If Jesus was God, then why did he say, " No one is good except God alone?

This particular statement from our blessed Lord has been used as an occasion by skeptics to speak against the deity of Christ. At first glance, you might be tempted to think that Jesus actually denied his own deity. Personally, I struggled to comprehend why Jesus said, "No one is good except God alone? Does that mean He was not good, to wit, he was not God? But I continued to study the meaning of what Jesus said until I finally understood it. 

The passage itself 

"As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up." Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property (Mark 10:17-22).

Did Jesus deny his deity?

Jesus said to the Man-  "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. In Jewish theology, God is viewed as the ultimate standard of goodness. Goodness is an attribute which God possesses in the highest sense. God is intrinsically good, goodness is an attribute which makes God God. The young Man called Jesus ''good teacher'' and Jesus immediately asked him,  "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. Was Jesus denying his deity here? Certainly not. Jesus wanted the Man to understand the implication of calling him Good. The Man was right in calling him good, because Jesus was good, but he wanted the Man to gain a clear understanding of what it means to attribute goodness to him. He wanted the Man to know that by calling Him good, he was in effect declaring His deity. 

This is what Jesus said in another place: "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.'' I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me (John 10: 11,14). So you can see that Jesus is here affirming his divine nature by referring to himself as a "good shepherd". Jesus is inherently good and that makes Him God, because it is only God who is inherently good.

I must confess that this is a poor scripture for the enemies of Christianity to use to debate against the Christians claim for the case of the deity of Christ.

Man by nature is not good

The Man who was talking to Jesus was not good, because he failed to love his neighbor as himself. He loved his carnal possessions, and was not interested in the poor. And not only him, but by nature, we are also not good, even as it is written: They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one (Psalms 14:3). We can be good and walk in good deeds, only if we are regenerated by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. If you are in Christ, then I beseech you to yield yourself to the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit, namely goodness will be more and more evident in your life (Galatians 5; 22). God bless you 
A thought to ponder 🤔 

God is intrinsically good, goodness is an attribute which makes God God.

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