God has no respect for
our good deeds done to gain His favour - "All our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags" - Isaiah 64:6 - and we are saved in SPITE of them -
"He saved us, NOT because of the righteous things we had done, but
because of his mercy." - Titus 3:5
Ever wondered why? I have, for a long time - why doesn't God respect my efforts? Then it hit me tonight for the first time, probably as a working through of my previous update - God is perfect. We are not.
We all agree that none of us IS perfect. We also agree that nothing we DO is done perfectly. Well, in God's eyes, any imperfection, any sin, is abominable. Therefore even our BEST EFFORTS are like filthy rags - the Hebrew actually refers to filthy menstrual rags, the epitome of uncleanness in that society.
So what's the point in trying, right? I mean, if nothing is EVER good enough, then why even get out of bed? Well, the Bible also tells us that we were "CREATED in Christ Jesus to do good works"! - Ephesians 2:10. There's that phrase again - "IN Christ" - so again, the only way that our filthy rags will look like good works in God's eyes is if we, and therefore our good works, are IN CHRIST! Anything else is a "stench in his nostrils" - Isaiah 65:5.
Ever wondered why? I have, for a long time - why doesn't God respect my efforts? Then it hit me tonight for the first time, probably as a working through of my previous update - God is perfect. We are not.
We all agree that none of us IS perfect. We also agree that nothing we DO is done perfectly. Well, in God's eyes, any imperfection, any sin, is abominable. Therefore even our BEST EFFORTS are like filthy rags - the Hebrew actually refers to filthy menstrual rags, the epitome of uncleanness in that society.
So what's the point in trying, right? I mean, if nothing is EVER good enough, then why even get out of bed? Well, the Bible also tells us that we were "CREATED in Christ Jesus to do good works"! - Ephesians 2:10. There's that phrase again - "IN Christ" - so again, the only way that our filthy rags will look like good works in God's eyes is if we, and therefore our good works, are IN CHRIST! Anything else is a "stench in his nostrils" - Isaiah 65:5.
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you post Anonymously you are less likely to have your comment approved, but providing at least a pseudonym will help track discussions that include Anonymous posts.