FORGIVENESS: 4 What Must I Believe About Myself to be Forgiven Forever?

Chapter 1.4

What Must I Believe About Myself

to be Forgiven Forever?

Romans 3:20, 3:23

Week 2

► After reading this chapter, answer the following questions:

1. If you were to die today, and God were to ask you: “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” What would you say?
2. What are some ways you have sinned and broken God’s laws?
3. Why will your good deeds not be able to pay for your bad deeds?
4. What was especially meaningful to you in this chapter? Why?

Who holds the most ancient world record in the famous Guinness Book of World Records? Simeon of the Pillar. He lived from about the year 380 to 450. He has a world record because for 37 years, without interruption, he lived on top of a pillar in the middle of a desert.

Simeon’s home was a column that was eventually 50 feet high and had a platform on top of only about 3 feet by 3 feet. A ladder to the top was built so young boys from the nearby village could provide Simeon food and water. For 37 years he constantly lived, slept, prayed, and evidently went to the bathroom from a 3 by 3 foot pillar 50 feet off the ground. He never came down until at the age of 80 they discovered he had died up there.

What drove Simeon to live so sacrificially? He believed such a great sacrifice would earn him the forgiveness of God. You would think it would be pretty hard to even sin if you were living on top of a pillar in the middle of the desert. But Simeon was trying to earn the favor of God. He told his mother through a messenger: “If we are worthy we will see one another in the life to come.” ^[1] Simeon believed you have to do enough good, spiritual, and sacrificial things to earn your forever forgiveness from God and go to Heaven. And even after all of his sacrifice, Simeon still was not sure he was worthy of such forgiveness.

The truth is no one will ever be worth of being forgiven by God forever. In this chapter you will learn why all of Simeon’s sacrifices, and all of the other things that people do to earn God’s favor are rejected by God.

Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard (Romans 3:23).

No one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are

(Romans 3:20).

How would you answer the following vital question:

If you were to die today, and God were to ask you: “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” What would you say?

Most people respond they have not done anything bad enough to be rejected by God. Or they have done enough good things to pay for the bad things in their life. The Bible says all of these beliefs are wrong. And they are wrong about the most important question they need to answer: Why would God accept me and forgive me?

You read in the last chapter there is a great penalty for sin. Therefore, the important question is how do you obtain God’s forgiveness for your sin. Most people answer that question in the wrong way, and end up paying for it for eternity. The main point of this chapter is:

Your sins deserve God’s punishment and your good deeds cannot

pay the penalty.

A) God condemns you because you break His laws

Why is God angry with people and planning to punish them for eternity? Because they break His laws which the Bible calls sin. The Bible says: “If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar” (1 John 1:10). Sin is breaking the laws of God. Christians believe some of these laws are communicated in the Ten Commandments of which God said:

I am the LORD your God . . . You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind . . . You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. . . .

You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. . . . Honor your father and mother. . . . You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely against your neighbor. You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife . . . or anything else that belongs to your neighbor. (Exod 20:2-5, 7, 12-17)

Have you ever loved anyone or anything more than God? Have you ever used God’s or Jesus’ name as a swear word? Have you ever dishonored your parents, stolen something, lied about something, or wanted something that belonged to someone else? Then you have broken a commandment of God and sinned against Him.

However, sin is not just your outward actions, but also your inward thoughts and attitudes. Jesus said:

You have heard that our ancestors were told, “You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.” But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! . . .

You have heard the commandment that says, “You must not commit adultery.” But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt 5:21-23, 27-28)

God knows your life and how much you sin against Him in your actions. God also knows your mind and how much you sin against Him in your thoughts. And if you are honest, you know how much you break God’s laws too. As the Bible says: “Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Rom 3:23). Your sins deserve God’s punishment and your good deeds cannot pay the penalty.

B) Your good deeds do not pay for your bad deeds

It was stated above that not even the great sacrifices of Simeon of the Pillar could earn him forever forgiveness from God. The Apostle Paul described his experience and belief about this in his own life when he wrote:

I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.

I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. (Phil 3:5-9)

Accordingly, the Apostle Paul wrote elsewhere in the Bible: “No one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are” (Rom 3:20).

Many think God gave you His laws such as the Ten Commandments so you will know how to be accepted by God. They think they can pay for the bad things they do, by doing good things. But the purpose of God’s commandments are not to show you how to pay for your sins. Instead, God’s “law simply shows us how sinful we are” (Rom 3:20).

