You’re Not Good Enough To Be Saved

I have spoken with countless number of people who tell me, “The devil says I’m good enough to be saved.”  My answer to that my come as a surprise to you.  I respond to that statement with, “He’s right, you’re not.”  You should see the looks I get when I say that.  I want to take just a moment and explain to you why I believe that is the case.

First, none of us are good.  There is not one person, excluding Jesus, that has ever lived on this Earth that is good enough to deserve salvation.  The thought that anyone could ever achieve a level of goodness that could elevate them to salvation is preposterous.  The Bible says that none of us are good.  I think that pretty much sums up our goodness.  Isaiah wrote that our righteousness is like “filthy rags”.  I won’t take the time to go into detail of what that entails, but trust me; it is not a good picture.

Second, we are dead.  Paul told the church at Ephesus that we all “dead in our trespasses and sins”.  If we are dead spiritually, what we need is to be made alive spiritually.  Have you ever known a dead person raise them self from the dead?  NO!  That has never nor will ever happen.  If we are dead, we are dead.  We can’t do anything about us being dead.  We were physically born spiritually dead.

Well, that leads to the question, “Is anyone saved?”  Absolutely!  However, we are only saved by the grace of God.  It has nothing to do with anything that we have done that might could have earned that salvation, but rather it is the free gift of God’s grace found in Jesus Christ.  Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  God grants us the grace and faith to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord therefore, we are saved.

It is very comforting to know that it is not up to my righteous ability to save myself.  If that were the case I couldn’t sleep.  I would be constantly worrying if I had accomplished enough to earn salvation.  So, the next time the devil whispers in your ear that you aren’t good enough to be saved, make sure you tell him that he is right.  Then tell him you aren’t depending upon yourself to be saved.  Salvation is a work of God.   

My First Responsibility

I often get asked, “What is your greatest responsibility as a pastor?” When people ask that question, they are expecting answers like preaching, administration and such. However, my answer has never been any of those things. My answer is the same answer that you should give when asked what your greatest responsibility is. Our greatest responsibility is to live holy lives before God. It doesn’t matter what your vocation is, as a follower of Christ, you have the ultimate responsibility to live a godly life.

I have learned that when I focus on living godly that all the other responsibilities take care of themselves. I’m a much better husband when I am living holy. I’m a much better father when I am living holy. I’m a much better son and brother when I am living holy. I’m a much better pastor when I am living holy. I hope by now you get the point. There are a lot of things that happen in life that we have no control over. However, the depth of our holiness is not one of those things.

I challenge you to make living holy your first responsibility, then watch what God does with the other areas of your life. I leave you with 1 Peter 1:15-16, “But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”