What About Good Moral People?
by Joe Slater
Comparing the “good moral man” of the world to the flawed child of God can be frustrating!
Take Cornelius and Peter for one example. Even before obeying the gospel, Cornelius was a deeply religious man — one who reverenced God, prayed regularly, helped the poor, and taught his family to do the same. Then there is Peter, whose prejudice made him hesitant even to associate with Gentiles like Cornelius, much less evangelize them. It took three miracles to convince him that God loves Gentiles as well. If you or I had been in charge, we might have sent Cornelius to preach to Peter, but God did it the other way around. Why? Because Peter was “in Christ” and Cornelius wasn’t. Imperfect though he was, Peter had access to the blood of Christ; Cornelius didn’t (until he obeyed the gospel). God dealt with Peter’s imperfections, but He did so not as with one alienated from Him, but as a son in covenant with Him.
Abraham and Abimelech (Genesis 20) provide another interesting case. Abraham deceitfully implied that Sarah was not his wife, so Abimelech took her to be his own. God told Abimelech in no uncertain terms to give her back to Abraham or die! But the real challenge is where God told Abimelech to have Abraham pray for him (Genesis 20:7)! You or I might say, “Abimelech was more honest than Abraham! Abimelech’s error was mostly Abraham’s fault, so Abimelech ought to be the one praying for Abraham.” Why did God do it the other way? Once again, Abraham was in covenant with God, whereas Abimelech was not. That doesn’t mean God approved of Abraham’s deceitfulness, or that Abraham was not accountable for it. Nevertheless, Abraham’s relationship with God enabled him to pray for Abimelech.
Consider good moral people in our own community. It is tempting to say, “They must be pleasing to God: they must be saved; they must be Christians, though they have never obeyed the gospel and their religious beliefs and practices are denominational rather than Biblical.” Especially when comparing such people to less-than-exemplary church members, the temptation is strong to conclude that God must accept “good moral people” over brethren who have obeyed the gospel but whose lives come up short. Let’s remember the key point: being in covenant with God is absolutely essential! That covenant is not established simply by “good moral behavior,” commendable though such behavior might be. It is established by faith and loving obedience to Him who died to save sinners. All who would be pleasing to God must be in that covenant--even “good moral people.”
