{"id":1280,"date":"2012-10-25T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2012-10-25T15:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.returningking.com\/?p=1280"},"modified":"2012-10-25T09:00:33","modified_gmt":"2012-10-25T15:00:33","slug":"are-you-good-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/?p=1280","title":{"rendered":"Are You Good Enough?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/p>\n

For as long as I can remember there has been a silent cultural message that \u201cif you\u2019re good enough\u201d God will accept you as his own and secure you a permanent place at his side in eternity.\u00a0 From Country and Western songs to Hallmark movie nights we are captured by the idea of a person realizing the error of their ways and making amends to a new status of a life well-lived.\u00a0 This trend has been exacerbated in recent years by a multitude of teachers and preachers in the church who are attempting to <\/span>remodel Christ as a life coach<\/span><\/a> who desires to lead man to his true potential.\u00a0 Turning from the old \u201cyou\u2019re a sinner headed for judgment\u201d model of reaching the masses, the new sentiment is \u201c<\/span>get on the wagon with Jesus and become something wonderful<\/span><\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 I have to admit it has a nice ring.\u00a0 It\u2019s the stuff that after school specials were made for; grabbing oneself by the bootstraps and initiating the full potential of the human spirit in order to overcome the strongholds of one\u2019s past.\u00a0 Such stories are inspiring, entertaining and motivating.\u00a0 After all, who among us could throw a stone at someone filled with good works, kindness and sacrificial service to others?\u00a0 Indeed, these are the very characteristics that Jesus modeled and are the substance of the inner working of the Holy Spirit in the life of his chosen. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Such ideas represent the heart and soul of a moralistic gospel approach.\u00a0 The model is simple: \u201cWork hard, do better and God will accept you.\u201d\u00a0 And, the presumed merit of such good works is that they will somehow erase the stain of a former life that was decidedly \u201cnot good enough\u201d in God\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 But will they really?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Several years ago I saw a news story on television about a woman who was discovered just miles down the road from where I lived.\u00a0 The woman had been missing for many years.\u00a0 She was not missing in the sense that she was lost, but in the sense that she did not want to be found.\u00a0 This woman was an upstanding member of a nearby town.\u00a0 She worked hard, had built a respectable life and was highly regarded by everyone who knew her.\u00a0 She was active in her church and local schools and was known as a model citizen.\u00a0 Yet, she had lived many years under an assumed name for fear of her past.\u00a0 In fact, she had been convicted of horrible crimes at a younger age and had somehow escaped the custody of the state in order to assume a \u201cnew\u201d life and identity as the person she wished she had been all along.\u00a0 She had truly changed her ways.\u00a0 Likened to the gospel of moralism, one might consider that she had erased her former sins by her current good life.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

When this woman was discovered by authorities the television news became hyperactive about her story.\u00a0 Some argued that she had lived a good and respectable life in the time since her heinous crimes and should be allowed to continue her new-found \u201cgood life.\u201d\u00a0 Others argued that this woman could not possibly have been guilty of the crimes that she had been convicted of, for she had proven her mettle publicly for so many years.\u00a0 But, at the end of all such sentiment there was one thing that stood resolutely in the way of her freedom: the law. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue this woman had was not her inability to do well by her community.\u00a0 Her issue was not that she was unfit to exist among the other humans in harmony.\u00a0 It was not that she lacked the potential to fit in, be nice, get along with others or that she had failed to do any sufficient good works as deemed proper by the community.\u00a0 Her issue was that she had resolutely broken the law in a major way and had been sentenced to punitive discipline by the law.\u00a0 It frankly did not matter how good of a life she had lived the past number of years or how many people she had helped.\u00a0 Her punishment was indifferent to her good works.\u00a0 This woman had been formerly convicted of murder.\u00a0 She owed a debt to society that could not be paid by simply \u201cdoing better from now on.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

This story illustrates perfectly the issue of a moralistic gospel.\u00a0 The scripture says in Romans 3:23 that \u201call have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice the accusation clearly: \u201call have sinned.\u201d <\/span><\/span>The problem man has with God<\/span><\/a> is not that \u201cyou have not been good enough.\u201d\u00a0 The issue is that \u201cyou have sinned.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Sin is a specific crime with a prescribed penalty announced from the very beginning of time: \u201cthe day you eat of it you will surely die.\u201d\u00a0 The penalty for sin is reaffirmed throughout the scriptures, being clearly shown again in Romans 6:23, \u201cfor the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d In short, our crime of <\/span>sin is so substantial to God<\/span><\/a> that we have been prescribed the death penalty for it.\u00a0 We can attempt to hide, rebrand our life and\/or gain the sentimental approval of everyone around us, but we will never get away from the perfect law that condemns us as sinners. <\/span><\/span>Our penalty will<\/em> be paid<\/span><\/a>– either by us or by a gracious intercessor.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Friends, the gospel message has never been<\/em> that God loved you so much he sent Jesus to earth to show you how to live better.\u00a0 The gospel message is- and always has been- that God loved you so much he sent his innocent Son to earth to die for your sins<\/span><\/a><\/em> and pay the sentence that you owe.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Because it is our sin \u2013 our offense of the law \u2013 that condemns us before God, there is simply no manner of good works<\/em> that we can live up to that will ever save us.\u00a0 There is no statute of limitations on sin.\u00a0 It is a crime punishable by an eternal sentence that must \u2013 and will \u2013 be paid. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The good works performed by we who are in Christ are symptomatic of our salvation, but can never be the substance of it.\u00a0 Our issue before God is not a lack of good works.\u00a0 It is our offense of sin.\u00a0 For that reason alone, you will never be good enough.\u00a0 Rather, <\/span>trust Christ\u2019s provision<\/span><\/a> of atonement on your behalf to save you from the wages of your sin and you will be transformed to the worthy and \u201cgood enough\u201d creation you need to be.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For as long as I can remember there has been a silent cultural message that “if you’re good enough” God will accept you as his own and secure you a permanent place at his side in eternity.  From Country and …<\/p>\n

Continue Reading→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,14,18],"tags":[32,90,129,162,166,203],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctrine","category-sin","category-the-gospel","tag-atonement","tag-gospel","tag-moralism","tag-salvation","tag-sin","tag-works"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1280"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=1280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}