Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death[a] by paying a ransom to God. Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough to live forever and never see the grave. Psalm 49:7-9

When it’s all over, just how good do you have to be to be good enough?

Throughout history, man has held a belief in opposing forces of good and evil.  The ancient Egyptians believed that if you balanced your evil side with good, your heart would contain enough good that when it was weighed in a scale after death, it would be light as a feather and you’d make it into paradise. Judaism, Islam and Hinduism all call for good deeds as integral to being enough, according to whatever that looks like in each religious system.

When you close your eyes at night, when you contemplate your last day, will your good have been good enough?

In stark contrast to the world’s religious systems, Christianity answers this question with both very bad and very good news.  The bad news is that neither you nor I will ever be good enough.  All of us fall short, the Bible states.  As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one” (Romans 3:10).  Death, eternal suffering and separation from God is our certain destination. But the very bad news of Christianity is eclipsed by the good news—the best news—that God is love and reached down to man in love and gave us a way to escape judgment.  Jesus Christ’s willingness to die met the requirement of judgement for the evil of my heart. His resurrection means that the grave doesn’t have to be my end either.

Apart from Jesus, “No one can ever pay enough to live forever,” instructs the Psalms (Psalm 49:9).  But you can live each day secure, not in your goodness, but in His.

 

Resource reading: John 3:16-21