Goodness - Back to the Truth

Devotional

Day 1: Blowing Cartridges and Empty Traditions

We cling to familiar rituals like blowing dust from old Nintendo games – practices that feel meaningful but lack real power. Just as cartridge-blowing became church-wide myth, many faith traditions prioritize comfort over truth. These habits create the illusion of control, making us work harder at empty solutions rather than surrendering to grace. True freedom comes when we stop trusting in inherited behaviors and embrace Christ’s finished work. Lasting change begins by questioning what we’ve mindlessly repeated. [02:28]

“He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.” (Titus 3:5, ESV)

Reflection: What “cartridge-blowing” habit have you relied on spiritually? How might releasing this ritual create space to receive grace?

Day 2: The Santa Claus Gospel

Reducing faith to a naughty-or-nice checklist distorts the gospel into a cosmic performance review. Like children bargaining with Santa, we negotiate with God through good behavior while hiding our flaws. This mindset breeds either pride in our moral résumé or despair over inevitable failures. Jesus dismantles this myth, declaring only God is truly good. Eternal life becomes a gift to receive, not a trophy to earn. [07:03]

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father.” (Matthew 7:21-23, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you subconsciously treated God like a Santa keeping score? What shifts when you see Him as a Father, not a scorekeeper?

Day 3: The Rich Young Ruler’s Scale

We measure ourselves against others like the ruler comparing his obedience – unaware our scales are broken. His claim to “keep all the commands” revealed blindness to his idolatry of wealth. Jesus exposed his hidden slavery to possessions, proving no one achieves perfection. Our best efforts crumble under God’s standard, leaving us needy. Freedom begins when we stop grading ourselves. [12:29]

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.’” (Mark 10:18, ESV)

Reflection: What invisible “scale” do you use to measure your spiritual performance? How might laying down this ruler change your view of God’s grace?

Day 4: Written in Dust, Weighed in Balance

God’s finger wrote judgment on Belshazzar’s wall and mercy in the temple dust – two responses to human inadequacy. The adulterous woman’s accusers dropped stones when confronted with their own imperfection. Like them, we’re tempted to condemn others to feel righteous. True freedom comes when we stop justifying ourselves and accept Christ’s justification. [28:21]

“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7-9, ESV)

Reflection: When have you picked up stones of comparison or condemnation? How does embracing your need for mercy soften your heart toward others?

Day 5: Grace’s Masterpiece, Not Our Merit

God’s grace turns beggars into masterpieces – not by improving our résumé but rewriting our identity. Like upgrading a rusty blender for a professional model, Christ exchanges our feeble goodness for His perfection. This gift dismantles pride, making us conduits rather than originators of goodness. Our only boast becomes the One who calls us flawless. [35:49]

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

Reflection: How would living as God’s masterpiece – rather than a self-made project – change your approach to today’s challenges?

Sermon Summary

The old Nintendo cartridge story puts a finger on how untrue things can get passed around just because everybody does them. The habit of blowing into the game felt like science, felt necessary, felt proven, but it was nonsense. The bigger point lands in faith: a lot of church thinking gets picked up the same way. Popular does not mean true, and some of those hand-me-down beliefs carry a massive downside because they keep people from freedom.

Goodness becomes the big one because so many people reduce Christianity to being good, not being bad, staying off the naughty list, and making sure the good side of the scale outweighs the bad. The “I just try to be a good person” approach sounds respectable, and being kind instead of being a jerk is certainly better for society. But niceness does not earn points with God, and good behavior does not change God’s feelings toward a person.

Jesus exposes that whole system in the encounter with the rich young ruler. The young man asks what good deed will secure eternal life, and Jesus stops on the word “good.” Jesus says there is only one who is good, forcing the man to rethink the word he is throwing around so casually. The rich young ruler wants a formula, a cheat code, a stamp of approval, some way for Jesus to validate that he has done enough.

