Why do bad things happen to good people?

How often have we heard the above question asked or even asked it ourselves? Beloved, Christ answers the question for us in Luke 13. Some people came to Him with news that Pilate had killed some Galileans as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. These people whom Pilate murdered were observant Jews cut down by their oppressors smack in the middle of offering sacrifices at the Temple- equivalent to a preacher being cut down in his prime by criminals on his way to a preaching appointment. See this account and Christ's response in Luke 13--

1 "At that time, some people came and reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And He responded to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all Galileans because they suffered these things? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you REPENT, you will all perish as well! 4 Or those 18 that the tower in Siloam fell on and killed—do you think they were more sinful than all the people who live in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you REPENT, you will all perish as well!”

I put some words in caps for emphasis. Essentially, Pilate had murdered some Galileans as they were offering their sacrifices in the Temple- mixing their blood with that of their sacrificial animals. The NLT version of verse 1 brings this out-

1 "About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple."

To digress a bit beloved, let's address "REPENT" above which I put in caps for emphasis. Understand that Christ's "repent" above is not that self-righteous beating of one's breast in regret for sins and trying to make things right with God by human effort like Judas which preachers of false doctrines have made "repent" out to be. That is the height of pride and foolishness and the path to Judas' mode of depression and suicide - to think that one could have done better or to try to right oneself before God by human effort when Christ says:

"There is none good but God."

But man claims to be able to "repent" and attempts to do so by striving to obey the law in order to become sinless and good/godly aka "be like God." Beloved, that has been Satan's doctrine since he first used it to deceive Eve in Eden. It is an effort in futility and it is what is being passed off as Christianity in many places of worship today. In fact, those who follow this doctrine of dependence on even an atom of human effort for the attainment of godliness are hailed as "good people." Not so, beloved. It is nothing but pride in self according to the kind which saw Satan thinking that he could ascend to Godly heights as we will see shortly.

Believer, "Repent" is translated from the Hebrew word "Teshuva" which simply means "Return." See the Orthodox Jewish Bible version of verse 3 of Luke 13 above--

"Lo (no), I say, but unless you make teshuva, you will all likewise perish."

See the Good News Translation: "No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did."

But how does one "teshuva" aka turn from sins, seeing as no amount of obedience can make any righteous in God's sight-

"For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." Romans 3:20.

Beloved, Christ Himself shows us what repentance/turning from sins is all about in Parable of the Lost Sheep -- us forsaking our useless efforts to save ourselves from sin, earthly ills and death via useless attempts at being godly (be like God) and repenting. Repentance is turning towards or consenting to be borne on Christ's shoulders when He (Grace the Good Shepherd Himself) finds His lost sheep. Recall the sheep did nothing but consent to be carried in the strength of Christ when it was found? Yet Christ says at the end of the parable-

"I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."

The last part of the verse is an ironic (and I believe humourous) response; there is nothing like a sheep that does not need repentance. ALL sheep need repentance. See this as well as what Christ came to do in Isaiah's prophecy concerning His suffering and death for us in Isaiah 53:6--

"All of us like sheep have gone astray, We have turned, each one, to his own way; But the Lord has caused the wickedness of us all [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing] To fall on Him [instead of us]."

Christ had and has no sins of His own, beloved. It is those same sins that many sheep are struggling to free themselves from by obeying the law (finding their own way and turning away from being carried in the Grace of Christ the Good Shepherd) so that they will "not perish but have eternal life" that He shed His blood to cleanse us from. That human effort at trying to be godly (be like God) which is being passed off as Christianity in some places of worship is man's way of doing things. It is what many churchgoers laud people as being "GOOD" for. It is the "leaven of the Pharisees" which Christ counsels us to beware of, beloved. It is NOT God's Way. See this in Romans 10:1-4-

1 "Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with Himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God."

For we who believe the truth in verse 4 above - putting no trust in useless human effort at being good (be like God) and trusting utterly in Christ as our Good, 1 Peter 2:25 says of us--

"For you were like sheep going astray, but have now RETURNED to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."

I put "returned" in caps for emphasis. It is the exact same word used for "teshuva" in Christ's word in Luke 13:3 when the report came to Him that Pilate murdered some Galileans as they were offering their sacrifices in the Temple. See this in the Orthodox Jewish Bible version--

2 "And, in reply, Moshiach said, Do you think that these men of the Galil were greater chote’im (sinners) than all others of the Galil, because they suffered this shud (misfortune)? 3 Lo (no), I say, but unless you make teshuva, you will all likewise perish."

