Does the blog post title grab your attention? There are many people who operate that way thinking that if my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds then I’ll be ok, God will accept me. I can demonstrate that I am a pretty good person. Perhaps we view this another way…. oh I’m not as bad as them. Then you have the countless religious systems that operate on this basis as well. You do x, y and z and you’ll earn favor… maybe. There’s always a measure of uncertainty.
Well a cursory reading of Romans 3:11-18 and then reading Romans 3:23 which says “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” says this is impossible. That phrase, “fall short” literally means we miss the mark. The tense of this world in the original Greek suggests that it is an ongoing state of affairs. In other words, no matter how good we may get, we will still be missing the mark and falling far, far, far short of the glory of God.
You simply can’t get to God on your own. Any attempt to do so is measured by our own standard which simply doesn’t matter to God as His standard is perfection.
Anybody there yet? (Crickets) I didn’t think so.
Yet we are saved by works, the key is whose works you are basing salvation on.
Michael Horton in his book Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church explains:
In justifying sinners, God does not relax his righteousness that is revealed in the law but imputes Christ’s righteousness to every believer. In this way, God’s justices is not sacrificed to his love; rather his love and his justice are mutually satisfied. We are saved by works – in fact, by perfect love and obedience. However it is Christ’s works rather than ours that serve as the basis of our confidence: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” (Rom. 8:1, NIV).
Place your faith in Christ and His work on the Cross because we are not justified by works, but by faith – placing our trust in Christ and in Him alone.
