Perfection is almost always absent in our imperfect world. Take your pen or pencil and draw a circle. Probably not too good. Now try to trace a perfect circle around a penny. Still not perfect.
This simple circle exercise shows how hard it is to achieve perfection. Yet we strive for it — the perfect job, the perfect family, the perfect life.
By whose standards are we measuring our perfections? Most likely we are using the standards of the world around us. Yet they change from generation to generation.
Carrying our human standards over into the spiritual realm produces confusion. Many people try to earn God’s forgiveness by living good lives and doing good things. They compare themselves with others and think they are not so bad.
How does God feel? Will he be satisfied? What does he say? “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).
We’ll never meet that standard. Our imperfections cannot satisfy the perfect requirements of a holy God.
How then can we be saved? Certainly not by our own actions or moral character. Fortunately, God has a better way.
“When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:4,5).
God credits the perfection of his Son Jesus Christ to us because of his mercy. Believing this truth gives us its benefits.
So free yourself from the nagging doubts of wondering if you have done enough to go to heaven. From God’s Word learn to enjoy life in the perfect circle of God’s sacrifice.
Pastor R.