The truly repentant sheep is one that knows that it cannot and can never stand much less walk on its own, no matter our born-again age. We need Christ now as much as we did before we ever knew and believed Him. Of ourselves: no good.

The sheep that TURNS AWAY from Christ the Good Shepherd's offer of carrying him ALL THE WAY home and on His shoulders, preferring to rely on even an atom of his own human strength at doing good deeds and obeying the law in order to "not perish but have everlasting life", beloved, that is the unrepentant sheep that will perish, all because he does not "teshuva" aka return aka "repent." His refusal to be carried exposes him to the attack of Satan who goes about "like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour"-- as he devoured Judas. Recall the verse is from 1 Peter 5, written by Peter who committed a similar sin of betrayal as Judas but rested in Christ's strength/shoulders for salvation and restoration. Judas plodded on in his own way and might (obeying the law to make things right) and became depressed and suicidal -- like many churchgoers today. Beloved, by God's Grace, beware of such error doctrine and their peddlers.

Unfortunately, those who preach that error doctrine of dependence on even an atom of human effort for the attainment of good or good success and their followers are being upheld as "good" in many places of worship today. No friend. The sheep's arrogant, superior and proud rejection of the Good Shepherd's offer to carry it in His strength for trust in the sheep's own ability to stand, walk or produce anything good at all is God's definition of sin --

"Arrogance, superiority, and pride are the fruits of wickedness and the true definition of sin." Proverbs 21:4.

Beloved, repentance is simply forsaking our silly efforts to save ourselves or finding our own way to eternal life. It is consenting to be borne in the strength of Christ ALL THE WAY. Anything else is "the wicked." But some sheep want to prove that they are good by walking or finding their way by themselves, unaware that the only reason why they have not been torn apart by the devourer is God's mercy that prevents them from experiencing the vagaries of Time and Chance and Satan's sifting that pushes the best of men into copious sins as was Peter's experience. Beware of such who in their pompous pride challenge Christ's "There is none good but God" and so present being a Christian as your ability to be godly (be good like God) and not commit sin. Their way only opens the door for Satan to sift one like wheat for the good he claims to be when Christ says "There is none good but God."

Beloved of God, Jesus did not come to tell bad people to "stop sinning and be good, or else...." He came to raise the dead (in sins) to life in Himself. He knows that sin is man's default mode and that all of us would be sinning copiously but for God's mercy by which we are not consumed by horrid sins and Job-type calamities, even though many boast like Peter before his denials expressed to him man's true nature.

Those same sins and addictions that you struggle with which antichrist church leaders hang over your head as why you cannot dine on God's health, provision, protection and in general, eternal life in Christ Jesus, God so loved you and I that He gave His own Son to die that we might live His kind of life: eternal life which begins here on earth. Christ gave His life to free us from every kind of sin and much more--

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds." Titus 2:14.

Imagine telling a child that he is not the offspring of his Father because he has no beard or because his beard is still straggly or because he did things to upset his dad? DNA evidence is showing us today that having a bushy beard like the man you call "daddy" and living in his house 24/7 is not what makes one legitimate. But if God is truly your Father in Christ, Christ says in John 15:5--

“I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me."

Beloved, there is no way you can manufacture a beard by yourself. Your beard and who you turn out to be (fruit/good deeds) is a function of your heavenly Father's nourishment, training and love. Those good deeds that religious devils inside church assess your development by and select to whack you with the law for not having, Christ came not to accuse or condemn us for not having them but that you and I might have them in abundance, and not so that we should boast in that horrid "I fasted and sowed my house so God blessed me" manner. We do not even realise it as His perfect glory radiates in all that we do, yet not us but Christ in us, so we cannot boast. Christ gets all the glory.

The sin which the Holy Spirit convicts the world of, it is not your inability to keep the law or those cosmetic issues such as wearing wig, skinny suit pants on men and jewelry which false preachers like to highlight as why you cannot draw near to God's throne of Grace. I stopped wearing jewelry circa 1998, except to some events where I know that I might be asked whether my reasons are church-based. Actually, I stopped because of a really vain reason and got used to it! See the sin that the Holy Spirit convicts man of in John 16:9--

"8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."

It is the sin of UNBELIEF in Jesus Christ which false pastors glory in with their claims of being able to be good like God or live godly lives by human effort that men will be judged for. Christ says- "There is none good but God" and offers to carry all on His shoulders, but such pride themselves in their ability to be good/walk uprightly. Beware of such, beloved.

