God’s justice is perfect and sin is sin; there are no lesser sins or greater sins before God. There is just sin whether it be murder or a “little white lie.” Unfortunately for mankind, one sin outweighs every good deed performed during one’s life. The reason is that man’s standard is not God’s standard. God’s standard is perfection and no one can meet that standard, save One.
Before anyone starts feeling like their lifestyle or life choices are being called into question, let me be perfectly clear about the presupposing statement, i.e. you are not good enough to get into heaven – neither am I. I make no apologies or excuses for what I am about to say – no one is good enough to get into heaven. That includes you, me, any relative that we might have (including my sainted grandmothers), the Pope or even Mother Theresa. I am not besmirching anyone’s character when I say such a thing. The reason is that I am not the one who said it. Jesus Christ said it.
Jesus died so that you don't have to. There is not a sin in your past or in your future which Jesus has not atoned for. Your sins will never be held against you because Jesus took them to the cross with him. Peter expresses it this way, "He himself bore our sins in his body upon the tree." (1 Peter 2:24) And as a result, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1) Before God you are accounted as sinless. Forgiven because of the Lamb of God.
The Lord Jesus who saves you has made provision by the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you live a faithful and fruitful Christian life. It is inconceivable to think that Jesus would die for you and then leave you to complete the journey alone. God is active in your life. Paul's words bear this out: "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Philippians 2:13) The battle against sin can never be won by self-determination or positive thinking. Sin is far too strong. "But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." (Romans 8:13-14)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph. 2:8-10 (NIV)
God’s grace or unmerited favor is the only reason why we have the opportunity to enter into His mansion and avoid the depths of hell. Clearly, this passage in verses 8 and 9 demonstrates that salvation is a gift from God. We cannot earn our way into heaven (that one really gives some people problems). We do not deserve to get into heaven. The reason behind this passage is quite simple: if Christ died for our sins but we still have to do something to get into heaven, then His sacrifice was insufficient. To believe otherwise is a “salvation plus” theology. Wasn’t Christ God in the flesh? Weren’t His final words on the cross, “It is finished”? What else could be left to do?
The issue of works is addressed in verse 10 above. We are God’s workmanship, created to do good works and God prepared those works in advance for us to do. As illustrated above, works follow salvation, not the other way around. Why do we or why should we want to do good works? The answer is that we love Jesus and we, as believers, want our lives to reflect the love of Christ. Works are acts of service performed for the purpose of honoring our Savior. We are not trying to earn our way into heaven because that is a price that we can never pay; it was paid by the only One who could. That person was Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God.
Does all of this really mean that I can never be good enough to get into heaven on my own? That is exactly what it means. Thank goodness for that truth. I never have to worry about where the line is drawn; my good acts do not have to outweigh my bad acts before God’s eyes. The price has been paid in full. That price was paid by Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That is a message that must be shared with everyone before it is too late and God calls us home to be with Him.
Before anyone starts feeling like their lifestyle or life choices are being called into question, let me be perfectly clear about the presupposing statement, i.e. you are not good enough to get into heaven – neither am I. I make no apologies or excuses for what I am about to say – no one is good enough to get into heaven. That includes you, me, any relative that we might have (including my sainted grandmothers), the Pope or even Mother Theresa. I am not besmirching anyone’s character when I say such a thing. The reason is that I am not the one who said it. Jesus Christ said it.
Jesus died so that you don't have to. There is not a sin in your past or in your future which Jesus has not atoned for. Your sins will never be held against you because Jesus took them to the cross with him. Peter expresses it this way, "He himself bore our sins in his body upon the tree." (1 Peter 2:24) And as a result, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1) Before God you are accounted as sinless. Forgiven because of the Lamb of God.
The Lord Jesus who saves you has made provision by the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you live a faithful and fruitful Christian life. It is inconceivable to think that Jesus would die for you and then leave you to complete the journey alone. God is active in your life. Paul's words bear this out: "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Philippians 2:13) The battle against sin can never be won by self-determination or positive thinking. Sin is far too strong. "But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." (Romans 8:13-14)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph. 2:8-10 (NIV)
God’s grace or unmerited favor is the only reason why we have the opportunity to enter into His mansion and avoid the depths of hell. Clearly, this passage in verses 8 and 9 demonstrates that salvation is a gift from God. We cannot earn our way into heaven (that one really gives some people problems). We do not deserve to get into heaven. The reason behind this passage is quite simple: if Christ died for our sins but we still have to do something to get into heaven, then His sacrifice was insufficient. To believe otherwise is a “salvation plus” theology. Wasn’t Christ God in the flesh? Weren’t His final words on the cross, “It is finished”? What else could be left to do?
The issue of works is addressed in verse 10 above. We are God’s workmanship, created to do good works and God prepared those works in advance for us to do. As illustrated above, works follow salvation, not the other way around. Why do we or why should we want to do good works? The answer is that we love Jesus and we, as believers, want our lives to reflect the love of Christ. Works are acts of service performed for the purpose of honoring our Savior. We are not trying to earn our way into heaven because that is a price that we can never pay; it was paid by the only One who could. That person was Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God.
Does all of this really mean that I can never be good enough to get into heaven on my own? That is exactly what it means. Thank goodness for that truth. I never have to worry about where the line is drawn; my good acts do not have to outweigh my bad acts before God’s eyes. The price has been paid in full. That price was paid by Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That is a message that must be shared with everyone before it is too late and God calls us home to be with Him.
