We Cannot Earn God's Forgiveness

How often do we go through life trying to earn God's acceptance, his love, his forgiveness? We all know that we fall short, that our lives don't measure up to God's standards so we do one of two things:

1. GIVE UP - we know we don't measure up to God's standards, its just too hard, I've done something that God would never allow and so we give up on him and decide to live life for ourselves and if there is a hell at the end of life - we'll pay for it then. Wow - this sounds so much like buying things on credit - we buy what we want now but since we cannot afford it we put it on a credit card - only to pay for it later.
   
   
2. CREATE - we create our own rules for our lives and start to justify our behavior by these rules. Here is what we might say "I'm a pretty good person", "I've never killed anyone", "I go to church", "I help people in need", "I donate to ____ charity". Basically we become God to ourselves, create our own rules, and set ourselves right with God through them.

What does God Say?
Romans chapter 4 has great news for everyone! God, knowing that we cannot earn his forgiveness, paid for us freely, as a gift, without any obligation on our part - he purchased our wickedness, our hatred, and our evil so we can be close to him and he does not charge us for this payment - we don't owe him for it!

For those of us who CREATE our own rules - think about this: If we create rules we are "working" to please God. Romans tells us if you work - you get wages - but wages are owed so God would be paying us what he owes us. That is not how it is with God - forget working it off - it won't get you near to God.

Romans 4:5 - The person who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Its believing God did what he said he would that he paid the debit for us!

Why Try - We're Already Condemned

In Romans 3 Paul makes an interesting argument - in the past two chapters we've been told how bad we are and how God will judge us no matter what religion we follow. Paul states that our "badness" brings out God's goodness more clearly so the question is: Is God unjust in bringing His wrath on us?

Its actually a stupid argument and Paul is making the case for its stupidity. God is already good and holy - he doesn't need us to look better. Our desire should be to become more like Him. But how? We cannot make ourselves "better" because it would never measure up to God's standards.

Why then do we even want to try if we're already condemned? We can just live our lives as we are now.

God Gives Us the Answer
The great thing about the Christian faith is that God knows this and He, rather than just condemn us, made a way for us to be as good and holy as he is, thereby allowing us to have a relationship with Him. Imagine a relationship with God the creator of the universe!

Your Religion Doesn't Matter

In Romans 2 Paul tells us that we cannot judge others yet have the same issue we judge others for. What about us! God is not soft on our sin but kind to us in allowing us time to repent and turn to him. If we are one of God's children then we will act like it! Paul continues telling us that our religion cannot save us. Just because some are Jews does not make them God's people. Being "saved" is what makes us one of God's children - its open to all, Jews and Gentiles.

Paul is simply making the case - Romans 1 - all of us are sinners, Romans 2 - your religion does not matter.

The Downward Spiral

I like to call Romans 1 the Downward Spiral. It shows how man goes his own way. Men suppress the truth by their wickedness even though what they know about God is plain to them they head down a path (the spiral) until God gives them what they want.

They knew God -> they did not glorify God.
They did not give thanks to God -> their thinking became futile and foolish.
They claim to be wise -> they became fools.
The glory of the immortal God -> exchanged for images to look like mortal man and birds, animals, and reptiles.

In verse 24 God gives them over to their sinful desires (of their hearts):

• Sexual impurity
• Exchange the truth of God for a lie
• Worship the created rather than the Creator
• Men and Women trade natural relations for unnatural ones

So what was the ultimate result? Its actually scary because it sounds just like our culture today:

They have become filled with every type of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these things but also approve of those who practice them.

Its interesting how accurate this is today yet it was written thousands of years ago. (Who's kidding - that's all of us!) Why would God just tell us we stink without telling us how to get right again? The good news is the book of Romans will take us through God's plan to reconnect with us.