Monday, April 18, 2011

A Good Christian?

I received a sweet email from a young lady this week. She shared that even though she thought she was "a good Christian" most of the time, she still worried that maybe she wasn't good enough.

I think the vast majority of us can relate to that!

I mean, can any of us be good enough to wear Christ's name?!?! Because if we call ourselves a Christian, that is exactly what we're doing. We are telling the world that we belong to Christ.

The simple truth is no one is good enough. Not your pastor. Not your parents. Not even Billy Graham. No one is good enough on their own to wear the name "Christian."

But thankfully Jesus knew that a long time ago. He knew no matter how many laws we tried to keep or how good we tried to be, we would fail. So there had to be a better way to be reconciled to God that was foolproof.

And there is.

His name is Jesus Christ!

Because Jesus took our sin upon Him when He went to the cross, we don't have to wonder anymore if we are good enough. He took care of our human failings when He said "It is finished" in John 19:30. He wasn't talking about His life on earth when He spoke those words. He was talking about the bondage--the grip!--that sin had on the world. His death brought an end to that!

But like I told my young friend, that doesn't mean we can continue in sin believing we're "safe" simply because we claim Christ. When we do that, we're basically saying Jesus' death on the cross was not enough. That his death was not good enough to free us from a life of sin. And Jesus' death on the cross not only frees us from sin, but it frees us from the guilt of our sin. Once we ask Jesus to forgive us for our sin and remove it from our lives, we no longer have to worry about being good enough!

Romans 8:1 says: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."

So why then do we still feel condemned sometimes?

I believe those thoughts come straight from our Enemy. Satan hates a happy Christian! So what better way to make us unhappy than to put doubts in our minds. Doubts about our faith. Doubts about God. Feelings of not being a good Christian. Feelings of not being good enough.

When those thoughts start to weigh us down, that's when it's time to go back to the basics. Go back to the cross. Remember what Jesus did and why He did it!

Are you good enough?

No. But Jesus is!!

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