The Weekly Word: Can we ever be ‘good enough’ for God?

By Coulter Page, Senior Pastor, Bethany Alliance Church

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

— Galatians 2:15-16 ESV

Are you good enough? Have you done enough? If you measured your good versus your bad, which would weigh more?

It was a question that Paul addressed to the early church found in Galatia. Take a moment to read Galatians 1:11-2:21.

In this passage, Paul recounts his history with being an apostle and evangelist. You find a man who immediately after giving his life to Jesus, got to work sharing the truth of Jesus with the world before ever interacting with another believer (Galatians 1:11-24).

He continues to share how later on in his ministry he went to join a group of believers who had been tempted by some false teachers that Jesus was not enough, but he did not back down from the truth even when facing the pillar of the faith — Peter (Galatians 2:1-14).

Why did he not back down? Because he knew the truth. We are not saved by anything that we do. We are saved and justified by “faith in Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 2:16).

The same battle that Paul fought we still fight today. The world tries to tell us that you just need to be good enough. As long as your good outweighs your bad, you will be fine.

But I have some bad news for you coupled with great news. You and I will never be good enough. We will always fall short.

In Romans Paul says, “We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

That includes you, and that includes me. So we will never be good enough. That’s the bad news.

But here is the great news. Jesus gave his life for our life. The perfect Son of God died so that you and I might live. All we must do is believe. All we must do is confess. All we must do is have faith in Jesus.

It is not on us to be good enough or to do enough to outweigh our bad. When we put our faith in Jesus, it tips the scales in our favor.

So stop trying to be good enough. Instead, put your faith in Jesus and watch what he will do!

Prayer

Father God, I know that I am not good enough. I know I try to be, and it can be hard to believe that faith in Jesus is enough. But right here I am changing that mentality. I am no longer going to try to earn salvation. Instead, I put my faith in Jesus Christ and all that he has accomplished. Thank you for saving me from myself. My life is yours. Amen!

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Holding onto the truth that it is through faith in Christ that we are saved can be hard on your own. We want to invite you to find a church family to spur you on. We would love to invite you to consider Bethany Alliance Church as that church family. We have a worship service on Sundays at 10:02 a.m. and you can join us in person or on Facebook Live.

Want more information? Check out bethanyalliance.com. Hope to see you Sunday!