Wrg1405
Member
- Jan 4, 2016
- 1,969
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I had something pop into my mail box today. The subject was "Is being good enough to get me into heaven?
The focus was on how we can feel that our good works as believers or non believers will get us into heaven.
How we compare our goodness over others and judge others over how we judge ourselves.
As I was reading the article something really struck me. As follows
Now don't get me wrong, for the most part we are all pretty good. I don't suppose there are any rapists or murderers among us. If we were grading ourselves on goodness we would rank right up there pretty high on the scale. Let's call ourselves Danny or Debbie Decent. From our perspective, we do everything right. We pay our taxes, pay our bills, pay attention to our family, and pay respect to our superiors. We are good people.
But God sees us differently. God sees what Danny and Debbie Decent choose to overlook. For as decent as we are walking through life, we make mistakes. For example, we stretch the truth. We might fudge, ever so slightly, on our expense report. We gossip about the new employee. From our perspective, these aren't big deals. But our perspective does not matter. God's does. And what God sees is a person wrapped in mistakes.
So let me ask you, is there any sin in your life? If so you are not perfect. You have not met God's standard of perfection.
God's Solution is a Pardon
Fortunately, there is good news. There is a solution, a remedy to our imperfection. God's solution is a pardon found in Jesus Christ. Here's how it works: "Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! . . . It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some imperfect people . . . Our sins are taken care of for good" (Hebrews 10:12-18). The apostle Paul described it this way: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). When Jesus Christ, God's Son, went to the cross he took our sins, our mistakes, our evil, and our unrighteousness. He was the ultimate sacrifice.
R.G. Lee was visiting Gordon's Calvary at Jerusalem, possibly the site where Jesus was crucified. Lee told the Arab guide he wanted to walk to the top of the hill. At first the guide tried to discourage him, but when he saw that Lee was determined to go, he went along. Once on the crest, Lee removed his hat and stood with bowed head, greatly moved. "Sir," asked the guide, "have you been here before?"
"Yes," replied Lee, "2,000 years ago."
And so have we. We were there because our sins nailed Jesus to the cross. Now we must go there to find redemption, to find pardon for our sin.
So, when it comes to salvation, whether we are more like Hitler with our evil or more like Mother Teresa with our purity, our sins are no longer the issue. The issue is what we do about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God's solution to our not measuring up to his standard. Jesus has already paid the price for our sin. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some imperfect people. Jesus now offers us a pardon, a release from our sin.
I worry about the sin I will commit tomorrow and the sin I committed yesterday. Can one really bow their head and say "I was there 2,000 years ago? If so how can that change our tomorrow and our yesterday?
The focus was on how we can feel that our good works as believers or non believers will get us into heaven.
How we compare our goodness over others and judge others over how we judge ourselves.
As I was reading the article something really struck me. As follows
Now don't get me wrong, for the most part we are all pretty good. I don't suppose there are any rapists or murderers among us. If we were grading ourselves on goodness we would rank right up there pretty high on the scale. Let's call ourselves Danny or Debbie Decent. From our perspective, we do everything right. We pay our taxes, pay our bills, pay attention to our family, and pay respect to our superiors. We are good people.
But God sees us differently. God sees what Danny and Debbie Decent choose to overlook. For as decent as we are walking through life, we make mistakes. For example, we stretch the truth. We might fudge, ever so slightly, on our expense report. We gossip about the new employee. From our perspective, these aren't big deals. But our perspective does not matter. God's does. And what God sees is a person wrapped in mistakes.
So let me ask you, is there any sin in your life? If so you are not perfect. You have not met God's standard of perfection.
God's Solution is a Pardon
Fortunately, there is good news. There is a solution, a remedy to our imperfection. God's solution is a pardon found in Jesus Christ. Here's how it works: "Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! . . . It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some imperfect people . . . Our sins are taken care of for good" (Hebrews 10:12-18). The apostle Paul described it this way: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). When Jesus Christ, God's Son, went to the cross he took our sins, our mistakes, our evil, and our unrighteousness. He was the ultimate sacrifice.
R.G. Lee was visiting Gordon's Calvary at Jerusalem, possibly the site where Jesus was crucified. Lee told the Arab guide he wanted to walk to the top of the hill. At first the guide tried to discourage him, but when he saw that Lee was determined to go, he went along. Once on the crest, Lee removed his hat and stood with bowed head, greatly moved. "Sir," asked the guide, "have you been here before?"
"Yes," replied Lee, "2,000 years ago."
And so have we. We were there because our sins nailed Jesus to the cross. Now we must go there to find redemption, to find pardon for our sin.
So, when it comes to salvation, whether we are more like Hitler with our evil or more like Mother Teresa with our purity, our sins are no longer the issue. The issue is what we do about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God's solution to our not measuring up to his standard. Jesus has already paid the price for our sin. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some imperfect people. Jesus now offers us a pardon, a release from our sin.
I worry about the sin I will commit tomorrow and the sin I committed yesterday. Can one really bow their head and say "I was there 2,000 years ago? If so how can that change our tomorrow and our yesterday?
Great Post Wrg. There is a song called: Were You There When They Crucified My Lord. It was done by Johnny Cash. It still makes me cry when I hear it.