The Good News

A couple of years ago (and not even that many years) I had this idea that we had a certain measure of righteousness (goodness in less theological terms), which Christ added to in order to make us perfect. Imagine that in order to be perfect you had to have a score of 100 for every virtue. Let’s pretend that under the heading of Patience I have a score of 65. When I accept Christ as my Saviour, he fills my Patience bar with the extra 35 I need to be perfect, i.e. to be saved. And he does that to all the virtues, so that I can become perfect and acceptable for heaven.

This, I now believe, is heresy.

It pretends that salvation (justification) and perfection (sanctification), is part me and part Christ. I am now convinced that it is all Christ. Scripture says: “Because of God, you are in Christ Jesus, who is made for us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” [1 Corinthians 1:30] We have no merit that is worthy of contributions before a perfect God. We are all sinful. Even our best actions (all our righteousness / goodness) are “as filthy rags” [Romans, 3:10; Isaiah 64:6].

We contribute nothing to our salvation. We have nothing to boast about. “Therefore, as it is written, he that wants to boast should boast in the Lord.” [1 Corinthians 1:30, 31] For our salvation is all God’s doing from beginning to end. It is He that supplies the righteousness, it is He that paid the price, and it is He that will complete it in our lives. If ever we are to become perfect it is because He that started this good work in us will finish it also.

There’s one thing that we do – we accept the invitation and trust in God. And even this “faith”, is a gift from God.

This is, simplistically, the great difference between true Christianity and all other religions. In other religions the person has to bring something to his or her Deity, or do something for the Deity, or become a better person before the Deity can accept him or her. In Christianity, it is the Deity that supplies the sacrifice, it is the Deity that does the work, and it is the Deity that makes the believer a better person. It the Deity that reconciles the person with Itself.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” [2 Corinthians 5:17-19]

This message of reconciliation is called, the gospel – the Good News – that if we trust in Him, we will have eternal life [John 3:16]. Full stop.