Can t we just be good enough to please God? Romans 3:10 25 A sermon by Peter Budd Sunday 21 st March 2010, St. Andrew s Cheadle Hulme Can t we just be good enough to please God? That s the question we re tackling today. But before we bring God into it, perhaps we should ask the question: Can we be good enough to please ourselves? Can we be good enough to meet our own standards, let alone God s? The fact is: everyone has some sense of right and wrong. We all feel some things are fair, and some things are unfair. Even a child is quick to cry: But that s so unfair! But can any of us honestly say we ve never done or said or thought anything wrong? Can we honestly say we ve never done anything about which we re ashamed or embarrassed? That we ve never been bad? In our own terms. This is the basic human problem. We all feel some things are right and some things are wrong; Some things are good and some things are bad. Even people who don t believe in God have some kind of ethical or moral standard. Even those we regard as criminals a long time ago I used to visit a youth custody centre even those we regard as criminals have a strong sense of what is fair and what is unfair. But none of us manages to be good all of the time. We all have standards of right and wrong. And we all fail to meet our standards. But does it really matter? If there s no comeback. If our behaviour doesn t have consequences. If there s no justice in the world. Then perhaps not. But what if there is a God? What if there is a God who cares about us and about what we do and think. What if one day we ll have to answer before God for how we ve lived our life. Then it matters. Because if we haven t met our own standards, we can hardly expect to come up to God s standards. 1
Last year an advert appeared on the sides of buses: There s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life. The people behind those adverts stopped short of saying There is no God. They knew you can t prove a negative. That to say There is no God is a blind belief that cannot be substantiated. Personally, I would say that any objective evaluation of the evidence would lead one to say, at very least, There probably is a God. And I would suggest that it s impossible really to enjoy life to enjoy life in all its fullness without God. But, just for a moment, let s suppose it were valid to say there s probably no God. Would it actually follow that we could therefore not worry? Even if something is improbable, that doesn t necessarily mean it should be ignored. There are people I m not one of them but there are people who, every week, part with hard-earned cash for a 1 in 13,983,816 chance of winning a lottery jackpot. They probably won t win, but they still play. Because they think the prize is worth it. Because the consequences of that 1 in nearly 14 million chance are so enormous. If there even just might be a God. A God who cares about us and about what we do and think. A God before whom we ll have to answer for how we ve lived our life. Then the consequences are so enormous, we can t afford to ignore the possibility. We d have to be really, really dumb not at very least to investigate the evidence for God. And there is evidence for God. The fact there is a Universe. And the fact it seems so perfectly tuned for life. These facts demand an explanation. And the simplest explanation is that there s a God who imagines it and gives it substance. When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, he put it like this; this is in ch. 1 v. 20: For since the creation of the world God s invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. And there s evidence for God inside ourselves. The fact that we all have a sense of right and wrong. That we have a conscience. These facts point to a standard beyond ourselves. A God who represents true perfection. 2
When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, in ch. 2: v. 15, he talked about Gentiles. People who weren t God s special people. Who weren t familiar with the law The body of teaching at the beginning of our Old Testament But who nevertheless knew what was right in God s sight: they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them. And there s evidence for God inside ourselves. And although we might argue about any one strand of evidence. When we put it all together see it as a whole the evidence for God is compelling. So, at the very least we have to say: there probably is a God. And, of course, we can prove God, to ourselves if not to others. The proof that comes from experience. The experience of trusting God, and finding that God is trustworthy. But even if we re not at that point. Objectively, at the very least we have to say: there probably is a God. And we probably should worry. Because we know what s right, but we don t do it. But do we need to be right all the time? If we re good enough, won t it outweigh the bad in us? Some people have the idea that judgment involves a kind of giant pair of celestial scales. The good things go on one side and the bad things go on the other side. And if the good outweighs the bad, we re OK. But that isn t the sort of thing Jesus said. Jesus said, in Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus said this after explaining that God s law wasn t just about actions. But also about thoughts and attitudes. So, Do not murder extends to inappropriate anger. Do not commit adultery extends to lustful looks. The standard is perfection. God s sort of perfection. And, if we think about it, it has to be. Because the prize is an eternal relationship with God. And, like dirty oil and fresh clean water, an imperfect us just can t mix with a perfect God. So, if the standard is perfection, can we meet that standard? Can we work out exactly what God wants of us and follow it to the letter? That s what many religious people tried to do in the Apostle Paul s time. 3