If you believe in Jesus, God is no longer hanging ANY sin over your head to punish you for it. Christ died once to wipe away our entire life of sins (Hebrews 9:27.). If you have sins and lay yourself at His feet like the helpless adulteress whom the religious Pharisees dragged to Him for condemnation, He will never condemn you. He came to free us from every kind of sin--

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds." Titus 2:14.

It is sad to see "men of God" positioning themselves as good because of their "sinlessness" and "good works" while hanging the threat of punishment for sins over the head of helpless sinners who are powerless to save themselves (no one can) and right inside church, all of this when the purpose of Christ's coming is to make us godly, save us from our sins and cause us to live godly lives.

Back to Luke 13.

1 "At that time, some people came and reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And He responded to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all Galileans because they suffered these things? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you REPENT, you will all perish as well! 4 Or those 18 that the tower in Siloam fell on and killed—do you think they were more sinful than all the people who live in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you REPENT, you will all perish as well!”

Christ responded to the report on Pilate's slaughter of the Galileans during their offering of their sacrifices at the Temple with--

"Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?"

Obviously the people who brought the news to Christ thought that the murdered Galileans suffered such gruesome deaths because were worse sinners. How many times have we seen calamity befall others and thought that they must have done some kind of horrid evil to deserve that kind of gruesome deal? And what about people who are seen as "good" inside church because of their many good deeds and how they help others? When horrible things befall such, often we are quick to justify the victim (call him good) and judge God (why did He let it happen? Well, He knows best) with our referencing of what such have done and what godly lives they led.

We see an example of this justification of humans in Acts 9 where a certain disciple (not a believer) named Tabitha/Dorcas who was "rich in acts of kindness and charity which she continually did" became sick and died. See what happened when Peter arrived and was taken to her body--

"all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing [him] all the tunics and robes that Dorcas used to make while she was with them."

Tabitha/Dorcas' beneficiaries did what most among us do today when such a terrible thing happens to a person who was rich in acts of kindness and charitable deeds: we tend to present those rich acts of kindness and charitable deeds as why "something like this should not happen to such a person but God knows why." As if it God's will for any to perish. But look at Peter's response in verse 40:

40 "But Peter sent them all out [of the room] and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise!” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up."

What do we think Peter prayed? That God should consider Tabitha's good works and raise her from the dead in Jesus' name since "She is not the kind of person to just die like that"? That would mean that Tabitha did her works in her own strength and so didn't deserve to die, but God let her die anyway! Are we talking about same God who gave us His own Son that we might not die but live? Plus this is how God sees such human effort-driven righteous works that many among us lift up when we ask the question "Why do bad things happen to good people" -

"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight." Isaiah 64:6.

Beloved, Peter sent the mourners and all of their EVIDENCES for why "such a thing should not happen to such a good person" OUT of the room so that no one will ever say that God either caused or reconsidered her death because "Tabitha is not that kind of person that this kind of thing should be happening to."

Beloved, Christ says "There is none good but God."

The reality is all have sinned and the wages of sin is death. Death is what every man deserved, no matter how "good" a person seems to be. Understand that there is no good in man of himself. The only reason why you and I who believe in Jesus are not wallowing in the vilest sins and Job-type calamities right now is written for us in 1 Corinthians 10--

"12"So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

No one is good. As it is written in Romans 3:10-- "There is none righteous; no, not one."

What we all deserved was death. And Bible death (translated from "Thanatos" in the original Greek text) is a process that begins with earthly ills and culminates in the second death in hell- a death that Christ died for all.

Understand that nobody is good of themselves. Romans 5:9 shows us the only reason why anyone is declared good/righteous in God's sight and get to escape punishment--

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Only the blood of Jesus makes the difference between the living (in Christ) and the dead, even the dead in trespasses who are so because such hold on to their ability to keep the law in order to be godly, not relinquishing their will to Christ and so refuse to depend on Him for Righteousness and Strength.

For every sin or calamity that we see in the life of others, know that the reality is:

"There I go but for the Grace of God."

Apart from Christ, should God remove His restraining hand and let Satan the Accuser call anybody's court case number to face a trial, that one is finished because the law condemns the best of us. But Grace saves the worst of us.

