No one is righteous on their own....

“The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” – Psalm 14:2-3

“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to depart into hell."  Matthew 5:29-30.

If what the Psalmist and the Jesus say is accurate about God, even the BEST of us are in trouble—-were it not for the blood of Jesus Christ.

If the Lord keeps track of our sins, who should stand? The only answer, indeed the obvious answer is no one.  And yet mankind lives as if to say, “Thank heavens the Lord does not keep track of our sins!” Such is a false hope.  RC Sproul said, “We have been led to believe by an endless series of lies that we have nothing to fear from God’s ledger of sins. We think that if He does judge at all, His judgment will be gentle. If we all fail His test — no fear — He will grade on a curve. After all, to err is human and to forgive is divine. This axiom is so set in concrete that we assume that forgiveness is not merely a divine option, but a prerequisite for divinity itself. We think that God is always smiling and forgiving, and He must be forgiving or He wouldn’t be a good God.

Many mainline denominations and the liberal theology of our time has come to describe a loving, forgiving and tolerant God,  devoid of any sense of justice. It dismisses the imputation of Christ’s righteousness as essential for salvation. The reasoning goes, “so if God loves us all unconditionally, who needs the righteousness of Christ?”

The reality is that God does see things as right or wrong—-regardless of what we have determined; in Romans Paul said, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…” (Rom. 1:18).

The human dilemma is this: “God is holy,  and we are not. God is righteous, and we are not.” Like Muslims, most people assume that God will judge us  based upon a score card of the good things we do as opposed to the bad things we do. If our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds, we will arrive safely in heaven. But, alas, if our evil deeds outweigh our good ones, we will suffer the wrath of God in hell. We reason that we still have the ability to balance our sins with our own righteousness. This is the most monstrous lie of all. Nothing is more perilous than for an unrighteous person to rest his future hope in an illusion—we are not righteous.  It was against such an illusion that Paul stressed by citing the Psalmist: “For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.’” (Rom. 3:9–12 NKJV)

What comprises just under four verses of the New Testament is so radical that if the

modern church would come to believe it, I believe we would experience a revival that would make the Reformation pale into insignificance.

If God requires perfect righteousness and perfect holiness to survive His perfect judgment, then we are left with a serious problem. Either we rest our hope in our own righteousness, which is ludicrous, or we find a way to allow another person to stand in for us—but that person’s righteousness, this “alien: righteousness, would have to be perfect—-based solely upon God’s standard of perfection. The only place such perfect righteousness can be found is in Christ — that is the good news of the Gospel.

One of the most common questions I get asked at the Bible studies from the campers is, “What happens to the good people that have never heard about Jesus Christ?” Many of them point out that some people are really nice but have not placed their trust in Jesus. What happens to them? It’s a great question. What if they live in the jungle and never hear the gospel or never get a chance in China or India to hear the truth?

I know that God loves these souls infinitely more than I ever could.  And there are people that are really, really good when you compare them to me, or a corrupt politician, or a vain movie star, or a drug dealer. But when compared to God’s perfect holiness, they are filthy and corrupt through and through. That’s why God sent Jesus. The model is Jesus Christ—-not the selfless humanitarian.  This is the truth we’re afraid to speak of—and to convince ourselves that God expects less than perfect purity is blasphemy.  Christianity stands alone in it’s exclusive demand: you must be saved by Jesus Christ—-there is no other way.

Solomon spoke 4,000 years ago, “There is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins ...” Are we better today than the folks of Solomon’s time? I don’t think so, and in some ways, we might be worse. In fact, 2,000 years after Solomon spoke, Saint John said, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

This idea of us being sin-free, or able to obtain that  on our own is not a modern idea. Throughout history people have argued that mankind kind is basically good; but that’s based on a comparison of  really, really extreme examples of bad people (e.g. Hitler, rapists, serial killers) and very unusual examples of good people (folks like Ghandi, Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa or others who give away their money or devote their lives to help the disadvantaged). The only example of good is God, and the only representation we have of God is Jesus Christ. Compared to Him, we’re all in a desperate situation.

But something changes when we come to God, the lover of our souls….God opens our eyes to just how dirty, corrupt, and off-target we are. And though it hurts, it produces the gift of tears, because it is then, and only then, that we can contritely say, “against you, and only you, have I sinned.” It’s both sobering and heart breaking to be brought to the realization of how unlike God, our Creator,  we really are and how totally desperate we are for His mercy. No man or woman that God has allowed — blessed—to see themselves as they really are is inclined to judge another soul, but rather they blurt out to Him, “Forgive me, because but for your grace I would worse than worst man I come across.”  We’re all in need of a Savior – even the best of us.  I do not understand pride in the heart of brother or sister in Christ!! Something is missing or something did not happen!

And what does the Savior of our souls promise us if we trust our lives to Him? A place to live and a community and surround ourselves with where everything makes sense.  (E.g. several years ago a young man living us decided to clean kitchen and then asking me why it made him feel good). We will be his people, and God himself will be with us and be our Father. He will wipe every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away…He is making everything new."

