Are You Guilty?

Most people judge our behavior and idea of a good person by those around us. If I compare myself to people in prison I'm a pretty good person. If I compare myself to drug dealers, prostitutes, gang members, etc., then I'm not guilty. The problem is other people are not the standard. God's Law is.

Sure we like to think of ourselves as good people. We like to think of others the same way. You go to work, make a living, take care of your responsibilities, families, you don't actively hurt anyone, never killed anyone and you're mostly nice to everyone. In reality, those comparisons we all use are wrong.

So if we can't compare ourselves by ourselves then we must use the next standard, a much higher standard: God's Law. Let's look at the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20....

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
    
2. You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
    
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
    
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
    
5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
    
6. You shall not murder.
    
7. You shall not commit adultery.
    
8. You shall not steal.
    
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
    
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

If you're like me then you might now be looking at that and thinking "if that's the standard then I'm not perfect. Have you ever lied? I have. Have you ever stolen anything? This isn't just out right theft, this also includes being at work and being paid while we sit at our desks and surf the internet, talk on the phone, day dream etc. That is a form of theft.

Ever committed adultery?

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:27-28

Sticky huh? By God's standard, if I even look at a man lustfully I am guilty of adultery.

Ever murder someone? No? Well according to God's Law we are all guilty of murder...

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I say, if you are even angry with someone without just cause, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell." Matthew 5:22

Getting steeper!

Ever covet? Ever look at what someone else has and want it? Ever check out your neighbor's wife or husband, daughter, son and desire it? Ever see their new car or furniture and envy them? Ever want what your friends have? That's coveting and we're all guilty of it.

So going by God's standards we are guilty. We are Law breakers and the result is damnation. Break the law here and you go to jail. Break God's Law and go to hell. 

"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." James 2:10

Just breaking one of the Laws above is enough and if you're human, you've broken more than one and will continue to break the same ones if not more by the time you die. That's not including everything we've ever thought or said. We will have to answer for every single time, every single sin in word, thought and deed.

At this point you're probably thinking "God will forgive me! He's merciful!" Ever try that in court to a judge?

"I know I keep breaking the law, but you're a nice judge. You'll forgive me right?"

Society would have a judge's head on a platter if he just let people go willy nilly. Justice demands one pay for their crimes. God is a Judge, a Holy Righteous Judge and He won't or can't let anything slide. Eventually our day in Court will come and we will be held accountable.

Don't believe in hell? You believe in prison right? You believe if you break the law justice will be measured out and you could very well end up in a prison. Hell is the same way. Law breakers go to jail in this life, Law breakers go to hell in the next. Problem is we're all Law breakers.

If you break the law here you get a lawyer to help you in the court before a judge. They may not be able to get you off but they can help soften the sentence. God's court operates in a similar fashion. Who will be your lawyer? Yourself? Many judges in our courts won't allow someone to represent themselves. That's suicide. How can we do that before God?

How can anyone meet God's standards to be allowed into Heaven? Well, we can't. That was the whole purpose of the Law. To show us we can't keep the Law. We're not capable. It showed us God's high standards, standards we're not able to reach. If we can't reach them then we can't reach God or Heaven. If someone is perfect and never breaks the Law then they deserve Heaven. None of us are perfect.

Now enter Jesus...is born as a human, God in the flesh, lives a perfect sinless life because only God could, He keeps the entire Law because only God could, reaches God's standards because only God could. He's the only person to ever do that. He is then sacrificed for all people, His death, His sacrifice satisfied God's demand for justice, He made atonement for all sin. People aren't dependent on getting to heaven through their own works because their own works weren't and will never be good enough. People rest on His work, His sinless life, His righteousness. He becomes your Lawyer, so to speak, before a Holy God who is demanding justice be served. Jesus took that judgment on Himself, he paid the price for us.

Now what do we do?

Give up! Stop trying to attain your own salvation through your own works. We can't do it. It's to literally give up and fall upon Christ. That is salvation. It's recognizing you are sinful. You are a Law breaker, confessing this and giving up. There is no magic prayer. There is no magic path. There is no magic prescribed prayers or certain things you or I can do. It is truly throwing yourself on the mercy of the Judge, admitting your guilt, taking responsibility for your crimes, asking for forgiveness and depending on Christ and His finished work, His sacrifice, His payment to reconcile you to a Holy, Righteous Judge. Then turning away from sin and giving your life to God and living for Him. You won't become perfect. But you will be forgiven, you will be in the lap of mercy and grace as you grow in grace resting in the salvation obtained for you

You don't have enough money to buy your way into Heaven. You don't have enough good deeds to get you in. You don't belong to a religion that can put in her a good word for you. No one will stand with you on that day. You will face judgment by yourself and on that day there will be no defense. God doesn't accept our terms, we must accept His terms.

Don't wait until you get to court. By then it will be too late. Settle matters out of court with Him.

God Bless