The commandments reveal the problem, not the solution. The young man claims to have kept them all, but Jesus gets personal and tells him to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow him. That command is not a new universal rule to add to the list. It is Jesus lovingly leading the man to the end of himself, showing him that his stuff is an idol and that he is not nearly as free or good as he thinks.

Goodness rooted in self becomes slavery. Rule-breaking does not create freedom, but rule-keeping does not create freedom either. The prodigal son and the older brother prove that both extremes miss the point. Freedom is found only in the embrace of the Father, in being loved, gifted, and received.

Grace answers what human goodness cannot. God’s standard is not “pretty good compared to other people,” but “be perfect as the Father is perfect.” That makes “I can’t” the best starting place for a believer. The good news is that the one who is truly good credits all his goodness to sinners. Salvation is not a reward for good works, as Paul says in Ephesians 2, but a gift that creates good works as fruit. Grace does not become a license to be bad. Grace becomes the only power that creates genuine, selfless goodness, so that God’s goodness can splash onto the world and lead people to repentance.

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Key Takeaways

1. Popular faith habits need testing The Nintendo cartridge story shows how easily a false practice can become normal just because everyone passes it around. Faith can collect the same kind of dust, not actual truth, but inherited assumptions that feel true because they are familiar. Freedom begins when common church language gets tested against the gospel instead of protected by nostalgia. [04:22]
2. Goodness cannot earn God’s favor The “I just try to be a good person” approach sounds humble, but it quietly turns salvation into a scale. Human comparison always finds somebody worse, which lets a person feel safe without ever facing God’s actual standard. Jesus does not hand out points for being nicer than the next person because the issue is not social politeness, but righteousness before God. [08:06]
3. Jesus leads people beyond self The rich young ruler wants validation, a stamp that says his goodness is enough. Jesus loves him too much to play along, so he touches the idol that still owns him. The command to sell everything is not Jesus adding a rule, but Jesus exposing a heart that is still chained to control. [24:50]
4. Grace creates humble goodness Self-made goodness always builds a pecking order: better than, worse than, almost there, not enough. Gifted goodness destroys that whole ranking system because every person stands on another’s righteousness. Humility, gratitude, compassion, and empathy grow when goodness is received as grace instead of achieved as a trophy. [34:04]
5. Grace empowers what effort cannot Grace is not permission to become careless or cruel. Grace roots a person in the love of God so that kindness, patience, and goodness grow as fruit of the Spirit, not fruit of self-effort. Real goodness becomes possible when it is carried as God’s gift, not manufactured as a personal brand.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:43] - The Nintendo Cartridge Analogy
[04:22] - Popular Does Not Mean True
[05:40] - Jesus Came To Set Captives Free
[06:09] - The Problem With “Being Good”
[10:53] - How Good Is Good Enough?
[12:29] - Jesus And The Rich Young Ruler
[15:30] - Looking For The Heaven Cheat Code
[18:18] - The Fight For Control
[20:58] - The Comfort Of Merit
[23:28] - Goodness Can Become Slavery
[25:49] - Rule Breaking And Rule Keeping
[29:32] - Be Perfect As God Is Perfect
[31:05] - The Good News Of Credited Goodness
[35:12] - Salvation Is God’s Gift
[37:45] - Out With Old Goodness, In With Grace

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 19:16-22
“And behold, a man came up to him, saying, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.’ He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘All these I have kept. What do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” [12:29]

Ephesians 2:8-10
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” [35:12]

Matthew 5:48
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” [31:05]

Observation questions

In Matthew 19, what does the rich young ruler ask Jesus for, and how does Jesus respond to his use of the word “good”? [12:29]
Which commandments does Jesus name in this conversation, and what does the young man claim about his own obedience?
What happens when Jesus tells the man to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow him? [24:50]
In Ephesians 2:8-10, what words or phrases show that salvation is a gift rather than a reward, and what comes after salvation according to verse 10? [35:12]

