Why we couldn't do it, and why that's a good thing (Part 2).

Image Source

Yesterday we looked at two reasons why it is better that we are saved entirely by grace than by our own effort. Firstly, we are counted as righteous with Jesus' righteousness. He takes our sin and we are forgiven based on his work. Secondly, if we were saved by what we did, we would constantly be worried about stuffing up, because one slip up would mean eternity in hell with no hope for forgiveness. Today we'll look at two more reasons: It displays God's character and it means anyone can be saved.

• God displays his character through Jesus

Image Source

God is just. We sin and therefore we deserve hell. That's the spot we're in without Jesus. Yet God is not simply just, holy and perfect, but also merciful, gracious, loving and compassionate. 

Therefore he sent his only son into the world. Jesus, who is God, became a man. He willingly came and he died for us (Christians), taking our sin and God's wrath and just penalty for that. In Jesus God displays his justice - sin is dealt with. In Jesus God also shows his love and mercy - providing a way for us to be saved "while we were still powerless" (Romans 5:6-8) and at great personal cost.

We couldn't save ourselves, but God made a way for us to be saved. Therefore he has shown for his character and his glory, bringing us to eternal salvation in him if we put our faith in him.

• Salvation isn't just for the Elite.

If we could have managed to be perfect and save ourselves. then that would mean that only the best people could be saved (that certainly wouldn't be me and probably wouldn't be you). Only the people who were completely self-controlled, completely humble, completely gentle, completely pure could be saved. Even as Christians, free from slavery to sin, we still stuff up. If we had been freed all along, we would still have sinned.

That would be bad for us - we would deserve and would get eternal destruction in hell. Jesus didn't come to save those who were well, he came to save the sick (Matthew 9:11-13) - he didn't come to save the 'good' people (since no one is good. and those who think they are are self-righteous and proud), he came to save the 'sinners' - us. Those who cannot help themselves. That's good news. In fact, thats what the gospel is all about - God saving us for his glory even though we do not deserve it one bit.

Conclusion

We don't deserve the salvation that we have. We couldn't achieve it ourselves and nothing we could ever have done could have made us right in God's sight.

We don't deserve it, and that's why we can count on it. 

It was given freely to those who didn't deserve it, and therefore nothing that we do can make it be taken off us. If we truly love God we will serve and obey him, but we don't have to fear losing our salvation because it is entirely by grace.

Therefore, since we are saved by grace, we are free to obey God out of love, not duty. If we had to obey to get to heaven, and we lived in constant fear of stuffing it up then we wouldn't obey out of love. This way we can obey God out of love.

We couldn't do it, and that's a good thing because of Grace.

Why we couldn't do it, and why that's a good thing (Part 1).

Photo Credit

Grace: God's Riches at Christ's Expense.
God's undeserved favour on his people which we have through Jesus because he died for us and took the wrath we deserved for our sin. Romans 11:6 says that if we are saved by grace, "then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace." The fact is that we cannot help ourselves - we sin and we cannot undo that (Romans 3:23). We can only be saved by Grace. We couldn't do it, and that's a good thing.

You see, if we were saved by anything we could do then we would have our own righteousness. That's it. We would be good people, end of story. Sure, we'd be good enough to get to heaven on our own merit, but what we have in Jesus is far, far better.

• We have Christ's Righteousness.

2 Corinthains 5:21 says

For our sake he made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God

Jesus took our sins and we take his righteousness. We are holy in God's sight, not based on what we've done. When God looks at us, he knows that we are still sinful, but he sees Jesus and Jesus' righteousness instead of our sin. Jesus took our sin, we took his righteousness. We died to sin with him, and we rose to new life with him (Romans 6)

Isn't it far better to have Jesus' righteousness, God's holiness instead of our own works? We have God's grace and mercy - his righteousness becomes accounted to us through faith. That's truly awesome.

• We wouldn't be free of worry

If we had to count on ourselves and our own works, then we would have to constantly worry and be careful. Since one sin is enough for us to be justly and eternally condemned to hell, we would have to watch every word, thought and deed. We would have to constantly worry and fret over everything - making sure we didn't stuff it up. One stuff up could mean eternity in hell without any hope for forgiveness.

We would truly be slaves to good works. 

Through Christ we know that there is complete forgiveness. We need to hate sin and we need to fight it, but we know that we will stuff up, and we know that he has paid the price. Every true Christian is (and will be) forgiven for their sins. It isn't an excuse to sin more, but it is a reason to praise God for what he has done. It is far better that we are forgiven then that we are slaves to doing good.

God Deserves all Glory

This is only part one of the series, but here's a concluding point. We cannot make it ourselves, and that means God deserves all the glory. We sin, we stuff it up and we cannot save ourselves. God reigns and he has shown forth his goodness in offering us salvation.

We don't deserve any of the praise. God deserves it all. So praise him for all he has done!

Are you trusting in your own effort or in Christ? Only Jesus can save.

Hunger and Thirst

Matthew 5:6
 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled."

This is the last of the Beatitudes which relates directly to our relationship with God. Blessed means under God's favour. It does not always mean physical blessing here, but God's favour is worth more then any blessing we could experience here and means eternal life with him in heaven.

Those who Hunger and Thirst. Those two attributes are not very common in the western world. We have so much available for us, but what Jesus is talking about here is an intense longing, forsaking everything else if you could only get this one thing. Like if you had not eaten and were about to die from it, or had not drunk water. That is how much we need to Love righteousness and seek after it. But first we need to realise that we need it. This again links back to the former beatitudes: If we are poor in spirit, then we see our need before God. Mourning is about Mourning over our sin. Meekness is an action which results from these two things, and hungering and thirsting for righteousness also stems from it. It is the opposite of self-righteousness, it is humility and realising that we cannot help ourselves. As a result of genuine faith and repentance we will seek to do good works. We will hunger and thirst for righteousness. We need to have an intense longing for it.

So, What is Righteousness? It is rightness in character before God and also rightness in actions before men. Obeying God's commands. Obviously, since we are all sinful we cannot make ourselves righteous before God. In fact, naturally we are the opposite - disobeying God continually. Yet we have hope: Jesus was righteous, he did not sin and he is God - so he did all that God requires. He died in our place, taking our sin and the punishment for it while we take his righteousness. We are forgiven for our sin and adopted as God's children! What a blessing! 

But while there is a once off side to righteousness, it is also part of 'sanctification' - we are continually becoming more like God, continually learning and growing and continually need to be hungering and thirsting for righteousness. This exhibits itself in our lives as good works and by fleeing from sin. So, are you living a life by which others will see God in you and be challenged by it? Are you striving to be righteous?