0503 BEING GOOD ENOUGH ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH

BEING GOOD ENOUGH ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH

Some years ago I read a book with the catchy title Being Good Enough Isn’t Good Enough. That phrase captures the argument that Paul is making in the early chapters of Romans. He illustrates it with various examples, including these:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It was not AFTER I even WANTED to get my life together than Christ died for me to lift me up as a kind of heavenly self-improvement act. No, it is clear that he died while I was still a sinner.

It strikes me that Paul would have been especially aware of the power of this sentence for his own life. He calls himself the chief of sinners. He thought he was pleasing God, living a life of self-defined righteousness, but directly and violently opposing God’s people on earth. He was an enemy of Christ, even while Christ was dying for Paul himself! I suppose that put an end to any vestige of self-sufficiency that Paul might have been tempted to have when he was a Pharisee. He wasn’t even facing in the right direction, much less being righteous!

But while he was still a sinner, Christ died. And he not only died, but he died FOR HIM. For us. Christ was not just a victim. He was a sacrifice, with the likes of you and me in his mind as he gave himself up on the cross. It was, and is, the most astounding moment in history.

Paul goes on to say,

“For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Christ sacrificed himself. But when he came back to life, that was also for the likes of you and me. He came to save us, not just take punishment for us. He came to bring us life, not just pay for us by his death.

Have you ever reconciled financial records? It can take a long time of sorting through records, trying to figure out what the figures mean, and trying to remember what happened for this note to say what it does. Reconciliation is being made right. The numbers add up. Both sides of the column agree.

We are saved! Not just forgiven, saved! Saved by the resurrection!

Then Paul writes this:

“The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:20-21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul is saying that the point of the law was to help define just what sin is, so that we will not take anything for granted. Just as with family rules, so God made a set of rules by which we can know for certain that this is right and that is wrong. Sometimes we do right, but when we do wrong we can know it for certain, not just because of our conscience, but because there is something written that clearly defines it.

We have written laws in our land in order to clarify exactly what is okay to do. But mostly those laws are in place to give teeth to those who enforce them. “Hey, I think the speed you are driving seems unsafe.” “I disagree, but thanks for the advice.” “Sure thing. Have a nice day.” Does that help someone know just where the limit is for speed or reckless behaviors? Without a number, a written law, or a very burdened court system full of differing opinions, we would not even know what we can and can’t do. So the law tells us where the hard line is. 

The Old Testament laws does the same thing for us. If in doubt as to whether I am doing the right thing, I can consult the commands in the law, and the law tells me when I have done wrong, and just how wrong it is. The more I have laws, the more guilty I become.

But all of that brings us to the immense generosity of the grace of Christ. The deeper the hole we are in, the more we are blessed by the hand up from out of that hole.

Thank you, Jesus, for keeping the law, and then bringing us with you forever! Amen.