Not Good Enough

"Let us stop going over the same old ground again and again, always teaching those first lessons about Christ. Let us go on instead to other things and become mature in our understanding, as strong Christians ought to be. Surely we don’t need to speak further about the foolishness of trying to be saved by being good, or about the necessity of faith in God;" Hebrews 6:1

I heard it from someone today who claimed to be a Christian but said they did not follow Jesus Christ.

"I'm a good person.  I'm not a bad person.  So, I should go to heaven when I die."

Let's talk about why that's just not true.

What makes you a good person vs. a bad person?  Is it your actions, what's in your heart, or both?  The Holy Bible tells us we've all sinned (Romans 3:23), so we know we're not perfect.  Only Jesus was perfect.  So, what constitutes good?  I've heard many people say, "It's when your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds."  The problem is that none of us can say that our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds, so none of us is good enough.  The Holy Bible tells us there is only One who is good, and that's God (Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19).

Because we've all sinned, we've all earned death--physically and spiritually.  Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  But, God loved us so much, He gave us another opportunity to come to Him now and forever (Hebrews 4).

In order to do that, there had to be a perfect sacrifice.  But, why?  

In the Old Testament, people tried to keep the Ten Commandments, but they just couldn't do it.  They couldn't be good enough.  So, they brought sacrifices to the Tabernacle in atonement for their sin.  The Messiah, Jesus, was the promise of a new way, a better way to demonstrate our love and commitment to God.  His laws were now written on our hearts and in our consciences, though both can become hardened and seared by continuous sin.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Romans 5:8 says it like this, "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Even if you were the only one on the planet needing salvation, God would have sent His one and only Son to die--just for you (Matthew 18:12-13).  

He loves you that much.  No one ever has or ever will love you more.

His commands are given to us as a gift of love, of life, of blessing.  Our life lived in obedience to Christ's commands, beyond the Ten Commandments, is proof that we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, and that we have eternal life.  That's the change that begins to take place in the Christian.  Their desire is to please God, to do His will, and not follow their own way anymore. They recognize that the way of sin is death, and the way of Christ is life. 

Following Jesus requires faith--the faith of a little child (Matthew 18:3).

Do you have the faith to believe?

Goodnight, Runners.