The problem with thinking that man does not need God to be good is this: Without a god of some kind, there IS no such thing as good, at least not objectively. You see without something completely apart from us and above us to say what exactly good and bad are, it comes down to our own opinions. Since no one human being has any more merit than any other, good/bad, right/wrong become merely a subjective position based on personal feeling. It's perfectly fine to say "we just need to be good to each other," but technically someone can do that by killing you and your whole family as long as they think that IS a good thing. Who's to say what this esoteric concept of "good" really means? You might say 'but that example is clearly bad!" Why? "Well," you might reply, "It just IS. Everyone knows that." And I agree, but only in thinking from God does that make any sense. If that natural inherent knowledge of 'right and wrong' were not written into our being by a Creator, then that innate feeling of right/wrong is just instinct which really doesn't make it good or bad, it's just a random feeling that 'evolved' and does not need to be listened to. And since the argument can be made that different people groups 'evolved' different concepts of 'right/wrong' then again we're left with individual perspective which holds no objective merit, no way to justifiably impose or expect others to follow what we believe. Even the pragmatic approach of saying that society holds together better by following excepted standards of right or wrong or that it's inherently better not to kill someone because life is better than death don't really work. You have to ask, is life better than death? If so, why? If everything is random, than death and life are just two random occurrences that if given enough time will simply repeat, right? In another way of putting it, some people might think that death is in fact better than life. Who's to say they're wrong? How would you prove that without using your own perspectives and opinions-which again-hold no real objective value? Now ultimately I'm not saying that only "Christian" or "Religious" people can do 'good' things. Obviously all kinds of people and groups exist who do humanitarian work, etc., without being based on any particular theology. The problem is that without an objective law giver, there can be no objective law. You're 'good' can be seen as bad, and someone else's 'bad' can be seen as 'good'. but neither can be said to be universally 'True'.
In the Bible, we see that since the fall of man in Genesis, humanity is inherently sinful, naturally haters of God and righteousness. We can see this plainly, no one has to teach children to lie an act selfishly. In fact we must teach them proper behavior. These children grow and learn how to act but that doesn't MAKE them good, it only shows them how to ACT good. Imagine someone handling a clean white cloth. From that cloth you can make a beautiful piece of clothing, but if you're hands are covered in mud you cannot possibly make something perfectly clean. The Bible again says: "But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6) Basically that we try and do 'good' things, but since we are naturally sinful, even our good things are disgusting to God. We're simply not capable of doing anything truly right. Not only that, but we can each attest to the things we've consciously done that we know weren't right. So we're stuck on two counts: from birth we're defective, and we choose in our lives to do wrong. Also add to that the BIG problem, sin cannot be paid for apart from blood. It's simply too strong a stain to be rubbed out with anything less than life, we read: "In fact, we can say that according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified by sprinkling with blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins."(Hebrews 9:22) But here's the good bit, God made a way for us to change, to remove the mud from our hands so to speak. Again the Bible tells us: "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."(Romans 5:5-11) Christ came to earth, the perfect combination, wholly man and wholly God, and gave His life; He died so we may live. I'm sure we've all heard the familiar verse John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life." God, being the only one who could die and come back, died so we wouldn't have to. His death covers the legal requirement for forgiveness. He who had no sin, gave His life. Since He had no sin He faced no condemnation. Now He can take our names and write them to His account. We're not yet free from the reality of sin, but we are free from the penalty, the price has been paid! That essentially is the message of the Gospel and really the Bible as a whole. That God loved us, chose to love us, and did not abandon us to the fate we deserved by our nature and our choices. God has made a way of escape! The question is, will you take it?
