How righteous does a person have to be to get into heaven?
51%? No. The answer is 100%
Say what? Then, who can hope to go to heaven?
Only those who have received the righteousness of Jesus in exchange for their unrighteousness have the assurance of heaven.
You see, this is what makes Christianity unique in its message.
No other religion offers mercy and grace.
The others only offer a system of do the best you can and hope you get in.
But, for those who put their faith in the shed blood of Jesus to pay the penalty for their sins, they can rejoice in the exchange that happens at the very moment they accept Jesus as their Savior.
At the very moment of salvation, all of our sins are paid for in full and in exchange we receive the righteousness of Jesus.
His righteousness is constant; it never changes.
So, our standing before the Father as righteous in Christ never changes no matter how bad we mess up in the here and now.
That’s really comforting to know, but it is not an excuse to be lax about appropriating Jesus’ victory over sin in our lives.
As Paul pointed out in Romans 6,”What shall we sin all the more, that grace may abound all the more? May it never be! How can we who have died to sin, still live in it?”
In other words, how can we who have died to sin, still go back to it for life?
God wants us to walk in His path of life — the path of obedience to His will for our lives.
This is the path of peace and joy and all the other fruits of the Spirit.
Now, if we try to defeat sin in our own strength, we will fail miserably.
But, when we admit our weakness and glory in His strength, Jesus leads us in His victory over sin’s temptations, accusations and deceptions.
When Satan tries to remind you of your sins, tell him to be silent because you are clothed in Jesus’ righteousness.
Beloved, if you’ve trusted Jesus as your Savior, He has given you His righteousness in exchange for all of your sins.
Rejoice is this, and live out of it as you learn to appropriate Jesus as your life each day!
Blessings!
Robyn Henning