Why You Should Not Believe in Yourself

“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20)

You might read this verse from Solomon and think, “Duh!” Why does he even need to say it? Who thinks they are perfect? Well, you might be surprised. I have heard stories of Christian who think they never sin.

Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2:14 when he speaks of the natural man not seeking the things of the Lord. He quotes these verses as well in Romans 3:10-12 to show the Jews they are no better than the Gentiles; both Jew and Gentile are depraved.

No one is exempt from sin. This represents their unified way of their thinking. Every man turns from God’s way to his own (Isa 53:6). An example of this was when the people at Mt. Sinai were left to themselves without Moses and when the worship of Yahweh was not absent, Moses wrote, “They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Exod 32:8).   

Everyone has “become corrupt.”  Sin is universal. God has looked and continues to look for a few good men and He ain’t finding any. Only one is good and that is God (Mark 10:17). The extent of depravity is everyone. All are not good. Peter was this way; Paul was this way; St. Augustine was this way; Martin Luther was this way; John Wycliffe was this way; Jonathan Edwards was this way; John MacArthur is this way; I am this way; this is who we are.

This is the major reason you should never tell someone or yourself, “All you need to do is believe in yourself.” How foolish is that advice and counsel? Why believe in someone who is loathsome, foul, and corrupt and living as if there is no good God? Answer: you shouldn’t. That is why the object of our faith has nothing to do with us and everything with God.