Danger In teaching that salvation can be earned by keeping high moral standards.

Nowadays, there is a type of preaching that teaches only “biblical” commands and nothing else. Congregations under this type of teaching are encouraged to simply be a good person and God will love you.

Under such situations when doubtful believers approach their teachers with questions about their faith, they are often asked to test their faith by the following questions:

• What have you done to earn God’s favor or please Him?
• Have you prayed enough?
• Have you tithed enough?
• Have you laid hands on anybody?
• Have you prayed in Tongues?

What ultimately happens is that church becomes less about growing in a relationship with Christ and more about fulfilling a checklist of religious tasks, turning it into a kind of Christian self-improvement program.

The danger in preaching a message that says, “Be a good person, and God will love you for that” is that it shifts the focus from grace to self-effort. This message is not only unbiblical, but it contradicts the core of the gospel, which teaches that salvation is a gift, not something earned by human effort. When believers are taught that they must achieve goodness to earn God’s favor, they’re given an impossible goal, which can lead to despair, as they continually fall short, or to pride, as they become overly focused on their own good deeds. In both cases, it obscures the true Christian message of salvation by grace through faith in Christ. Preaching a morality-based message alone can encourage self-righteousness rather than humility and gratitude for what God has done.

Let’s look at an incident recorded in the scriptures where Jesus counsels the Rich Young Ruler.

Matthew 19:16-22 (NKJV)

Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

He said to Him, “Which ones?” 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 your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

In verse 16, the Rich Young ruler starts by asking “what must I do” to attain eternal life. It has already become about his own performance. In response, Jesus tells the man that only God is good, and that he must keep God’s commandments, to which the man replies that he already does.

So what actually happened here?

Jesus points to God as “only good” and two seconds later the man says “me too” which evidenced his sin of pride and self-idolatry. Seeing the man’s sin and motives, Jesus tells the rich man to sell everything, and the man simply walks away.

In this encounter, Jesus exposes the heart of the Rich Young Ruler, revealing that his real issue isn’t a lack of moral goodness, but rather his reliance on his own achievements. By asking him to sell everything, Jesus shows that the man’s wealth and self-righteousness have become idols, standing between him and a true relationship with God. When the man walks away sorrowful, it becomes clear that he cannot save himself through his own good works.

The lesson here is that salvation cannot be earned by simply being a “good person.” Trying to win God’s favor through a checklist of moral deeds not only burdens people with an impossible goal but distracts them from the true message of the gospel—that salvation is a free gift for those who place their faith in Christ’s finished work. When we reduce Christianity to a set of rules, we risk turning church into a Christian self-help program rather than a place to grow in a relationship with Christ. The gospel calls us to surrender, not strive; to receive grace, not earn it. True obedience flows from a heart transformed by God’s love, not from an effort to secure it.