Articles
Good Enough for God?
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As it is written:
"There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after god.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one."
(Rom. 3:10-12)
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The Jews had a problem. By outward appearances, they were morally superior to the Gentiles. Based on that comparison, they were convinced that their moral status made them good enough for God. However, Paul borrows from their own Scriptures (Psalm 14) to argue that they were really no better than their Gentile neighbors: “There is none righteous, no, not one.” By comparing themselves to others, the Jews failed to recognize their deficiencies in light of the only standard that really mattered: God's.
We struggle with the same problem today. We strive to be good, righteous, moral, holy, and so on. That's a noble endeavor. But like the Jews, we do such a fine job of it that we convince ourselves we’re salvation material. Why, look at how much better we are than the people of the world!
We need to listen to Paul's warning to the Jews. No matter how much progress we make in developing moral discernment, there will always be chinks in our armor, little hidden corners of weakness that we have yet to conquer, or even to recognize. We may use a variety of tricks and gimmicks to convince ourselves that we're the "good guys" who have the inside track to heaven, but Paul wags a stern finger in our face: "There is none righteous, no, not one."
No matter how hard we try, none of us are good enough for God. Until we learn that basic truth about ourselves, our religion will always be distorted, even dangerous.
Of course, that raises an obvious question: if none of us are good enough--nor can we ever achieve that high status--then why bother trying? God is looking for a heart that desires to be close to Him, and that desire will translate into a life of service. Certainly we must continue to learn, grow, and improve; but we must do so with an overarching spirit of contrition, a heart that remains humbled by the great chasm that exists between what we are and what God wants us to be.
Who is good enough for God? God answers, "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit" (Isa. 57:15). Make that your goal in life, and everything else will fall into place.
--David