We ve already seen that at the beginning of Paul s letter to the Romans, he talks about those who aren t God s special people so called Gentiles those who aren t God s special people but who nevertheless should know: something about God, from what he has made (ch. 1, v. 20); and something about what is right, from their own consciences (ch. 2, v. 15). He also talks about those who are all too keen to proclaim themselves as God s special people: Very religious people who were proud of their Jewish heritage. Who as Paul puts it in Romans ch. 2, v. 17: Rely on the law and brag about [their] relationship to God. He argues that although they rely on the law, they don t keep it. You who brag about the law Paul says in ch. 2 v. 23 do you dishonour God by breaking the law? Jews and Gentiles alike, Paul says in ch. 3 v. 9 are all under sin. And that brings us to the passage that was read to us today. In Romans ch. 3, vs. 10-18, Paul gives a series of quotations from the Old Testament he was writing to people who accepted the Old Testament as Scripture he gives a series of quotations to show that no-one is righteous; (v. 10) no-one does good. (v. 12) He quotes from Psalms 143, 5, 140 and 10, and from Isaiah 59. Passages that talk about Israel s sins, and about the sins of Israel s enemies. The point being that no matter who you are or however hard you try Jew or Gentile, religious person or atheist you do things and say things that are wrong. And you are accountable to God. (v.19) Knowing more about God knowing what Jews called the law doesn t make you better. It just shows how wrong you are; makes you more conscious of sin. (v. 20) Which all leads to what Paul says in v. 23: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If that were all Paul had to say, it would be very, very depressing. Because it means that whatever we do no matter how hard we try we ll never be good enough for God, We ll miss out on all God has to offer. But that isn t all Paul has to say. We can t by our efforts be good enough for God. But there s a way we can be made good. However hard we try to do the right thing, we ll never be perfect. But there s a way we can be made perfect. There s a way to enjoy a relationship with the perfect God. To enjoy real life eternal life with God. 4
This is what Paul has been working up to. The incredible, the wonderfully good news that now, as Paul says in Romans 3:21 a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known. There s a righteousness a right-ness, a way to be right with God that God himself provides. A free gift from God. Because He loves us, even though we don t deserve it. It doesn t rely on us trying, by our own unaided efforts, to be good enough to please God. This righteousness from God, as it says in v. 22, comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. It s all about faith and it s all about Jesus. If we read on in Romans, we learn more about what Jesus does, if we have faith in him. We re justified: declared not guilty of wrong. (Romans 3:24) We re redeemed: The price of our freedom is paid. (Romans 3:24) We have atonement: We re made at-one with God. (Romans 3:25) Which means we re purified of all the bad in us. And God s righteous anger is turned aside. And all that happens because when Jesus died on the cross, he accepted in himself the ultimate consequences of all our wrongdoing. And all that is validated by the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. Through Jesus, God offers forgiveness. That doesn t mean we no longer need to worry about what s right and what s wrong. On the contrary, the more we learn about God the more we realise just how wrong we are. But God, through his Holy Spirit, will help us lead better lives. That doesn t mean, when we go wrong, it doesn t have consequences in this world. But if Jesus is in our life, when we face God, He sees Jesus perfection. And our imperfections are gone. So, can t we just be good enough to please God? No we can t. Because what pleases God is for us to be in a right relationship with Him. And for that we must be like Him perfect. And however hard we try, we never, by our own efforts, manage to be perfect. But God has provided a way of making us right with Him. It comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. If we ve looked at the evidence and said: Yes, there probably is a God. But haven t yet taken that step of faith; trusting in Jesus. Isn t now a good time to do so? 2010 Peter Budd Biblical quotations are from the New International Version of the Bible, 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society 5