Also, recall that Pilate's slaughtering of the Jews as they offered their sacrifices happened in Galilee? The people of Jerusalem looked upon the Galileans as a "raz" and uneducated bunch. the same way some among us look down on those who attend churches with names like "The Atomic Bomb Bible Brigade Ministry" etc and whose "pastor" gets them to drink their bath water and eat grass. Even on the day of Pentecost when God gave the Holy Spirit to Christ's followers who were mainly uneducated Galileans, Jews from all over the world who had gathered in Jerusalem were flummoxed at their utterances-

"And they were amazed and wondered, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?" Acts 2:7

So Christ pointed out another calamity that happened in high and lofty Jerusalem for those who might think that that kind of calamity that Pilate engineered only happened in "raz" Galilee --

"And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem?"

Beloved, understand that the doctrine of those "raz" grass-eating churches is no different from that of some mega-churches that are patronized by professionals- some are even led by people with degrees from STEM fields. The approach of the latter is simply more refined. The doctrine is the same: burdening the flock with the task of attaining even a smidgen of godliness by human effort and terrorizing the flock with God's wrath which no believer in Christ will ever experience. The doctrine is the same aka that Christ-less -

"Now that you are born-again, you have to do your best to be sinless and godly (be like God) so that God can bless you and so that you do not perish but have everlasting life."

One thing that both the unsophisticated and the refined churches that follow such doctrine have in common with that of those who were slaughtered in Galilee and those who were crushed in Jerusalem: all are focused on trying to please God but they are all Christ-less. Only in Christ do we get to "not perish but have eternal life."

Christ was essentially telling the crowd that they were no better than the people of Galilee whom Pilate slaughtered or the eighteen people in Jerusalem whom the Tower of Siloam fell upon: all were dead in sin and equally in need of repentance (consenting to having Christ as their utter Righteousness and Strength) or else they would all likewise perish. Only God's mercy stood between them and their experiencing the same fate as the dead.

And that rejection of what Christ has done for what man must do to get into God's good books is why bad things happen to people whom the world sees as good, whether churchgoer or not. One does not have to believe in God for the law of sin and death which governs the world to condemn anyone, just as one does not have to believe in the law of gravity before splatting on the concrete below should he jump of a skyscraper. The law condemns the best of those who try to keep it in order to get an acquittal from God the Righteous Judge should Satan the Accuser/ prosecutor come knocking with charges/accusations. Our warfare is a LEGAL battle, beloved. But this is our confidence when we have Christ as our Righteousness and Strength: Romans 8:1-4--

"So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One. 2 For the “law” of the Spirit of life flowing through the anointing of Jesus has liberated us from the “law” of sin and death. 3 For God achieved what the law was unable to accomplish, because the law was limited by the weakness of human nature.

Yet God sent us His Son in human form to identify with human weakness. Clothed with humanity, God’s Son gave His body to be the sin-offering so that God could once and for all condemn the guilt and power of sin. 4 So now every righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled through the Anointed One living His life in us. And we are free to live, not according to our flesh, but by the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit!"

Beloved, "There is none good but God." Christ's word. Apart from Christ, the only reason why anyone alive today is still breathing and not enduring Job-type calamities is God's mercy/restraining hand- the same restraint or hedge ("suwk" in Hebrew which means hedge or restraint) that preserved self-righteous Job who thought he was good until God lifted His restraining hand that prevents man from experiencing what he truly deserves for his sins. And there was Job, lamenting that (to paraphrase) "this kind of thing should not be happening to me" because "I was eyes to the blind" and his other works, until the Lord replied him. He saw his error and wrote "I abhor myself". Thank God for restoration.

Asking the question "Why do bad things happen to good people" is akin to asking God why those calamities befell Job since he was good: justifying "no good" man who only deserves death and blaming God. No matter how good man thinks he is, of himself, what he deserved was death. And Bible death is not just "stopped breathing." It is translated from the Greek word "Thanatos" which means--

• the misery of the soul arising from sin, which begins on earth but lasts and increases after the death of the body in hell

• the miserable state of the wicked dead in hell

• in the widest sense, death comprising all the miseries arising from sin, as well physical death as the loss of a life consecrated to God and blessed in him on earth, to be followed by wretchedness in hell.

Beloved of God, God is the Righteous Judge. His Righteousness and Justice demand that every sin be punished to the uttermost. Even we would be appalled if an earthly judge tried to let his beloved child off the hook for a crime for which the law demands the death penalty. The law requires the death of all who have sinned - a death that Christ died for all so that we "should not perish but have everlasting life." Anyone who thinks he is good by himself rejects Christ as his good for his own (self-)righteousnesses which are like a menstrual rag in God's sight according to Isaiah 64:6. Such may indulge in many activities to please God, but are only existing because of God's mercy aka preservation from punishment that one deserves.

