How Do We Get Right With God?

We might try to get right with God by obeying his commands. This would prove difficult. No human being has ever gone through the whole of their lives without breaking any of God's commands. If you break only one of them, you have become a law breaker. If you don't commit murder but do commit adultery, you have broken God's laws. James 2:9,10. We think that God's laws are right in our minds but putting them into practice is another matter. We find ourselves subject to sinful urges we can't control. We continue to do things that we know are wrong and that we hate doing. Romans 7:9-25. The purpose of God's law is to show us that everybody in the world is totally evil and totally sinful. It is to make us aware that we could never measure up to God's standards. The psalmist says there is no one who understands God, no one who even wants to know God. Our throats are an open grave. With our tongues we speak deceit. There is no one righteous. Not even one. Romans 3:10-20. The law was our teacher, to show us how much we need to be forgiven by Christ. It can not bring us to life. We can not make ourselves holy by trying to follow God's commands. Galatians 3:21-25.

We try to please God by following lots of rules. We want to obey God's commands and we want to add a few more just to make sure. A man came to Jesus and asked what he had to do to have eternal life. Jesus said, 'Obey the commands. Don't lie, don't kill, don't steal.' He said he had obeyed all these since he was a boy. Jesus said, 'One thing you lack. If you want to be holy, sell everything you have, give the money to the poor and come and follow me.' The man went away sad because he had great wealth. Matthew 19:16-26. What does Jesus really want the man to do? It would be possible for the man to give up his home and his job and follow Jesus as one of his disciples for a few years. The other disciples already had. But that may not be the point of this suggestion. Jesus is interested in what is in a man's heart. 'You were told do not commit adultery. I say do not lust after a woman. You were told do not murder. I say do not hate.' Matthew 5:21-28. If this is simply a test it reveals the man's heart. He follows all the commands but he is completely selfish. If you said that to some people, they might say, 'I suppose I could be more generous with my money. Should I set up a free cafe to help the poor? I could come and be your disciple for a few years but could I put my father in charge of the business and not sell the house so I still have a home and a job when I get back?' Or is Jesus exaggerating? 'You people want to get to Heaven by being good. Only God is good. You want to be really holy? You want to really impress God and earn your way to Heaven? You should sell everything you have and give the money to the poor.' The apostle Paul had no particular respect for people who sell all that they had and give the money to the poor. 'If I sell all my possessions and give all my money to the poor and give my body to be burned but have not love I am nothing.' 1Corinthians 13:3. Even if you did that, it wouldn't qualify you to go to Heaven. God sees the heart. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Jeremiah 17:9,10.

In Biblical times some people had come into the church telling people that they had to follow all the Jewish customs if they wanted to be accepted by God. It wasn't enough to be a Christian, you also had to become a Jew. People love to have a religion with lots of rules. The church in Galatia had begun well but was being confused by those who believed that Christians should obey Jewish laws. Peter had even seen Jesus crucified. Galatians 3:1-5. If they allowed themselves to be circumcised, they would be making a vow to earn their way to Heaven by obeying all of God's laws without breaking a single one. No one can ever do this. Christ would be of no value to them at all. Galatians 5:1-4.

There is a different kind of righteousness for those who believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus has paid for our sins by his death on the cross. We are saved by God's grace, by his undeserved favour. We don't have to work hard to make ourselves right with God. We accept his free gift. Romans 3:21-26. Abraham was made righteous because he believed God when God told him that he would have a son. The problem was that Abraham and his wife were both a hundred years old. His wife had been childless all her life due to medical issues. This son would have to be a miracle. Abraham was told that all nations would be blessed through him. He is the founder of the nation of Israel. Christians have inherited Abraham's blessing if they have faith in Jesus who was crucified for our sins and raised from the dead. Romans 4. Faith is when we stop doing things by our own efforts and trust in God to do them in us and through us. We have been crucified with Christ. The sinful part of us is dead now. Christ lives in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 2:19-21. Jesus Christ will take away our uncontrollable desires to sin. If we live by the Spirit of God we will not fulfill the desires of our sinful nature but will become kind, patient and good as God's Spirit works to transform us. Galatians 5:16-26.