1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God“
We are told in these verses that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. In other words, if we are not deemed righteous before God we will not enter heaven’s gates but justly be condemned for eternity.
That is a VERY scary thought!
It was actually that thought that prompted me some 13 years ago to find out if I was ‘good’ enough to enter through heaven’s gates. Growing up I thought I was a pretty good person… in comparison to others. But what about in comparison to God… how good am I compared to His standards – the standards He requires for us to enter into His presence?
What God has graciously taught me since that day is awesome and oh so humbling!
We Can’t Earn Our Way
The fact is, according to Scripture, none of us are righteous before God, not even one (Rom 3:10-12). The result of our unrighteousness is eternal death (Rom 3:23) – an eternity apart from God.
Ok, but it’s a bit much to say that no one is righteous, as there are so many ‘good’ people in the world. Well compared to other people, there are many ‘godly’ looking people. However compared to our holy God our good deeds are but filthy rags or a polluted garment (Isaiah 64:6). The fact is no matter how good we are, we can’t earn our way into God’s good books because even our best deeds are tarnished with sin. Our holy and just God can’t accept that.
So how is one declared righteous or justified before God? We have no hope given what He demands is absolute perfection. Well, our hope doesn’t rest in our work, but the work of Jesus on our behalf. Rom 5:1 says “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. It’s through faith in the work that Jesus has done for us that we are justified before our holy God and declared righteous!
How Awesome is That!!
Our salvation through Christ is a work completely done by God. We just need to accept it through faith and in doing so are born again as a child of God (Gal 3:26), born again spiritually (John 3:1-15). Notice also that through faith we are saved and justified. Past tense. It means the deal is done! We are right with God. Given we are saved by grace alone, and it’s a work completely done by God, we can be assured in our salvation because it doesn’t rely on our ‘goodness’.
Now that should give us great hope, however it will naturally cause some to ask, “Hang on… I’ve seen lots of people profess to being a Christian and now don’t appear to be following Christ. Are they still saved? Can you lose your salvation? Because we chose to follow God, can’t we choose not to? If you are assured of salvation what’s stopping you doing what you want?”
These are provocative and very valid questions! I will respond with two observations… but in my next post.
11 Comments
James
All of our hopes ultimately rest on the truth of our justification through the cross. No matter what situation I find myself in, when I remember my place in Christ now because of what he has done, I can have hope for the future. Nothing stirs my love for God more than thankful rememberance of his great act of love for the sake my undeserving and wretched soul….on a lighter note, how often do we get to use the word wretched anymore? Great word 🙂 C’mon everyone, say it like you mean it lol
Stu
Thank God the hope of our salvation rests on what Christ has done, not on what I can do! Because my wretchedness is plentiful!! God’s grace and love despite my sinfulness never ceases to amaze me. It inspires me to live for and honour Him.
Rob
Amen to all the above 🙂
Denita
I admit, this is a subject that is still so massive to me, it’s hard to wrap my mind around it in any capacity. It’s like lying on my back, trying to take in every square inch of the sky; the only thing my bedazzled mind can really soak up is that it is sumptuous in its vastness and its brilliance.
My walk with Christ can be likened to a recovering agoraphobic who understands that the only way to overcome her limitations is to thrust herself into the most open place outdoors. She staggers trembling under the yawning blue dome of the sky, groping along the ground, equal parts panicked and spellbound as her small mind threatens to simply shut down from the overload.
Stu (Author)
I know what you mean Denita, in that there is much our human minds can’t even begin to comprehend about God. I can’t fathom my justified position before God given the sin I have committed in my life and the rebellion that still rages within. I feel so broken at times, but are then reminded of God’s phenomenal grace in declaring me righteous in His presence through Christ. I will never be able to comprehend that. All I can do is stand in awe, thank Him and submit to His call on my life to honour and live for Him.
I was reading through Matthew 17 this morning on the transfiguration of Jesus in front of His disciples Peter, James and John. I was reminded of how awesome God’s holiness is and the natural response is to fall to our knees in fear as the disciples did when God came to them in the cloud. But then Jesus went up to them, touched them on the shoulder and affirmed them saying ‘don’t be afraid’. It’s a beautiful and incredible thing to be able to come in God’s holy presence so freely solely because of Jesus interceding love for us. What a gift! Pondering that truly brings joy to the heart!
Denita
I love the transfiguration story! It paints such a huge picture of fallen man and holy God. Such compassion! Especially after Peter opens his mouth and sticks his foot in it by saying “Oh, it’s good that we’re here so we can put up a tent for You and Your two buddies…” Even after such a goofy and arrogant statement, He still gently soothes them!
Don
Denita, your comment concerning Peter’s foot and mouth disease got me laughing. Just yesterday I was reading a comment that suggested Peter had a foot-shaped mouth. I know after looking in the mirror, he is not alone.
Denita
I’ve heard that description of Peter myself! I think it was from a book called “Twelve Ordinary Men” by John MacArthur. It was one of the first books I read after my rescue, and the description of Peter gave me such comfort because like you and the great Apostle himself, I also seem to have a mouth well-crafted to accommodate my own foot… 😉
Stu (Author)
How I relate to foot in mouth disease!! So often I remind myself of Proverbs 10:19 “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise”, yet it goes against my every natural instinct… it’s so frustrating at times. God willing in time I will improve in this.
Steven Green
I was looking for a picture of a sunrise over a cross and found your website.
That is a beautiful picture.
I looked at your Pastor’s bio and saw that he is Jewish. I too, am a believer in Jesus with a Jewish mother and father. I am from Brooklyn, NY but live in Austin, Texas.
The address of your church is not prominent on the website. It should be so visitors of the website will know where to go to worship at your church. I found that you are in Australia, too far for me to commute.
Lord’s Blessings to you and thanks for the beautiful picture.
Steven Green
Austin, Texas
Stu (Author)
Hi Steven,
Thanks for dropping a line. You’re right, unless you link to our main website it takes a little digging to find out where we are based. As you pointed out we are in Melbourne, Australia.
Even though we are not around the corner from Texas 🙂 it would be great if you are able to drop a line on any of our blog posts in the future. It’s always good to get other perspectives and thoughts on the topics we discuss.
Hope to hear again from you soon.
Cheers,
Stu