Most people down deep in their heart, they want to believe they are good – even good enough to earn a favorable Eternity. Most people you talk to today want to believe they are ‘pretty good.’ Yet, I’ve never met someone who would go so far as to say they are ‘perfect.’ That’s interesting isn’t it? We wouldn’t say that we are ‘perfect,’ but we don’t want to be called ‘bad’ either. Somehow as self-righteous humans we’ve created this uncritical gray area that you might call “not too bad.” This ‘neutral gray area’ soothes the guilty conscience for just about everybody, because we each draw our own lines and standards, and there’s always somebody “worse than us” to whom we compare ourselves. Generally, we reason that we are “pretty good” so long as we can point to someone who is worse than we are! We deceive ourselves into thinking that we’re okay with God. But everybody is bad, I’m bad, you’re bad, everyone breathing is bad. You may not consider yourself “too bad” or “really bad” – but you know as well as I do that you’re not perfect either. Only Jesus Christ was perfect.
Here’s what God says about all of us, “Romans 3:23” Romans 3:10; Simply put, nobody is perfect. We all fall short of God’s glory or God’s perfect standard—absolute sinless perfection. Think of it this way. What if God commanded all of us to jump to the moon? You might be able to jump higher than I can, and I might be able to jump higher than one of my children, but in the end, we all fall ‘way short’ of the commandment. Simply put, God says to the human race, “You have a deep problem – You sin. You are imperfect. You fall short of my glory. You are sinful.” You must be willing to admit that the sin problem exists in your soul. For most people, this is the biggest hurdle for them to get over.
Remember, God doesn’t compare us to someone other sinner. God using His own sinless perfection (Jesus Christ) – His own glory as the standard for righteousness. No matter how good you think you are, when compared to God’s holiness, we’re all bad – real bad. God holds us to a perfect standard. You ask, “Why would He hold us to a perfect standard when He knows that it is impossible for us to meet that standard? There’s only one conclusion. To help us realize that it’s not about DO, it’s all about DONE. It’s not about jumping high enough, it’s about admitting that we can’t jump high enough, and then trusting in Someone more powerful than ourselves to lift us up high enough!
If God literally required us to jump to the Moon to get to Heaven, would you try? Would you despair, or would you ask for a miracle? One thing is for sure, you would immediately conclude that you couldn’t get there on your own. It would take a miracle. And it will take a miracle to save a sinner like you and me. That is what God means in Ecc 7:20. God says that our sins make even our good works worthless in His eyes, because our sins literally take us away from Him. See Isa 64:6. God wants us to admit and accept the conclusion that we can’t get to Him on our own.
God says there is a great distance between Him and sinners – a distance created by our sin. And doing things in our own self-righteousness cannot close the gap. Doing ‘good stuff’ doesn’t pay for ‘bad stuff’ anymore than ‘not using my Visa card’ would pay for my previous credit card debt. Being a good person or ‘turning over a new leaf’ cannot negate you sins of the past or in any way undo the iniquity that you’ve committed in thought, word, and deed. You’re in way over your head in sinfulness, and you were born that way. (See Psa 51:5) Sin is buried deep in your nature and sin isn’t a ‘performance’ problem or a ‘behavior’ problem. It’s not a ‘doing’ problem, it’s a ‘being’ problem.
When you were a child, hopefully no one ever taught you to sin. Yet, before you could even talk or walk, you were selfish. Shortly thereafter you started to disobey, display a bad attitude, and throw temper tantrums. Just a few years later into your life you started to lie, fight, argue, steal and even intentionally hurt others. Where did this nature come from? The answer is found in Romans 5:12. Simply put, sin is in every one of us on the planet. From the cradle, every one of us has the natural tendency to do what is wrong. But please understand, it’s more than just “doing wrong.” It’s a state of being. We have a sin nature, and we need a new nature. Sin is in us, like a deadly disease – a fatal spiritual birth defect. You and I, because of our sin, are naturally separated from God – dead to God because of our sinfulness. We are imperfect, we fall way short of God’s glory; and Sin, our spiritual birth defect, has caused a massive separation between us sinners and our Creator.
