Is Being Good, Good Enough, Really?

You've heard people ask, "If I try my best won't God let me into heaven?" or "Doesn't God just require me to be better than the average human?" or "Don't I have to just live a good life to be a Christian?" or "How could a loving God send good people to hell?"

Is good enough, good enough? Consider, if you will, that if 99.9% were good enough then:

• 2 million documents would be lost by the IRS this year.
• 22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank account in the next 60 minutes.
• 1,314 telephone calls will be misdirected by telecommunications companies every minute.
• 2,488 books will be shipped with the wrong covers on them each day.
• Over 5.5 million cases of soft drinks in the next year will be flat.
• 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written each year.
• 12 babies will be given to the wrong parents each day.

Obviously, being good enough is not good enough for life in modern society. So why do we think that being good enough is good enough to get us into heaven?

Martin Luther, the reformer, wrote, "The most damnable and pernicious heresy that has every plagued the mind of man is the idea that somehow he could make himself good enough to deserve to live with an all-holy God."

A Bible teacher used to say, "Man is incurably addicted to doing something for his own salvation."

Matt 5:48
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
 

Let's examine what the Bible has to say about being good enough.

1. God's Standard Is Perfection

In one sense, one can be good enough to get to heaven, that is if they can live a perfect life. But not perfect by man's standards. God's standard for entrance into heaven is perfection.

On one occasion Christ Jesus identified the two most outwardly religious groups of people in his day the Pharisees and the scribes and told his listening audience, "For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:20). On another occasion Christ Jesus said, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). God's standard never falls short of complete righteousness and holiness. Anything less than perfection is sin.

Think about heaven for a moment. Heaven is a place of the "no more's" - no more tears, no more sadness, no more pain, no more sickness, no more death. All of those things are caused by sin. The "no more's" don't exist in heaven because sin does not exist in heaven. Heaven will be wonderful, not only because of what is present - God, but also because of what is absent – sin.

God's standard of perfection is not arbitrary. God does not grade on the curve. He does not say, "Oh, you are close enough" or "You have tried really hard to live a good life." God does not compare. "Well, Bill you are better than John so you are in and John is out, Betty, you are better than Sue, so come right on in." That would be like trying to jump the Grand Canyon. So what if your jump thirty feet and set an Olympic record, you still splatter because at it's narrowest spot the Grand Canyon is about 79 feet.

Now don't get me wrong, for the most part most people are pretty good. I know the majority of us are not rapists or murderers. If we were grading ourselves on goodness we would rank right up there pretty high on the scale. Let's call ourselves Danny or Debbie Decent. From our perspective, we do everything right. We pay our taxes, pay our bills, pay attention to our family, and respect those around us. We are good people.

But God sees us differently. God sees what Danny and Debbie Decent choose to overlook.As decent as we are walking through life, we make mistakes. For example, we stretch the truth. We might fudge, ever so slightly, on our accounts. We gossip about the new person in the community. From our perspective, these aren't big deals. But our perspective does not matter. God's does. And what God sees is a person wrapped in mistakes. 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. (Isaiah 64:6). So let me ask you, is there any sin in your life? Oh no Bro. Orden.

Well, have you ever told a lie, even a little white one? Have you ever taken anything that was not yours, or maybe used the Lord's name in vain? Have you ever disrespected your parents? Have you ever put something ahead of God? And these are just a few of the ten commandments. If so you are not perfect. You have not met God's standard of perfection. But not all is lost, there is hope and He is Christ Jesus. And He want's to be your Saviour today.

2. God's Solution Is A Pardon 

Fortunately, there is good news. There is a solution, a remedy to your imperfection. God's solution is a pardon found in Christ Jesus.  Here's how is works: "Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! . . . It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some imperfect people. . . . Our sins are taken care of for good" (Heb. 10:12-18). The apostle Paul described it this way: "He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21).

When Christ Jesus, God's Son, went to the cross He took your sins, your mistakes, your evil, and your unrighteousness. He was the ultimate sacrifice. 

R.G. Lee, former pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN, was visiting Gordon's Calvary at Jerusalem, possibly the site where Christ Jesus was crucified. 

Lee told the Arab guide he wanted to walk to the top of the hill. At first the guide tried to discourage him, but when he saw that Lee was determined to go, he went along.

Once on the crest, Lee removed his hat and stood with bowed head, greatly moved. "Sir," asked the guide, "have you been here before?" 

