The question is simple. What part do we have in salvation? Do we have to earn our way to Heaven through good deeds and religious activities? Did God make a way through the cross, and now it’s up to us to complete the journey? Or did God do it all? The question is absolutely fundamental because it will determine your entire world view, your doctrinal theology, if you will.

First of all we have to recognize what God’s standard is. What does He require to enter Heaven? Psalm 5:4 “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.” Habakkuk 1:13 “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?” Matthew 5:48 “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

To be in the presence of God, perfection is required. Sin cannot dwell with God. He cannot even look upon sin. So the question then becomes, what is sin and can we rid ourselves of it? 1st John 3:4 “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” Romans 2:15 “Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)”

The Law of God is written very clearly in the Old Testament and on every individual’s hearts. That is what our conscience is. It not only includes the 10 commandments, but also very detailed instructions concerning food, work, agriculture, sex, holidays, family instructions, etc. Our consciences warn us against pride, lust, anger, anxiety, fear, apathy, greed, etc. It very quickly becomes clear that we are OVERWHELMED by sin. Our inner thoughts and outward actions are continually evil. Even our best intentions are driven by selfishness. It stems from either a desire to receive a reward or a desire to “feel” good. Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

God is perfect. God is so far above us that it is beyond comprehension. He is without sin, without error, without blemish, etc. He is perfectly righteous, just, truthful, etc. HOLY is the perfect word to describe Him for He is “wholly” perfect. The Bible talks over and over of how perfect He is. With that view (God is without guile, without lust, pride, unjustness, fear, selfishness, greed, etc.) it becomes VERY APPARENT that we are FAR from the perfection that God requires!

So what do we do? Man’s thoughts are continually wicked. Each of us is selfish. We are obsessed with self-gratification, self-comfort, self-happiness, self-preservation, etc. Our hearts are filled with sin. We barely can go ONE minute without thinking in a sinful way (selfishly, lustfully, greedily, etc.) Every single day we are filled with sin. We want for self, even at the expense of others, and at the expense of God’s demands. We are full of rebellion. We become so good at ignoring our consciences that eventually we don’t even hear them anymore. And when we do hear them, we justify our actions by saying “I am just doing what is best for me and my “feelings.” 

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Ecclesiastes 7:20 “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

I have often wondered why God made the universe so immeasurably huge. If we are the only creation, why so much space? During prayer today a thought occurred to me. The Bible speaks of 3 Heavens. They are the “heavens” where the birds fly, the “heavens” where the stars are, and THE HEAVEN where God dwells. 2nd Corinthians 12:2 “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.”

The reason God put so much space between us and Him, is so that we can see a visual example of how far removed from Him our sin makes us!!! Sin sets us so far apart from God, that NO HUMAN EFFORT could ever reach Him! Our best efforts are a joke in comparison to how far we have to go. God is so far above us in both space and morality that we can NEVER reach Him through our own will and desire. We need a Savior! Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

All human efforts at Heaven are vain (empty) and foolish. We can never reach holiness just like we can never reach the other side of the universe! Through our own will and self-determination we can deny SOME of our evil impulses. This does not make us clean. This only partially cleans the “outside” of the cup. The inside (the heart-where the desires lie) is still filthy and far removed from holiness. Luke 11:39 “And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.” It is utterly depraved, utterly fallen, and deceitfully wicked. 

 Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

If a person thinks that they are “good” they need to rethink what “good” is. Remember God’s standard is perfection. Holiness. Through our will and determination we may be able to quench and control some desires and we may be able to take part in some religious activities. But is that enough? Does that make one PERFECT? NO! 

