Trust Christ's works, not your own

Christianity is a very special and unique religion. Every other Theistic religion on earth states that morality and salvation are inextricably linked. You must obey your God, and only those who succeed will be saved. Everyone else is condemned.

In Christianity, obedience is still important, and indeed, sin does lead to death. The point of salvation, however, is that we all failed in obedience, and thus are all doomed. Every single one of us has sinned, and therefore no amount of obedience can lead to Heaven. We are simply not good enough.

When Jesus came to Earth, He encountered a lot of people. All of them were sinners, but only some of them were humble enough to admit it. The religious elite of His day were quite Pharisaical. In fact, I mean that literally. They were, quite literally, Pharisees. The Pharisees were known for their extreme devotion to their religion, and yet they were also known for their extreme hypocrisy. Their hypocrisy became even more well known when Jesus called them out for it. By comparing themselves to other sinners, the Pharisees considered themselves worthy before God. They boasted of their good deeds, and they denounced the bad deeds of their "inferiors".

But Jesus, being God in flesh, was not too keen on hanging out with these people. Rather, He made a reputation for Himself by hanging out with the scum of society. The prostitutes, the tax collectors, these people were morally flawed, but unlike the Pharisees, they had the humility to admit it. They weren't good enough for God, they knew they weren't good enough for God, they admitted they weren't good enough for God, and so beyond all imagination, God made them good enough for God.

Conveniently, Jesus illustrated this with a parable commonly referred to as The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Two men enter the temple: A Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee boldly walks up to the alter, brags about his goodness, belittles the tax collector near him, and goes his way. The tax collector doesn't even take his eyes off the ground or approach the alter. Rather, he seems genuinely distressed by his sin. He beats his chest and begs "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner". Jesus tells the crowd "I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted".

The question everyone needs to ask themselves, therefore, isn't how well you are obeying God, but what do you do about the fact that you don't? Fact: You are a sinner. Your religion is totally worthless, no matter how much you may apply it. You can feed the poor, you can fast, you can pray, you can read your Bible until the pages start to fall out, but each of these good works, as the Lord tells us through Isaiah, are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Because you are a sinner, not even the greatest of works you could possibly do could make you right with God.

But Jesus can.

When you look at the cross of Christ, you should not see the God of the universe. You should see your own face. Jesus didn't die because He wanted to. Jesus wasn't overwhelmed by the Romans. Jesus didn't die on a whim. Jesus died for your sin. You deserve those nails. You deserve that mocking crowd. That crown of thorns? It belongs on your head. You couldn't even cry "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" because the answer is very simple: You deserve to be forsaken. But by recognising that, and coming to Him for the mercy we so desperately need, we receive it. And that is why you see the God of the universe on that cross.

If you are religious, good. Stay religious. After all, just because your works are not good enough for God to save you does not mean He expects any less from you. If you believe Christ died for every failure, why would you willingly add to that failure? But be humble, and recognise that you will add to that failure. You are a sinner, and so there is only one way to avoid God treating you as such. Trade garments with Jesus. He has offered you His sparkling robes and taken your sin-stained rags. Do not insist on taking the rags into God's courtroom.