Hope with Grace – Part Nineteen
Much of society falsely believes that God is too nice to be a judge of sin and evil; some of those people also believe that they are too nice to be judged by a Righteous Creator.
We live in an age of self-focused feel-good religion which does not see any need for recognising our guilt before a Holy God.
Guilt, in fact, is seen as a politically incorrect word in our feel-good culture. The idea of guilt just doesn’t seem good for our self-esteem.
The Bible is constantly asking the question: “How can sinful man ever be accepted by a holy God?”
Humanity is constantly stating: “What’s the big deal about sin?”
I have heard people say: “No one will come to Christ if you talk about sin and guilt; people need to hear about God’s love instead!”
But denying sin and guilt doesn’t make it go away.
Maybe we think of ourselves as pretty good people. But do we have any objective, solid reason to believe that we are good enough to avoid God’s judgment?
The Bible is quite clear and provides the only truthful answer to this question. We are born sinners. At no point can we make ourselves righteous enough to stand before God. And God’s holiness and justice requires the punishment of all sin.
No other faith has a realistic view of human nature, which is this: we are guilty before a holy and righteous God and we are completely and utterly unable to change our condition.
But the good news is this: that no other faith has such an accurate view of God and His great grace in Jesus Christ!
While many of the world’s religions may all point us in the direction of heaven, telling us that we are not helpless and that we can save ourselves by our efforts and our sacrifices, Christianity tells us that Christ has come not just as a moral leader to show us the path to God, but to BE our way, our truth and our life.
We are not victorious or righteous people; but people loved by a victorious and righteous Saviour.
If we think that any part of our salvation depends upon us even for one moment, even to the slightest degree, we would have to conclude one of two things:
- We either believe that we are nice enough to have contributed to our salvation; and/or not bad enough to have deserved judgment – the result is that we become self-righteous,
- The second possible conclusion is that we worry every day about whether we are truly redeemed. Because if it depends upon me, I an unreliable in my thinking and decisions. The result is that we are unsure and insecure.
There is no genuine hope in either of these views! How can we possibly live a life that positively impacts others, how can we love God and serve others if we are self-righteous or still unsure and worried about our own eternal condition?
A certainty that our eternal salvation is determined by Christ and Christ alone leads us to lead a life of hope rather than doubt, and the grace of God is the only genuine, solid, unshakeable basis for pursuing a holy and God-glorifying life.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved wretches like you and me. This great truth must bring us to grace-dependent hope and humble us before the Christ we serve.
Blessings,
Brian