When I was in college, I had a roommate for a short time who was Jewish. We got along great, and I really enjoyed her company. She was a wonderful, fun, generous, and kind person that I admired. We talked about many things, including our religious beliefs, and how she and I believed in the same God, technically. And that God, the one I read about in my Bible, was one of incredible love.
At that time I remember thinking that such a loving God wouldn’t condemn such a nice person, a person who put their faith in Him. Would He? I decided there must be a special exception for Jewish people. They are God’s chosen people after all.
But that’s not what the Bible says. God’s standards are very high — they require perfection in fact. He gave His people the Law and told them that they would be saved if they obeyed it.
They didn’t. I haven’t. Neither had my roommate. No one has or ever will be able to obey God’s Law completely throughout their entire life.
Except Jesus.
He obeyed perfectly for me. He is the exception that God provided. And only through Him can I meet God’s standard for perfection.
Since my roommate did not accept this generous gift her God had provided, her own sin would make her unacceptable for eternal life with God.
Salvation isn’t about being good. It’s not about being nice or kind or believing there is a God or even claiming to be a “Christian.” According to today’s verse, salvation is only available because of Jesus making it available. Because of His death in my place, I can live. And so can anyone else.
Dear God,
This is a hard teaching because I can’t see things the way you do. Your standards of good are very different from mine. They are impossibly high. Thank you so much for providing such a simple way to meet your impossibly high standards in Jesus. Thank you for reminding me how important it is to encourage others with this Good News of Jesus and how being “good” just isn’t enough.
CamDevo 