Good Enough? (#172 of 365+)

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good,
not even one” (Romans 3:10-12)

The other day I read a comment posted by a reader of an online newspaper. I don’t remember the content of the article anymore but I will always remember her words. She said from her vantage point everyone, no matter what religion they chose, would go to Heaven.

Thankfully another reader quickly posted her own comment quoting the words of Jesus Christ: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

There’s a common misconception that people can actually work their way to Heaven or work their way out of going to Hell. As if at the end of our lives St. Peter will stand at the Pearly Gates with a balancing scale to weigh our good deeds against the bad ones. That’s nonsense! Let me explain why: Just about anyone would agree that Jesus Christ wasn’t an idiot. Isn’t that correct? So, if there was any way for the world to have a relationship with God and go to Heaven besides through the shedding of Christ’s own blood, would he have gone through all that trouble? (Watch The Passion of the Christ if a refresher is needed).

One act of sin was enough to keep Adam and Eve from having a relationship with a holy God. The same still goes for you and me. After the Fall the genetic propensity for sin was passed along to every human generation and everyone sinned. Everyone sins. Yes, even the Christians who claim they don’t. No one is sin-free or without guilt except Jesus Christ who was born of the Holy Spirit from a virgin’s womb. The Christmas story isn’t a fairy tale. It’s the truth, and that baby was really the hope of mankind.

Consider Joni’s wise words: “Two factors can make an act sinful—a wrong action or a wrong motive”. Even though I may not act like a sinner, and I do a lot of good deeds, the Holy Spirit still sees what’s in my heart. That’s why I’m always asking him to transform me from the inside out. Thank God I don’t actually have to be perfectly pure in heart before I could go to Heaven because I would never get there! But Jesus has given me a free ticket called justification. (I remember a pastor once told me the easy way to remember “justif”ication is to think “just-as-if” I’d never sinned).

The sinless Son of Man was willing to exchange his righteousness for my sinfulness so I could, before God the Father, be the righteousness of Christ. God’s free gift is so spectacular I wish more Christians would talk openly and publicly about it.

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:21-24)

Lord, I will thank you forever and ever for your marvelous gift. Amen.