 1st John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” If we think that we are “good” because through will power we are able to quit smoking, or partaking in premarital sex, or getting drunk, or because we fulfill religious duties (legit OR manmade) like baptism, church attendance, tongue speaking, removing ourselves from certain vices, we VASTLY underestimate what being “good” is! We forget that God requires perfection! And if you are attempting to be “good” through your own will power and determination, you are required to take it all the way! Perfection is required of you. James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

You have forgotten that even while doing these good things, your heart is still full of pride, lust, apathy, greed, anger, anxiety (which is faithlessness), etc. These heart issues CAN NOT BE CLEANSED THROUGH SELF EFFORT! Your sin STILL separates you from God no matter what good things you do. You have taken a few steps forward but are still an entire universe removed from God! The heart is evil, totally depraved because of Adams original sin. We are all born dead. It’s in our DNA. Our thoughts are wicked, because we are fallen an immense distance from the Holy God! Religious obedience and law keeping cannot earn our way. They fall far short! 

 Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Thank God that He is loving and merciful! He has made provision for us. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and His righteousness can be accounted to us, through FAITH! Matthew 5:17 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Faith is TRUST. If we will trust in His righteousness to get us there, then He will. If we TRUST in His promises to those who accept Him as Lord and Savior, the He will get us there. Romans 4:3-5 “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

To attempt to work our way into Heaven is to insult the cross and to declare either yourself Holy, or God unholy. Either you are as good as He is, or He is only as good as you are. In essence to think that you can be good enough to please the requirements of God is to say “I don’t need Jesus, I can do it myself.” Or, in most religious cases to say, “Thanks for getting me started Jesus; I’ll take it from here.” Both are foolish and do not recognize the vanity of the attempt.

Galatians makes it very clear that not only are those who attempt to keep the law required to do it all, but they are under a CURSE! But Jesus became a curse for us and transferred His righteousness to all those who would accept it. Galatians 3:6-14 “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. faith12And the law is not of faith: but, The man that l them shall live in them. 13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Examine your heart. Are you perfect? Do you have sin in your heart? God is looking for the humble. For those who admit that they can never be what is necessary. For those who recognize their utter dependence on God. For those who realize the weight of the law and know that they could NEVER, EVER bear it. Examine yourself. Which man of prayer are you? 

Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Please examine yourself. Do you stand in prayer thinking, “Thank God that I am not like the pagans? I don’t partake in their evil. I don’t partake in sexual sin, in theft, or murder. I study the Scriptures regularly and have been baptized. Thank God that I am obedient.” Or do you stand in awe at the holiness of God and recognize the filthiness of yourself and say, “Thank You Lord that You have been merciful to a wretched man like me! PLEASE, Lord take my life and make me pleasing to You. I can’t do it, so you have to do it for me!”

If you are honest and cry to the Savior for His righteousness and His guidance and help, HE WILL NOT FAIL YOU! John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” 

 Once Jesus is IN THE HEART, He begins to clean the INSIDE of the cup. He begins to sanctify us by exposing the darkness in our hearts. And then HE cleanses us. Not through our will power, but because He has come in and taken control! He begins the work of purification and your OUTWARD acts will naturally follow suit. 

As Christ rids our hearts of pride and replaces it with humbleness, we will no longer be rude and arrogant and angry. As He rids our hearts of unnatural lust, we will no longer desire premarital or extramarital sex. As He rids our hearts of greed, we will no longer steal and rob! And as He shows us how trust worthy He is, we will no longer live in anxiousness and fear! 

 HALLELUJAH that we serve a God who is THAT hands on! He has taken the reigns, He will produce the results, and He will get the glory! And because of that no man will ever be able to boast in his own accomplishments. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

We are merely branches. Branches can do nothing of themselves. The vine produces the fruit. Christ is our vine, and the fruit is the good works that NATURALLY come forth out of us, simply because we are connected to the vine! John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Salvation and the sanctifying that comes along with it (all the good deeds and religious activities) are God’s work, not ours. This is His plan, not ours. This is His story (history), not ours. Thank God that He is good and merciful and that He has CHOSEN to produce good in us, and to account righteousness to us, and to appoint us to salvation! All for the glory of Christ, who is all in all. It’s because of Him that it is available and it’s because of Him that it is APPLICABLE!

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”