You can never be righteous enough

Reflection

The message of this short clip sits at the very heart of what Christianity actually is. Most religions of the world, if we are honest, boil down to some version of earning your way to God — be good enough, do enough, keep enough rules, and perhaps you will make it. The problem is that none of us ever manage it. As Paul writes, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and no amount of effort on our part closes that gap. That sounds like bad news, but it is exactly where the good news begins. Jesus did not come for people who had their lives perfectly together; he said plainly that he came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Salvation is a gift, received by faith rather than earned by performance (Ephesians 2:8 to 9), because if it could be earned it would never be certain — we would spend our whole lives wondering whether we had done enough. So if you have ever felt that you could never be good enough for God, you are closer to the truth than you might think — and closer to the point of the cross. Nobody is righteous enough on their own. That is why Jesus came: his righteousness given to us, not ours achieved for him. The Christian life is not a ladder we climb; it is a relationship we receive.

Questions to sit with

• Have you ever felt that God could only accept you if you were good enough — and where did that idea come from?
• What changes when you see salvation as a gift to receive rather than a standard to reach?
• If you cannot earn God's love, what might a response to that love look like in your everyday life?

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