselves and look to themselves for some good. They will turn away from the Lord and trust in themselves. Regardless of how orthodox a man may claim to be, if he is not preaching and teaching about how men are to be emptied of all hope in themselves and have no good in themselves, that man is not preaching the truth in a truthful way. Sure enough the people will love it as they will rule over themselves and try to determine what is right, but that is not something that is of benefit but instead is a sign of the judgment of God.
It seems like such a small thing to people to bow to the Lord and confess that they have no goodness in them and cannot do one good thing apart from His grace working it in them, but it only appears a small thing because of the great darkness of people in the modern day who read those words. People who do not look to the fact that they have no good in them are full of pride as they think of what good they can do. People who do not know that they have no good in them will try to do good in their own strength. Of course they may say that it is to the glory of God, but it is really to the glory of their own strength and supposed goodness since that is where their strength and wisdom came from.
The very basis for salvation is in realizing that we have no good in us and we must have a new heart. The very basis for sanctification is to realize that we have no goodness in us and we must have His grace work goodness in our hearts so we can do good. It is only when our externally good acts come from a heart moved by the goodness of God in the soul that they are really good works. God takes sinners and raises them from the dead by His grace and as such they are His craftsmanship created for good works which He has prepared for them to do. But if people follow their own wisdom, then what they are doing is not the good works that God has prepared for them to do and they will be doing externally good works in a very wicked way as they are doing them for the idol of self.
Nothing another human being can do should oblige us to call them good when Christ said that no one is good. Nothing we can do ourselves should make us call ourselves good since Christ said that no one is good. Since Christ said no one is good, and “I” and a one, I am not good. But this releases me from trying to be good in my own strength and so is part of being free to love God and do all for His glory. If I am not trying to be good in my own strength, then by His grace I can live by grace and then His goodness flows in and through me.
God Loves... Himself 
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