Not Your Sins But Your Good Deeds
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Matthew 22:11-12 But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. Friend, he asked, how did you get in here without wedding clothes? The man was speechless.
What is so intriguing about the parable from Matthew 1-22 is that the only person who gets thrown out is not the bad, but a person who feels that he is fine. It is not your sins that keep you from God; but it is your good deeds and damnable good works, the things that you think make you good enough. Religion is middle class, and it appeals to the people who say, I can do it if I work hard enough.
The gospel says that no one is good, not one (Romans 3:10). There is nothing in your heart that is good. Even your good deeds have been done to feel superior to other people and to try and get control and leverage over God and to get Him to owe you. Even your best deeds are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). You are filled with self-righteousness, and you are no better than the person who has lived an immoral life. Therefore, you are utterly lost, there is no love of God in your heart, and there is only one hope and possibility. Jesus Christ, the rich one, became poor. When you come to God you must come and say, Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling. You have every right to send me to Hell, but I want your mercy because of what Jesus Christ did.
Religion says, I give God a record of righteousness, and then God owes me blessing. But the gospel says, God through Jesus Christ has given me a perfect record of righteousness which I receive by faith, and now I live for him.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
Posts