Interpretation questions

Jesus says, “There is only one who is good.” How does that challenge the common idea that being a “good person” is enough to make someone right with God? [08:06]
Jesus tells the rich young ruler to sell what he has and follow him. Why does that seem aimed at this man’s heart more than simply adding one more rule to keep? [24:50]
Matthew 5:48 gives God’s standard as perfection. What does that reveal about comparing personal goodness to other people instead of to God? [31:05]
Ephesians 2 says good works do not save, but that saved people are created for good works. How do those two truths belong together without canceling each other out? [36:23]

Application questions

“I’m just trying to be a good person” can sound humble while still avoiding the need for grace. When does that line show up in personal thinking, and what might it be covering over in the heart? [06:09]
The rich young ruler looked obedient on the outside, but one thing still owned him. What is most likely to function like that in life right now—money, comfort, control, reputation, family approval, success, or something else? [18:18]
Rule-breaking does not create freedom, but rule-keeping does not create freedom either. Is there a tendency more toward rebellion or toward trying to earn approval by doing everything right? How has that tendency shaped the relationship with God? [25:49]
“I can’t” is often the most honest starting place before God. Where is there exhaustion from trying to prove worth, clean up enough, or be impressive enough for God? [29:32]
Grace destroys boasting because goodness is received, not achieved. How would daily life look different if identity was shaped more by being loved and received than by performing well? [34:04]
Grace is not permission to drift into sin; it is power for real goodness. Where would it be helpful to ask God for Spirit-grown goodness this week in a very concrete way—at home, at work, in friendships, or in conflict? [36:23]
Good works are fruit, not a ladder to climb. What is one practical act of generosity, mercy, or kindness that could flow from gratitude to God this week rather than from guilt or image-management? [35:12]

Sermon Clips

75s

“``Our goodness is a three legged table. It's not it's not stable. It's not worthy. It's not it's not gonna carry the day. His goodness, you can bank on it. It is the solid rock on which we stand. All the ground is seeking sand. It's always his goodness. It'll always be his goodness. In fact, the bible encourages to experience his goodness, to taste and to see that is a statement of experience. His goodness is so good that it is exactly what leads us to repentance. So here's the call. Here's the charge. Here's the encouragement. Let us be vessels of somebody else's goodness. Not our own, but his. And may we carry it in such a way that it splashes on the world around us, that they can taste and see that he is good. Not that I am, that he is. And then may his goodness lead them to repentance.”

58s

“We're not coming to the table with partially clean hands. We all have sin sin stained hands. We all need all of his goodness because we're human. We're fractured. We're flawed. We're sinners. We're not sinners because we sin. We sin because we're sinners, predisposed to it. It's in our bloodline. It's in our genes. It's our family history. It's what we're known for. Then Jesus interrupts our bloodline, adopts us as sons and daughters who are all righteous. All of us. That is the good news of the gospel. That is the too good to be true news of the gospel, and the best part of it is true. You are forgiven. You are made righteous. You are perfect. You are good.”

50s

“There's pride. There's judgment. That's what comes from trying to derive your right standing, your goodness from yourself. When we realize that our only goodness comes from another, the only goodness that we have is a gift from someone else. The only leg that we have to stand on is not our leg. What that creates is not pride. It's not judgment. It creates humility. It it creates gratitude. It creates compassion and empathy and understanding because we realize that we're all in the same boat. We all need grace. Thank God for Jesus.”

51s

“some might say, hey, Chris. Grace is kind of a license to be bad, isn't it? I would say that's never the case. Once you've had revelation of grace, you are empowered to do good. It's it becomes who you are. Grace makes it easier to be nice. Grace makes it easier to be patient. Grace makes it easier to be kind and be thoughtful because it's supernatural. These this is why these things, kindness and patience, are fruits of the spirit, not fruits of your labor.”

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Goodness - Back to the Truth - Part 5