This is pretty bad news, but just like when you go to doctor; sometimes you have to accept bad news before you can apply the good news. For example: If the doctor gave you a physical and the blood tests identified that you have cancer, and the doctor tells you, “You’ve got cancer…BUT…we have the cure! Well, before you can receive God’s cure, you must receive God’s diagnosis. God’s diagnosis of all us is simple. “We are born spiritually defective (sinners) and we are incapable of keeping God’s perfect standard. Something supernatural must be done IN US to bring us back to God.
Do you know what is so difficult about salvation? The hardest thing about salvation is realizing that you NEED it. The most difficult thing about salvation is realizing you can't save or 'help save' yourself. "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." (Prov 25:25) The good news about salvation is that Someone else did everything for you out of love, and that you only have to receive Salvation Freely by faith, without your own works playing a part in it at all. "And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Rev 22:17)
There is only one religion in this world that demands 'sinless perfection.' It is isn't Islam, it isn't Buddhism, it isn't Hinduism, it isn't Taoism, it isn't Catholism, it isn't Atheism. No religion demands sinless perfection as the key to heaven except 'Biblical Christianity.' It's the only one. All the other religions have very low standards.
All other religions have exceptionally inferior standards. "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish 'their own righteousness,' have not 'submitted' themselves unto the 'righteousness of God.' For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Rom 10:3-4) The word "BELIEVE" in the New Testament means to entirely trust in, absolutely rely on, to solely rest on, completely lean on, totally depend upon, or wholeheartedly count on). Be honest with your own soul: Have you ever truly 'believed' in the Blood of Christ to wash away your sins. No other religion is set up like Biblical Christianity. Every other one is man's religions and tradition trying to tell you, "If you do this, and do this, and don't do this, and don't do that, and hold out to the end, you 'MIGHT' make it. Religion will always try to get you trust in it, or try to get you to trust in yourself, never in Christ Jesus alone. The Bible says, "If you do this and this and this, and don't this and don't do that, you'll still go to hell like a bullet. All your do's and don'ts do make any difference, you have sinned and you are dead in sins, and your so-called good works are called 'dead works' in the scriptures. They are called 'dead works' because a dead person is doing them. You need 'life' from the Lord Jesus Christ FIRST, and then He will give you the power to do 'living works' for His glory alone.
Religion will tell you, "If you just do this and do this, and don't do that, you might get to heaven. But the Bible says, "Do all you can, and stop all you can, and you'll still end up in hell. Do you know what the Bible demands for you to get to heaven? Perfect Sinlessness. You say, "I can't make it then." I gathered you'd think that. You're right. Do you know who made it for you? Only one: the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you see how simple that thing is? All God demands from you is absolute sinless perfection, that's all He demands. And since 'you' can't do it, God will give Christ's Righteousness to you, if you will only humble yourself, admit your sinful condition, acknowledge you cannot attain to the sinless perfection that God demands, and then simply receive Christ's righteousness (absolute sinless perfection) as a gift. Simply put, just trade your rags (dead works) for Christ's riches (perfect righteousness).
The Gospel of God says, "Since you can't do this and can't do that; and should've done this and didn't do it; if you've done this, and messed up and didn't do that; and rebelled and did this; and was lazy and didn't do that. Dear Sinner, If you truly realize that you are a sinner, and that can't do the right thing at all to save your own soul, here's the good news: I have sent Someone into the world 2,000 years ago, that did the whole thing for you, and attained the Sinless Perfection (Righteousness) your soul needs to face a holy God, and if you will only trust (totally depend) in Him and take Christ's Righteousness (absolute sinless perfection) as a free gift, I will save you by My grace. God says, You must receive Christ's Righteousness as a free gift, OR ELSE. Jesus said, "He that believeth on the Son 'hath' everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the 'wrath of God' abideth on him." Salvation is that simple.
Salvation is as easy as taking a drink of water. You can be saved just as easy as bending over at a water fountain and taking a drink. Your thirst draws you to the fountain. You then bend over (humble yourself) and swallow (receive the water freely) and your thirst is quenched. It is the same with your soul. Your soul is thirsty because of your sin, and only the water of life (the Lord Jesus Christ Himself) can take away your sin and satisfy your soul's thirst. Isn't that easy? It's SO easy. Come to the water of life (the Lord Jesus Christ) and drink, yea, drink abundantly right now. Jesus said Himself, "I will 'give' unto him that is 'athirst' of the fountain of the water of life freely." Give up your evil practices, renounce your sins, abhor your own righteousness, trust in nothing but Jesus' doing and dying.