Only the blood of Jesus Christ who paid the wages of sin for the world that God so loved suffices for acquittal from judgment. Offering anything else like man's obedience, fasts, seeds, 70 days praise marathon and what not in exchange for salvation from lack, unemployment and other earthly ills aka symptoms of death is akin to a condemned criminal expecting a righteous judge to reverse his sentence because he washed church toilet, sang the praises of the judge and helped the needy.

Immediately after Christ explained to the people that they were no better than those who died such gruesome deaths, He told this parable:

"6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down."

Now any Jew who knows the Torah will find verse 6 to be very strange- a fig tree planted in a vineyard where grapes are planted is something that the law forbids. Deuteronomy 22:9 says--

“You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled."

To cut a long story short, God is the Owner of the vineyard. Christ in whom is the fullness of the Godhead bodily is the Dresser or Keeper. The fig tree in the vineyard is a picture of self-righteousness in the church (vineyard) which is all about righteousness by faith in Christ. Recall Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves in Eden when they saw that they were naked (lacking in righteousness) after eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil- a picture of the law which tells what is good and what is evil and kills just like the tree? That is the purpose of the law, beloved- to show us how naked (devoid of righteousness/guilty of sin) we are--

"19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." Romans 3.

It's not surprising that the Owner of the vineyard found no fruit on the fig tree in His vineyard. But this is not because the person with the "fig tree" mentality is not producing works. It is because all of his (self-)righteous works of the law which he is doing in a bid to get God to bless him are as described in Isaiah 64:6--

"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

Like the woman with the issue of blood who could only produce menstruation rags and no child/fruit as long as she was enmeshed in all sorts of fasts, attempts at obeying the law and works in a bid to bear fruit, such people are inside church trying to bear fruit by their works. But only when we forsake such self- righteous "fig leaves" works and depend utterly on Christ as our Righteousness and Strength do we bear "much fruit."

So the Vinedresser (Christ Himself who speaks God's heart) said:

"8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall DIG about it, and DUNG it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down."

I put "dig" and "dung" in caps for emphasis.

"Dig" in Hebrew is "Karah" and it means "to give a banquet or feast." Beloved, Christ's "I shall dig about" the fig tree is Him inviting the self-righteous to come and feast FREELY on His goodness of salvation from sins, redemption from the curse, freedom from satanic oppression and every earthly ill which many are trying to get from God by their obedience and 70 days fasts. We see this in the Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14:15-24 where the Banquet Giver invited many noble men and thy gave silly excuses for their inability to attend. Also very important:

Dung it. Dung it. Dung it. If you take anything away from this piece, by God's Grace, let it be "Dung it." This is what Christ is doing in the lives of all who today - Dunging the fig tree aka those who think that they are or can produce the fruit of righteousness before God by their arm of flesh/human effort.

But what does "Dung it" it mean?

We see this in the life of Paul- a former Pharisee of Pharisees who, according to himself, "obeyed the law without fault" and wrote that "According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless." Paul had stupendously more human credentials than those which many wave about as why God blesses or should bless them today. But he counted all of his works/credentials as DUNG so that he might gain Christ!---

2 "Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh!3 For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials 4 —though mine too are significant. If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, I have more: 5 I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee. 6 In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless. 7 But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. 8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as DUNG! - that I may gain Christ, 9 and be found in Him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness —a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness."

Beloved, that is the life of the one for whom Christ has "Dung it." He stripped us of all self-righteous works which man does to get God to bless, save and deliver and clothed us with His own robe of righteousness which is free for all who stop their silly efforts to save themselves and look utterly to Christ for salvation.

This is what He wants you to do, beloved-- like Paul, see all those fig leaves/self righteous works of the law and those activities which "pastor" says will make God bless, save or deliver you as DUNG. They do nothing but serve as a barrier to being embraced in God's Grace. As it was with the woman with the issue of blood, only by abandoning such works and trusting utterly in Christ (being in union with Him) do we get to stop producing "a menstrual rag" and get to bear much fruit.

Beloved of God, let's not be found asking those kinds of questions-- "why do bad things happen to good people?" Christ says "There is none good but God." Such questions attempt to justify man (claim that man is good, challenging Christ) and blame God. If He were not "digging" and "dunging" which is why God sent Him to die for the world, all of us would be cut off. So by His Grace, let's keep on sharing the Good News about Christ who suffered and died to make us good-- like God- so that more people can live the abundant life in Christ Jesus.