While staying with a very nice family in Southern California, I went out for a morning jog. I knew there was a McDonald’s nearby, so my plan was to jog there and eat breakfast, then jog back. I was about to take a $5 bill, but I thought twice and decided I better take an extra dollar just in case. So I stuffed $6 in my pocket and hit the road.
When I got to McDonald’s, I was surprised that my $6 was not enough to purchase a breakfast meal! I was 54 cents short. What’s the world coming to?
Thankfully, the woman taking the order was a manager and she gave me the meal for $6.
Many people are counting on this type of scenario to unfold when they are judged by God. We think that we have stored up enough good deeds to outweigh any wrong we’ve done and buy our ticket into heaven. Not only that, but for the most part, our intentions are generally good, even if the outcome was not. Surely, God understands that. And even if the scales don’t tip our way, we can always appeal to God’s goodness or His forgiveness to make up for that small area we are lacking.
A humanist will tell you that man is basically good and any problems that arise can be solved without religion. A Christian will say the opposite, that man is basically bad, but not only are we bad, we are completely bad and we are in desperate need of God’s forgiveness.
But many people fall somewhere in the middle. They think that they are basically good, but any problems that arise will be covered by God’s goodness.
What does the Bible say?
Well first of all, Psalm 24:3,4 asks the question, “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.”
Do you have clean hands and a pure heart?
Well, we are told in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” I think anyone reading this is honest enough to admit that this is true.
But Paul takes it even further in the same chapter when he says, “As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
See that word ‘unprofitable?’ That means we are worthless. Our good works amount to nothing.
As Isaiah says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Is 64:6
Even our good deeds are like filthy rags? Yes. Even in our best, shining moments, our awesome deeds are tainted by impure motives. We don’t have anything to brag about to a God demands perfection.
Just take a look in the mirror of God’s law and ask yourself not just how many of His commands you have broken, but how often you have done so.
If you and I are really truthful with ourselves, and give ourselves an honest evaluation, we would realize that we don’t just have a basically good track record with a handful or so of sins that we need Jesus to make up for. The real truth is that there is a massive mountain of sin between us and God, and we are desperately in need of a divine intervention to remove that mountain and make it possible for us to get to God.
That’s what Jesus did at the cross. He wasn’t just making up for a few screw ups here and there. He was paying the bill in full for every last sin. He death was the substitute for yours. He paid it all with his own blood.
As a Christian, I don’t think that I have to “do my best and let God do the rest.” I trust that Jesus did it all, and I only do my best because I love him and want to live a life that honors Him.
How about you? Is Christ your all in all, or is He just the helping hand that tips the scales for you?