How Good Is Good Enough? How Bad Is Too Bad?

Many people, while admitting they have sinned, think that they are still good enough to go to Heaven on their own merits. Others think they have sinned so much that they are too bad to go to Heaven.

HOW GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH?

Just how good does a person have to be to earn eternal life and live forever in Heaven? According to God’s standard (the only standard that really counts) a person would have to live an absolutely perfect life to earn eternal life. Not one lie; not one bad thought; not one disrespectful word to their parents, etc. Perfect.

Do you think you have fulfilled and maintained this strict standard? Romans 3:19 says, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Wow! The whole world stands guilty before God. No one can argue that they have lived a perfect life. No one … not you, not me, no one.

We don’t like to think about it, but it’s true …we all have sinned (Romans 3:10, 23). But, you may say, “I’ve never committed any terrible sins. I’ve been pretty good.” Perhaps you are right, but is pretty good, good enough? NO, it’s not! In fact, some sins that we consider minor are really major in the Lord’s eyes. Have you ever murdered anyone? Consider this: “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15). Could it be that we are greater sinners than we realize? Could it be that we are not all that good after all? We need to keep in mind that, “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7).

HOW BAD IS TOO BAD?

Maybe you are one who thinks you have sinned so much that there is no forgiveness for you. We often offend people so greatly that they may refuse to forgive us, but God is love (1 John 4:8) and He loves to forgive. To those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord would assure us, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). Under God’s inspiration, the apostle Paul wrote, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). This tells us that the world’s greatest sinner has found forgiveness and is saved. If he can be saved then we can all be saved!

So, none are without sin, but none are without hope, either. The Lord wants “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4). By now, you may be asking, “What do I have to do to be saved?” A sinner in Bible times asked the same question. The answer was simple, yet profound, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” (Acts 16:31).

That’s it? That’s all there is to it? YES! The Lord Jesus did all the work. Simply put your trust in the finished work (death, burial, and resurrection) of the Lord Jesus Christ, and God will save you … right here, right now. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). Won’t you bow your knee to the Lord Jesus right now and confess that He is Lord? No matter how good you think you are or how bad you think you are, the Lord saves all those who come to Him in faith. “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). —C.T.C. (mwtb.org)

NO ONE IS SO GOOD THAT THEY DON’T NEED TO BE SAVED. NO ONE IS SO BAD THAT THEY CAN’T BE SAVED.

See also "Believe On The Lord Jesus Christ"