Originally posted on Facebook on Thursday, May 15, 2025.

Someone dear to me asked, “Can you be a good person without being a Christian?”

Without hesitation, I answered, “Certainly” (in the way goodness is typically understood—acts of kindness, justice, generosity, love, etc.).

I continued, “But that’s not the objective of Christianity, nor is it its exclusive claim anywhere in Scripture. Our aim is to be with God, and Christ makes the exclusive claim of making that possible.”

Still, asking whether someone can be good without the God revealed by Christ is like asking if life can exist where there is no sunlight. Yes—but not ultimately. The effect only exists because of the Cause.

Just as life can exist apart from the sun, that life only exists because of the sun. So too, while people may express some form of goodness apart from God, all goodness only exists because of God. This is a part of common grace.

In both cases, the effects still depend on their causes. In the complete and permanent absence of the cause, the effects will cease to exist.

The goodness we see now is a mercy—and temporary. Only the Son leads us to its source forever.

#GoodWithoutGod #CommonGrace #Gospel #PerfectOurLove