Mountain View Baptist Church, Wetumpka
In Jerry Bridges’ book “The Discipline of Grace” he states, “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”
Have you ever thought that your sins were too great for God to forgive you? Maybe you have difficulty forgiving yourself, but God is able to forgive: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save” (Isa. 59:1a). Hebrews 7:25 says, “Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” The word “uttermost” may also be translated “completely” or “at all times.” It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done. God is able to save “at all times,” no matter how far you’ve strayed from Him.
Maybe you don’t fall into the first category, but maybe you think your sins are so small in God’s sight you can do enough good to “outweigh” the wrong you’ve done. Consider Isaiah 64:6a: “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.” According to this passage all our “righteous deeds” are like a “filthy garment” in the eyes of God. How could this be?
One reason for this is given in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” God knows our hearts as “deceitful” and “wicked” even though we would think better of ourselves.
The fact that we think our good deeds are “good enough” for God on their own is evidence of the deceitfulness of our hearts and is a manifestation of pride. It would be wise for us not to “follow our heart” since it is “wicked” and “deceitful” and to instead follow God and His Word, which is all truth and cannot lie. We must come to a place of realizing that no matter how “good” or how “bad” we are, we are in need of God’s grace every day and it is only by trusting in Jesus Christ that we may be rescued from Hell.
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