"Yes," replied Lee, "2,000 years ago." 

And so have you. You were there because your sins, like mine nailed Christ Jesus to the cross. Now you must go there to find redemption, to find your pardon for your sin. No one else can do it for you.

So, when it comes to salvation, when it comes to going to heaven, whether you are more like thief on the cross with your wrong doings or more like Mother Teresa with your purity, your sins are no longer the issue. The issue is what we do about Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is God's solution to your not measuring up to his standard. He has already paid the price for your sin. Christ Jesus is the perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some imperfect people. Christ Jesus now offers you a pardon, a release from your sin. And all you have to do is ask Him for it. Why not ask now?

Think about it this way: if a criminal was handed a pardon that would release him from prison, the issue is no longer the crime but rather what he will do about the pardon. If he refuses he will remain in prison. The questions, why he is in prison?, and why is he not out of prison? have two different answers. He is in prison because he is convicted criminal. He is not out of prison because he refuse the pardon. Likewise, the answer to the question, why will a person be in hell? Is because he or she is a sinner, but the answer to the question, why will he or she not be in heaven? Is because he or she did not accept the pardon offered in Christ Jesus. 

Many years ago a young boy shot and killed a man while gambling. In those days, murderers were sentenced to hang. But the townspeople were so concerned for the young lad that they gathered a petition asking the judge to pardon the boy. Finally, the judge agreed but only on one condition. The judge would wear a clergyman's robe and collar and carry the pardon between the pages of the Bible. 

As the judge approached the boy's cell, he could hear the young man cursing and swearing at him. "Get out of here, preacher, I don't want what you have to offer."

"But, son," the judge replied, "You don't understand." 

"I understand fine," said the boy. "I don't want what you have to offer."The dejected judge left the jail. Later the guard told the boy that it was the judge who was dressed like a minister. Between the pages of the Bible was an authorized, sealed pardon for his release. 

When the day of execution arrived, just before they put a black sack over the boy's head, they asked if he had anything to say. He replied, "I am not dying because I killed a man. I am dying because I rejected the pardon." 

You see the issue is not your sin. The issue is what you will do with Christ Jesus. Your fault before God is not necessarily your sin - He made a remedy for that. Your fault before God is rejecting the pardon, rejecting Christ Jesus. 

"Yea, but," I can hear some people say. And then the question: How could a loving God send good people to hell? The question itself reveals a couple of misconceptions. First, God does not send people to hell. He simply honors their choice, as when the judge honored the choice of the condemned boy who rejected the pardon. Hell is the ultimate expression of God's highest regard for the dignity of man. He has never forced us to choose him, even when that means we would choose hell. As C. S. Lewis stated: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in hell choose it." No, God does not "send" people to hell. 

That is the second misconception. The implying of innocence. But who is innocent by God's standard? Innocent people do not go to hell, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23). Sinners do. The rebellious do. The self-centered do. And yes good people by man's standard. Everyone who reject God's pardon does. For the wages of sin is death... Rom 6:23, goes to hell. So how could a loving God send people to hell? He doesn't. He simply honors the choice of sinners. He simply honors your choice, what will that choice be this morning?

3. God's Salvation Is Through Personal Faith

So what must we do? We must, by faith, accept Christ Jesus' finished work on the cross as God's only accepted way to enter heaven. "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12.

God's salvation is through personal faith in Christ Jesus. You must trust in what He has done for you. Ten of the eleven major world religions teach a salvation by good deeds. Christianity stands alone with its emphasis on faith rather than works for salvation. The Scriptures say, "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift - not from works, so that no one can boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). Salvation is a gift – You don't work for it, you don't deserve it, you can't earn it. You simply trust God for what He has done through His son, Christ Jesus. It is like a medicine. You can believe a certain medicine will help you, but until you trust it enough to take it, it won't do anything for you. Faith is more than believing in God. It is trusting in Him to the point of receiving Christ Jesus into your life. Will you keep looking at the cure to sin or will you invite Christ Jesus into your life right now.

Conclusion

Was there a time when you honestly realized that you were a sinner and admitted that to God? Do you truly understand that Christ Jesus took your place on the cross? Do you understand that the real issue is not your sin, but what you will do with Christ Jesus? Have you received Christ Jesus alone for your salvation? If not, why not? If not, why not right now?