Too many people today believe that as long as they are good – do more good things than bad during their lifetime – the scales will fall in their favor, and they will enter the kingdom of heaven. That is sadly misguided and has eternal consequences. Jesus is clear. In Matthew 5:48, He says, “…you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” That’s right. The standard is perfection. How is that possible? We can’t be perfect. No one can. Right again. We cannot do it. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” That’s why the disciples asked Jesus, “…who in the world can be saved” (Matthew 19:25)? Jesus responds, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
That’s God’s point. We cannot get there on our own. We need help and so He sent help. He sent His one and only Son to take away the sins of the world. To make up the difference between us and perfection. He sent Jesus. “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are” (Romans 3:22).
We cannot “do” anything to earn salvation. No matter how hard we try to be good – first of all we will fail – and besides, the Bible says, “When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). We are saved by our faith in Jesus.
Now this does not mean we don’t do good deeds. We absolutely do however, we don’t do them in order to earn our way into heaven. We do them because we cannot stop ourselves. Our hearts have been transformed. Second Corinthians 5:17, “…anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” Galatians 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” In fact, Jesus’ brother James tells us, “…faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless” (James 2:17).
I’ve often said that if Christianity were a crime, I hope you could find enough evidence to convict me. Anyone who claims to be a Christian should be living a life that reveals such a claim to be true. We can’t just be pious and godly on Sunday mornings. Jesus called the Pharisees and teachers of religious law on such behavior when He said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8).
Yes, our Christian faith is a daily walk. Every morning, we wake up (by the grace of God) and set out to do our very best – that day. As Jesus says in Sermon on the Mount, “…don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:34). Yeah, all we can do is take it one day at a time. Some days we will do better than others. And when we do fall short, those who believe can count on Christ’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness. The Bible says, “…if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9).
So, don’t beat yourself up if you have a bad day. You will never be perfect. God still loves you, forgives you. But we do need to remember, being a Christian is not just a one-time decision. It’s a lifestyle. How we live each day. Our deeds will prove to the world that we are disciples of Jesus – or not.
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Remember you can email praise reports and prayer requests to southchurchprayer@gmail.com. I lift them up every Wednesday at 4:00 pm on Facebook Live.