In Luke 18:18-23, we meet a young man who comes face to face with the reality about himself: he’s not good. At first, he comes to Jesus confidently rattling off all the good things he’s done—he’s never lied or murdered, he’s respected his parents, and he doesn’t cheat on his girlfriend. But Jesus responds that the young man hasn’t done everything, and then asks him to sell all that he owns and give the money to the poor. The young man knows that he hasn’t done this—and honestly, doesn’t want to do it—and he realizes that he is, in fact, not good. Jesus’ point is this: There will always be more good things to do, and those things aren’t what make you good or get you right with God, and they won’t get you into heaven. In fact, in Luke 18:27, Jesus says it is impossible to get to heaven that way. But in the same verse, He also says it is possible—with God.

While we are not good, and cannot do things to make ourselves good, God (who is truly good) can do it for us. When we no longer believe that what we do makes us good but believe instead that the God in us is good, a supernatural thing happens: We change. How we view ourselves, our works, and our lives changes. Our good works are no longer our efforts to be good; they are a result of a good God working in us.