A lot of humans tend to believe they're righteous by nature, and that they can earn their soul's salvation (outside of the work of Jesus) even if they're made to stand in God's judgement after their death.
In this blog post, we'll see why we're all sinners, and how God has made a provision through Jesus to save us.
Why You're a Sinner from God's View?
The heading above might sound offensive to some. But please don't take it as an offense. Please read further to understand why all humans on earth are sinners.
Actually I wanted to write this section entirely from Bible's view. But if I did, an atheist (or people practicing other faiths) reading this will probably stop reading further as it doesn't fit into their worldview or core beliefs. So, let's keep the Bible and the Christian worldview out of the discussion for now, and bring them back later.
To begin with, take a look at your own conscience. Before I accepted the Christian worldview, whenever I looked at my conscience, I've always proudly felt that I'm righteous as far as my basic life discipline is concerned. For example, I didn't murder or steal or got into in a wrong relationship outside of marriage or involved in any other sin that that I count as 'sin' in "my own moral standards".
But when I looked deep into my conscience, I could not deny the fact that I've still got involved in many wrong thoughts and deeds. For example, I have desired bad to those whom I thought to have hurt me, and I've intentionally offended others using foul words when they offended me the same way. I didn't count these actions as sins because I didn't initiate them. These actions were all justified as "tit-for-tat" in my moral standards.
However, there's no place in my own conscience for me to deny that these actions were 'wrong'. Yes, it's tit-for-tat. In other words, it's "Offense for offense" or "wrong for wrong". But it's still wrong. If it's not wrong, why do we call it as wrong in the first place? Hence, from this point of view, each and every human being born on earth are sinners.
And now, let's pull the Bible and Christian worldview in.
According to the Bible, every human being who ever lived (or) currently living (or) going to live in the future on earth is a sinner (except Jesus, of course). And sin is not something we count as 'sin' on our human standards. Instead, it's from God's standards.
For example, all humans count rape as a sin for sure. However, from God's standards, a person has committed sin even if they look at another person with a lustful thought. Yes, from God's standards they have already committed adultery in their heart (Matthew 5:28).
God's standards are at the thought level, while human standards are at the deed level. And human standards are no match to God's standards because we humans judge based on actions while God can judge based on our thoughts (which is the birth place of our deeds).
In the business world, when a problem is identified, a thorough root cause analysis is done in order to find/eliminate the problem's cause(s). Because merely resolving a problem wouldn't actually stop the problem from occurring again in the future. Instead, the management will focus on stopping the problem's cause(s) from occurring again in the future, so they can eliminate the problem permanently.
In the same way, according to Mark 7:21-23, it's undeniable that a lustful thought is the starting point (or cause) of all rapes or relationships outside marriage. Stealing starts with (or is caused by) greedy thoughts. Murder starts with (or is an effect of) grudgeful thoughts. God knows our thoughts for sure, and can trace any of our actions back to the thoughts that caused them (1 Chronicles 28:9) .
Hence, we're all sinners from God's view. And during the day of God's judgement, we'll be judged for our sins from God's standards, and not based on our own standards.
God's Merciful Offer to Us
The God of the Bible is both loving and just. Yes, He loves us more than we could ever imagine, but at the same time, His righteous nature hates the sins we commit.
He hates our sins to the core, but not us. He loves us to the core, but not our sins.
It kind of put God's heart in a contradictory state. On one side, He's just. So, according to His holiest standards, we'll have to be rightly judged and allowed to perish forever for our sins. On the other side, He loved us so much that He didn't want us to perish, and so He left no stone unturned (except our free will to accept/reject His offer of salvation) to save us.
God decided to give His own son, Jesus as a spotless sacrifice in order to redeem us from His wrath for our sins. He sent Jesus to the earth to live a human life. Jesus was born of a virgin (which is a miracle to confirm He's from God). He lived a spotless life, despite going through more temptations, tests and sufferings than what we go through in our lives, and at a greater intensity.
And at the end, Jesus was framed wrongly by the men of His days and crucified by the Roman government on the cross. He was resurrected on the third day. Through Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection, God has mercifully offered forgiveness for our sins, and redemption for our souls. As mentioned earlier, God still respects each of our free will to accept/reject the work of Jesus on the cross.
God has made it clear there's only one way for a person's soul's redemption (after they die on this earth), and it's only Jesus. There are absolutely no alternatives.
Hence, every human being on earth (even those who are righteous in their own personal standards) need to accept Jesus (the Only way) as his/her personal savior in order to ensure the salvation of their soul. The Bible tells Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).
The souls of those who accept Jesus as their personal savior (and surrender to Him whole-heartedly) will not only be saved from perishing but also be blessed with eternal life. The souls of those who rejected the work of Jesus for them, will perish as they rejected God's precious and merciful offer for their souls' redemption.
What Next if I Choose to Accept the Work of Jesus for Me?
Wherever you're, you just need to truly repent for your sins in your heart, and believe in Jesus, accept Him as your personal savior (as He died for your sins, and paid your penalty in full) and submit your life to Him.
Repentance is a genuine sorrow to sin, with a strong desire to stop committing sin again in future. We may be addicted to some sins, and struggle to come out of it even if we truly desire to avoid it. But the good news is we can overcome even such addictions over time by fully trusting and relying on Jesus to live our lives.
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