In a conversation with a person about ‘going to Heaven’ he blurted out – “I gotta be perfect to get there and I know I’m not!” He was both right and wrong in his conclusions. Yes, it true that our holy God has no tolerance for sin and no stain of sinfulness is allowed in His eternal city. But there is a perfection available to you and me that is not of our own making!
I am only too aware of my sins and failures. It is not a stretch for me to understand David’s lament. “I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict …Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.” (Psalm 51)
This guilt
is a universal condition in the human experience. Paul reminds us that "all
have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard." (Romans
3:23)
So much for perfection, right? This being the truth how can we hope for a home in
God’s eternal city? How can we even dream of eternal life?
Against the dark background of our failures stands the grace of God who acted to set us right with Him, removing our guilt, and gifting us with a holy perfection not of our making. “God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” (Romans 3:24)
In Ephesians we read about the amazingly scandalous love of God for us in the opening lines and then in chapter 2, there is an abrupt change. This is the indictment- "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins… All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." (Ephesians 2:3, NIV)
Then, he
writes, "But God..." There is the Divine Exception which makes our hope of a home in Heaven (and a life in
His Presence right here, right now) possible! "But God is so rich in
mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of
our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. ... God saved
you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this;
it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have
done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has
created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned
for us long ago." --Ephesians 2:3-10 NLT
The Perfect God did not take the “Grandpa” route in dealing with our sins. We
grandparents are ever so ready to ignore or excuse the failures of our
grandchildren. We are not responsible for their training so we can just get on
with loving them. God is our Father, not our Grandpa. He cannot look at
our disobedient behavior and brush it off, overlook it, or excuse it.
But He can
offer a sacrifice that forgives us, an atonement for our guilt debt, and the
power of the Spirit that changes us from sinner to saint. That is exactly what
He’s done for us in Christ Jesus.
When we begin to grasp the depth of His grace, accepting the gift of life, then
love replaces fear. Assurance replaces uncertainty. We no longer hide from Him
or pretend that we are better than we are. We need not live in denial of the
truth about want we have done. Instead, we let Him lead us even through the tests
and trials that perfect our faith. In this way He brings us to spiritual maturity.
This ‘perfection’ thing is a process – a work of our Deliverer and the
disciplines of the Spirit.
Do you want
to be rid of the fear of eternity? Do you want to be free from shame? Honestly
confess your sins and failures to God, then receive the Gift. The Word tells us
we “no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather,
I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right
with himself depends on faith.”
(Philippians 3)
From that starting point of faith, God leads us into a new kind of life, and we
become in reality who He has declared us to be. Here is a word from the Word.
May it guide us to hope today. "Not that I have already obtained all
this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that
for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet
to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and
straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for
which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:12-14)
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