One of the biggest mistakes that humans make is believing their good deeds earn them a place in Heaven. They compare themselves with “bad” people and conclude that surely God will accept them. There are several problems with this idea. First of all, Jesus said relatively very few people are going to go to Heaven. Jesus taught:

You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to [eternal] life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (Matt 7:13-14)

We must ask a very important question here. Why did Jesus say “only a few” people will “find” the “gateway to [eternal] life”? Especially if the “road” to eternal life is good deeds? If being good is how you get to Heaven, wouldn’t there be many people going instead of “few”? The answer is this. The reason that “only a few” people will “find” the “gateway to [eternal] life” is because most people will try to find the road to eternal life by being good. Most people think being good is the road and gate to Heaven, but it is not. And that is why “the many” are on “the highway to hell.” As the Bible text for this chapter tells you: “No one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands” (Rom 3:20) and being a good person.

One of the reasons that your good deeds cannot pay for your bad deeds is that the Bible says: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). A wage is something you earn. According to God, you earn the death penalty when you sin. No amount of good deeds will pay the death penalty. Only dying pays the penalty for your disobeying God.

Sin has infected even the good things you try to do. Imagine that you were infected with leprosy. But you wanted to make some food as a good deed for your friend. Would your friend accept the food? No, because they would not want to be contaminated. This is how it is with God. He is perfectly pure and cannot have any contact with any sin, or people who are infected with sin.

The Prophet Isaiah said: “We are constant sinners; how can people like us be saved? We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (Isa 64:5-6). God will not accept your “righteous deeds” because you are “infected and impure with sin.” More often than you might think, even the good things you do are motivated by selfish desires. The Bible says, “No one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are” (Rom 3:20). Your sins deserve God’s punishment and your good deeds cannot pay the penalty.

C) Why Jesus died on a cross

We began this chapter with an important question: Why do you think you will be accepted by God? Many answer they have not done something bad enough to be rejected by God. Many others think their good deeds, such as going to church and giving money, will earn God’s acceptance. But if that was true, WHY DID THE FATHER HAVE TO SEND HIS SON TO DIE ON A CROSS FOR YOUR SINS?

Think about it. Does your belief about how to be accepted by God even need the death of God’s Son for you? Do you even believe you needed Christ to die for you? If you believe your good deeds will pay your way to Heaven, you do not need Christ to die for you. The Bible says, “If keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die” (Gal 2.21). But Christ needed to die for your sins because your good deeds do not pay for your bad deeds.

God will only forgive those who admit their good deeds will not pay for their bad deeds. Most people refuse to admit this and try to justify themselves before God. They refuse to believe that “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). Why did Jesus die? Because: “The wages of sin is death.” Only death pays for your sins. Either Christ’s death or your death. But not your good deeds. The Bible says to Christians:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph 2:8-9 NIV)

In the Bible, to be “saved” means to be rescued from the punishment of God. What are you rescued from? God’s eternal punishment for breaking His laws. Why are you forgiven? The verse above says “it is by grace . . . not by works.” The meaning of “grace” here is God’s “undeserved kindness.” He does not forgive you because of your good and moral “works” and deeds, but because of His decision to love you.

How are you forgiven? “Through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” This “saving faith” is a trust in Christ to pay for your sins by dying on the cross. But note that even this kind of trust and faith in Christ is not something you can produce yourself. Saving faith in Christ “is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” This is why can “no one can boast” about being forgiven by God. Even your saving “faith,” and every other requirement for forgiveness is “not from yourselves” but “a gift from God” and not your “works” or anything else you do. A person’s salvation is all God’s work to rescue you from the penalty of your sin. ^[2]

Elsewhere, the Bible describes the process and reason for someone receiving God’s forgiveness. It says, “It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (Rom 9:16 NIV). In other words, God chooses who will get His mercy, and it does not depend on the will or work of humans.

This is another unique belief of Christianity. Like many religions, Christianity teaches that “Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Rom 3:23). But every other religion in the world claims you can pay for your bad deeds by doing good deeds. Real Christianity alone proclaims: “No one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands” (Rom 3:20). Therefore, your sins deserve God’s punishment and your good deeds cannot pay the penalty.

► Return to the beginning of this chapter and answer the questions there.

1. For more on Simeon of the Pillar see online at:

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_Stylites ↑

2. Respected Bible teacher John MacArthur comments on Ephesians 2:8-9:

   Our response in salvation is faith, but even that is not of ourselves [but is] the gift of God. [Saving] Faith is nothing that we do in our own power or by our own resources. Otherwise salvation would be in part by our own works, and we would have some ground to boast in ourselves. Paul intends to emphasize that even faith is not from us apart from God’s giving it. (MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Nelson, 1986]) ↑