Week 8 - Wednesday

No Difference

for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:22b-23)

All those who believe in Jesus Christ will never be condemned. Their sins have been forgiven and they will be saved from God's wrath. God could have chosen to make salvation available to man in any number of ways. He could have chosen to save those who committed the least number of sins, or those who performed the most good deeds. He could have even decided that salvation would be received by drinking water from a stream on a particular mountainside. But He didn't. God decided that salvation would be received by those who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. Because He is God, God has the right to decide how a person can be saved. No other way that a person tries to be right with God can save them. Everyone who turns from their sin to follow Jesus Christ will be saved from God's judgment, even the worst of sinners (1 Tim:1:15-16). On the other hand, even the least sinful person who fails to receive Jesus Christ will face God's wrath (John 3:18, 36). In a recent survey, 76% of the people polled said that they believe they will go to heaven when they die. If you were to ask those people why they believe they are going to heaven, you would find that many of them think it's because they are a good person. Most people believe that if they don't commit what they consider to be the worst sins (adultery, murder, rape, robbery etc.) that God will accept them. They think hell is only for the worst of sinners. Even those who do commit more serious sins, still often believe God will forgive them because they think that overall they do more good things than bad. However the only thing their good deeds really proves is that even vile sinners can do some good things. Another reason a lot of people think they are good is because they only see sin as the wrong things they do. They don't realize that their failure to do the good things God says they should do, is also sin (James 4:17).

The real test if someone's deeds are good or not is whether they have been done for God's glory. Even if a person dedicated their entire life to helping others, but didn't do it to glorify God, their deeds wouldn't be pleasing to God. Jesus said that the most important commandment of all is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength". The second most important commandment is to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:28-31). What person can say they have obeyed these two commmandments? Can you? Do you love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength? Do you love your neighbor as yourself? When you see another person in need, do you take care of their needs, just as if they were your own? If you answered these questions honestly, the answers would have to be no. Now, if you haven't obeyed the two most important commandments of all, how can you say that you're a good person? By human standards some people may be better than others but the way God sees it, the differences are insignificant. There is no distinction; for all have sinned, and all fall way short of God's standard for righteousness. The only hope for any of us is to put our faith in Jesus Christ.

Readings for today: Acts 13:38-39; John 6:37; Acts 4:12; John 14:6