the Good News is good because the bad news is bad

Ecclesiastes 7:20

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Well that certainly seems a bit much. I know some good people. I think I'm a decent person. I know there are some dirtbags out there and I am glad to not be one of them.

Romans 3:10-12

as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

I am not worthless. I have done some good things. I know some good people. The Bible is judgmental. I don't like being judged. I thought the Bible told people not to judge. The Bible is being a jerk wad.

Ecclesiastes 7:29

See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

So God made me to be upright? Why am I so messed up then? That's not my fault. How can He possibly hold me accountable for things that were out of my control? These verses seem to imply that God has standards for me that I could not keep even if I wanted to. I don't really want to right now, but it is discouraging to think that even if I wanted to I would fall short. If that is the case, why even try? Again, God and His Bible sound like an overbearing jerk wad.

Ephesians 2:1-10

2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Well that. Hmm... Well that sounds like Good News.