But He says this in reference to the Kingdom of God and getting into heaven: “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to depart into hell."  Matthew 5:29-30.

These are very scary sayings, but Jesus is talking about what is required if a person really wants to avoid hell and live with God eternally.  He spoke often about “counting the cost”,  “not turning back”, being totally “reborn,  and having a new mindset.

What He demands is that we choose to eternally give up certain things. It is a PERMANENT removal of some things—turning your back on that way of living, thinking and being.  It’s a decision to NOT GO BACK to the old way of doing things——it’s being “born again”.  And He promises that we will become “complete” or whole”  if we come to Him—sooner or later.  (Quote from Lombardi: “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we will attain excellence.”)

Do you want to be in heaven?  Are you willing to renounce and give up those things that you know are wrong?  Are you willing to cut off your arm and gouge out your eye, if they stand in the way of you surrendering your life to Him?  Or on the other hand, if you are unwilling to knell and call Him Lord and you are determined to hold onto things that have nothing to do with God and His Kingdom, youwill not escape hell. To the woman  at the well He said, “Go and sin no more.”  To the rich young man He said, “Go sell all you have and follow me.” …..and what is is saying to me——and to you?

But once this happens, once we are identified with God and His Kingdom work, does life because easy, relaxed and free from turmoil, challenges and conflicts?  Absolutely not—-and we fail to teach this to new converts. Once you have become a part of the redeemed, you have joined in on a rebellion against the prince of this world—Satan.  And you have a mark on your back! Don’t ever think otherwise.

God’s way of getting things done and the way man does things are not similar, are they? If Christ is your Savior, you will soon see how God answers your prayers, or how He speaks to you, or how He directs your paths and you will  see a different way: better, of course, but always different from how you previously would have handled the matter or settled things.

I often find myself questioning why things happen like they do in my life, and the life of those in my church and the camp.  I wonder why things can’t be more perfect—and  right now,  or why our reputations can’t be more “sterling” , or why things aren’t a easier since we are children  of the Lord God Almighty!  There are uncertainties, disappointments and a lot of scary things that happen in life (at least in my life) even when you become a Christian, and I wonder, sometimes, if this is happening because of I am somehow “missing the point” that He is trying to teach me, or perhaps I am “not where I belong”, or worse, that I “never was called by God to do what  I am doing in the first place”.  These musings might not be the kind of thing that goes through your head, but I find myself a bit unsure if I am doing the right thing when times get tough and I feel too much pressure.

If, or when,  you are born again, don’t be surprised at times with doubts about your place!  You will wonder why life is not easier!

But last night I was reminded of the very life  Jesus Christ—the only man who lived and died perfect. Jesus never missed an opportunity to honor God, was never

in the wrong place at the wrong time and never disappointed His heavenly Father.

When Christ began His ministry masses of people followed Him in delight! Thousand and thousands listened to Him speak for hours. He sent out not 12, but 72 disciples to share the good news.  But later, as He taught more and more about His purpose, the desires of His Heavenly Father and His ultimate goal (to be the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind) people stopped following. His disciples shrank from 72+ to less than

12, and at the very end no one stood up to defend Him. He was tortured-alone;  ridiculed-alone; mocked-alone; and finally crucified with only a couple of women and

one disciple having the courage to watch.

Imagine what would have happened to the story and impact about Jesus in history if this was the end of the story!  We would not have books written examining Him,  see movies about Him, have churches all over the globe to celebrate Him and  2.3 billion people would be worshipping a different kind of a god!   But in the end God raised Jesus from the dead and the disciples were transformed from cowards into spiritual patriots! The world was shaken not because of the life of Jesus, but because of the resurrection of Jesus!!!  What God did with the  humbled and surrendered life His faithful Son has changed history—-and our blessed destiny! His death on a cross and God's power to  resurrect Him from the dead is what changed everything.

Those of us who are older probably recall the old Dracula movies, with Bela Lagusi. He was scary—as were all the other vampires, even when Nicolas Cage portrayed one. But according to legend, all vampires feared the cross.  Not the crucifix—which was Christ on the cross, but the cross which showed Jesus resurrected from the cross. It terrorized the vampires——and it still terrorizes Satan and the demons.

The sign of the cross is both the sign of the resurrected—the One that conquered death and sin—-and a sign, for the one that wears it, of embracing a surrendered life to Jesus Christ.   And it is the surrendered life of a man or woman to God that scares Satan——not the intellectually gifted or dedicated worker.  A believer surrendered to God might have trouble, his friends might let him down, he may fail in business or relationships, he might be mocked or sneered at, etc.  But at the proper time—i.e. God’s time—the surrendered life of a man in love with Him can accomplish what no other life can come close to accomplishing. The journey will  be lonely and seem desperate at time, but that’s the way God works with those that He loves the most.  The joy comes in the morning.