Read John 3:16, 14:6, Acts 4:12
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203:16&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014:6&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%204:12&version=NASB
Yesterday I mentioned ‘grade inflation’ and some teacher’s habit of grading their students on the curve. And how that mentality has infected our culture in a number of areas. Particularly the spiritual one. This has led to the common belief that God also grades on the curve. Does He?
The short answer is, No. God does not grade on the curve. God has a standard. The standard is fixed. Measurable. It is called perfection. In other words, no sin. None. A perfect score. 100. Anything less will not do. In Ezekiel 18:4 are told, “The soul who sins will die.” The standard that God has is objective and not arbitrary. We either meet the standard or we don’t. Unfortunately Romans 3:23 tells us that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In other words, no one makes the grade. No one is going to make it to Heaven. That’s the bad news.
The Good News is that God has made a way for us to still get into Heaven. It is not a result of ‘grade inflation’ or ‘extra credit’. The reality is that there is nothing that we can do to be good enough to get into Heaven. This is where Jesus comes into the picture. As a result of His sinless, perfect life, Jesus' death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins. His death satisfied God’s justice. As a result, when we put our faith in Jesus as our Savior, God forgives us our sin and we become righteous. Now we have the perfection that He requires. In essence, we make the grade through Jesus.
What a great reality this is. We failed. Jesus passed. As a result, through faith in Him, we pass as well. In the final analysis God doesn’t grade on the curve but on faith. And boy am I happy about that!
Lord, I thank you that even though I fall far short of Your standard of perfection that Jesus didn’t. He lived a perfect life. He became the perfect sacrifice. As a result, I can now make it to Heaven through Him. Help me always to remember this. To be thankful for it. To appreciate it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203:16&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014:6&version=NASB
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%204:12&version=NASB
Yesterday I mentioned ‘grade inflation’ and some teacher’s habit of grading their students on the curve. And how that mentality has infected our culture in a number of areas. Particularly the spiritual one. This has led to the common belief that God also grades on the curve. Does He?
The short answer is, No. God does not grade on the curve. God has a standard. The standard is fixed. Measurable. It is called perfection. In other words, no sin. None. A perfect score. 100. Anything less will not do. In Ezekiel 18:4 are told, “The soul who sins will die.” The standard that God has is objective and not arbitrary. We either meet the standard or we don’t. Unfortunately Romans 3:23 tells us that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In other words, no one makes the grade. No one is going to make it to Heaven. That’s the bad news.
The Good News is that God has made a way for us to still get into Heaven. It is not a result of ‘grade inflation’ or ‘extra credit’. The reality is that there is nothing that we can do to be good enough to get into Heaven. This is where Jesus comes into the picture. As a result of His sinless, perfect life, Jesus' death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins. His death satisfied God’s justice. As a result, when we put our faith in Jesus as our Savior, God forgives us our sin and we become righteous. Now we have the perfection that He requires. In essence, we make the grade through Jesus.
What a great reality this is. We failed. Jesus passed. As a result, through faith in Him, we pass as well. In the final analysis God doesn’t grade on the curve but on faith. And boy am I happy about that!
Lord, I thank you that even though I fall far short of Your standard of perfection that Jesus didn’t. He lived a perfect life. He became the perfect sacrifice. As a result, I can now make it to Heaven through Him. Help me always to remember this. To be thankful for it. To appreciate it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment