Stop trying to be good (4) – By Femi Aribisala
How can a mere mortal be right-stamding in the eyes of God?
First, he has to admit that he can do nothing by himself. He must admit that he automatically does everything the wrong way. Then he must believe that God will turn the wrong things of his life into right things through the works of Jesus Christ.
We are only right when we believe in God who always does the right things and corrects our wrongs. We are only right when we believe in God to do the right things for us.
The right thing can never be what a man does. The right thing is only what God does. So, how can man get anything right? He must believe that God will get it right for him.
Faith in God is the answer. Faith in God is the key. The scriptures tall us: “Without faith it is impossible to please (God).” (Hebrews 11:6). With faith, the wrong thing becomes right. The bad thing becomes good. The only goodness in man acceptable to God is faith in God, and faith itself is a gift of God.
“Human generosity is a sin against God.
“You cannot make God accept you because of something you do. God accepts sinners only because they have faith in him. In the Scriptures David talks about the blessings that come to people who are acceptable to God, even though they don’t do anything to deserve these blessings.” (Romans 4:5-6).
Those trying to be good fail for trying. Those who do not try succeed because of their faith:
“The Gentiles were not trying to be acceptable to God, but they found that He would accept them if they had faith. It also means that the people of Israel were not acceptable to God. And why not? It was because they were trying to be acceptable by obeying the Law instead of by having faith in God.” (Romans 9:30-32).
Saving faith
Salvation does not come from merely believing in God. It comes from believing in the word of God. This is because: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17).
So, what is the world of God?
In th time of Noah, salvation was in believing what God said about the Ark. The word of God said those who went into the Ark would be saved. As a result, many who believed in God perished in the Flood because they did not believe in the Ark. But salvation was in the Ark.
Today, salvation is also not merely in believing n God. It is in believing in Jesus, the Word of God. Jesus is now the Ark. As a result, many people who claim to believe in God are unacceptable to God. To believe in the One true God, we must believe in Jesus, the Son of God and the Word of God:
“If we have faith in God’s Son, we have believed what God has said. But if we don’t believe what God has said about his Son, it is the same as calling God a liar. God has also said that he gave us eternal life and that this life comes to us from his Son. And so, if we have God’s Son, we have this life. But if we don’t have the Son, we don’t have this life.” (1 John 5:10-12).
(God) accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:22). “(God) declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26).
Jesus is the Way
Jesus is the only way to God. Jesus says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6).
The Bible does not say: “ God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in God should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
No! It says:
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
God the Father is not the author of our faith. Jesus is. (Hebrews 12:2). God the Father did not appear to Paul on the road to Damascus, and commission him to establish the church and to write two-thirds of the New Testament. Jesus did.
God the Father did not appear to John and reveal to him what is to come, which he wrote in the Book of Revelations. Jesus did.
The scriptures do not say: “Looking unto God the Father.” No! They say: “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2). The righteousness of faith is in believing who Jesus is and believing in His atonement for our sins on the cross.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He does not testify of the Father but of the Son. People are to be led to Jesus, and not to the Father. If you lead people to Jesus, they will get to the Father because Jesus is the way to Him. But if you try to lead people to the Father, they will never get to Him.
Completed works
Today, there is still no salvation in believing in God. The apostolic creed is quite straightforward. It has a division of authority between God the Father and God the Son:
“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:21).
Moreover, faith is not believing what Jesus will do. It is believing what Jesus has done. Therefore, thank God in advance before receiving anything from Him. Faith does not mean believing God will do something. Faith is believing He has already done it. Jesus says:
“Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24).
Sin is unbelief
Sin is not merely what men do. Sin is first and foremost what men believe. For a man to be good in the sight of God, he must believe in God. For a man to be right standing with God, he must believe in God:
“People are acceptable to God because they have faith, and not because they obey the Law. There is only one God, and He accepts Gentiles as well as Jews, simply because of their faith.” (Romans 3:28-30).
So, why do you do the things you do? Only one answer is acceptable. You must do what you do because you believe in Christ. Faith in Christ is the only acceptable reason for human action. Anything that does not originate from faith in Jesus is a sin. “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23).
If you give money to the poor but the reason why you did is not because of your faith in Jesus, your generosity is a sin. You sinned against God by giving money to the poor.
If you are faithful to your wife only because you love your wife, you have sinned against God. You must be faithful to your wife because you believe in Jesus and love God.
Jesus asserts the saliency and supremacy of faith in Him every situation:
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26).
We must hate them, and then love them only because we believe in Jesus.
Jesus warns that sin is mistakenly seen as doing something bad when it is doing something that does hot arise from our belief in Him:
“When (the Holy Spirit) has come, He will convict the world of sin, because they do not believe in Me.” (John 16:8).
In effect, with the perfected works of Jesus on our behalf on the cross of Calvary where He took away the sin of the world, sin has now been reduced to not believing in Jesus. Only those who have the Holy Spirit know this. Others think God approves of their dead works.
Exclusionary law
Paul asks:
“Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? No: but by the law of faith.” (Romans 3:27).
The law of faith in Jesus is exclusionary because there are so many things that we simply will not do because we believe in Jesus. People do evil because they do not believe in Jesus.
But because you believe in Jesus, you will not steal. Because of your faith in Jesus, you will not fornicate. Because of your faith in Jesus, you will not murder. Because of your faith in Jesus, you will not steal. Because of your faith in Jesus, you will not sin intentionally.
But people who do not believe in Jesus are liable to fly planes into buildings, killing thousands, in the belief that, by doing this, they are doing God a favour.
Jesus warns His disciples about this:
“They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.” (John 16:2-3).
