What in the world is our problem anyway? (When I say "our" I'm referring to mankind.) We have such a diluted and polluted view of who God really is. When people think of His holiness, most either have casual thoughts of His "goodness", based on human standards, or they take it to the other extreme and see Him only in light of the Old Testament where He seems angry at almost everyone.
This quick summary leads me to the common question, "How can a loving and compassionate God send 'good' people to hell?". This question exposes some serious errors in our thinking. We assume that God's holiness isn't really that serious, when in reality, He is so holy and pure that no imperfection, no matter how minor, can even be in His presence. We also fail to separate "good" from "righteous", so the question isn't "Isn't man good enough?", but "Is he righteous?".
So what in the world are we to do? There's no way I can live "good" enough (let alone righteous!). Well, I believe that God didn't intend us to consistently try to "do better". I believe that He wants us to simply give up. God sent Jesus into this world, Himself in flesh and bone, so that we don't have to attempt to reorganize and "do better". He wants us to lay it all down, a total surrender. After all, I spent the majority of my life attempting to be a good person, masquerading as a "Christian" when all the while I was full of sin and "I can do it all myself" pride.
Grasping that Jesus came to literally "save" us is such a freeing revelation. I didn't have to stop drinking, smoking, wallowing in lust and selfish pride to come to Him. I simply needed to lay all of me down and surrender - leaving the details to Him. Face it friend, a day will come when this mortal body will see an end. What will remain of who you really are - your spirit, created in God's image? I encourage you to sit for a moment and simplify things a bit. You don't have to spend your whole life trying to please everyone and striving to be a "good person". God is so less interested in our sin and vices than we often are. He's already made the way for us to be freed from all of it, we just need to accept the gift. Surrender to Jesus and step into the new creation that you were intended to be since the beginning of time! When that time comes, "good" isn't going to make the cut, but surrendering your all to Jesus and receiving His righteousness will seal you - for now and all eternity. Quit stalling and making excuses - this decision will give you life like you've NEVER known!
2 comments:
I really like this. Everyone is too busy judging what others do by the world's standards to realize a sin is a sin and we can't help but do it because it's human nature and it's not about trying not to sin, it's about accepting Jesus as your savior and letting him do the work. Good work Joel.
- gadget
"Am I good enough?"
No, nor could I ever be ... but for the redeeming power of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
I know some Christians who have gotten trapped in a performance driven relationship with God. Also, there are some who are stuck in the condemnation and guilt trap ... thinking that we somehow have to pay God back for saving us or that even though we have been redeemed, we are still sinful, stinking people.
God loves us, that's why in spite of our sin He came to save us. When He looks at us through the blood of Jesus, He sees no spot or stain, He sees His beautiful creation restored and He looks at it and says once again ... it is good. Blessings! :)
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