The thing is there is a vast difference in what we would call “good”, and what God calls “good”. You may consider yourself good because you have not committed any heinous crime and do your best to do the right thing as you know it. But what God considers good is utter and complete perfection in line with His utter and perfect holiness.
God has said that “He who keeps the whole Law, and yet stumbles at just one point, is guilty of breaking all of it.” James 2:10
What that means, is that God has laid down laws and commands for mankind to obey, for the benefit of mankind and the honoring of God. And if a man was to keep every single one of those laws all the days of his life, and yet fail to keep even one of them, it would be as if he broke all of them. That is how far the divide is between God’s perfection, and even a single sinful act. It would be as if that person broke every single law if they were to break just one.
God’s standard is perfection, because He is perfect. In the beginning He created mankind perfect and pure. But man fell, the first man sinned and this created a separation between God and man that exists to this day. The reason for that separation is that God cannot dwell with sin, and evil, and no matter how good we might think we are, not a single one of us could claim actual “goodness” or perfection because we have all messed up. Have you ever been selfish? Have you ever thought evil of someone? Have you ever disrespected your parents? Have you ever told a lie? How about stealing, have you ever taken something that was not yours? Yeah, me too. There is not one of us who is “good” we all fall short by God’s standard.
God said :
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips.
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Romans 3:10-18
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23
And so we see that all of us fall short of God’s perfection and so all of us are guilty before Him. But the amazing thing is that God in His love for us made a way for us to be made pure and clean. How can a man take back what he’s already done? How can a person erase their history? It’s not possible. But what if their Creator were to do something to cover over that sin and shame, to wash them clean for good, forever. If that offer was on the table, would you take it?
This is what Jesus did in dying on that cross for you. The Son of God who was sent from heaven to earth to rescue us from the punishment we deserved, took that punishment on Himself. He put Himself in our place. He could do this because He lived a perfect life, and had no sin, so He was able to pay the penalty for our sins with His life. And so He did.
“He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:5-6
And so God has said that anyone, anywhere who would believe in the name of Jesus, the Son of God who came and died for them, and was raised from the dead, and believe that it is only by the sacrifice of Jesus that they can be saved, not by their own works, but by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, they will be saved, forgiven, and become a child of the living God. This is the real deal, this is it. There is no other way be reconciled to God but through His Son Jesus.
So the question now is, do you believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and the saving of your soul?