What it means to be a Christian

My heart aches for people who are trying to be good enough for God.  For people who are trying to impress him with their "good works".  He is not impressed.  He wouldn't have sent his only Son to die if we could ever be good enough.

...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified

by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

From the sad and lonely person who thinks they have ruined their life because of one bad deed after another,  and thinks that there is no way that God will ever forgive them...to the moral, upright citizen who gives to charity and thinks that they are earning God's favor (yet they have sinned too), I want nothing more than for them to understand that one is not better than the other in God's eyes.  All must come to Christ on the same terms.

We have all become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

Isaiah 64:6a

We know that a person is not justified by works

of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ,

so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, 

in order to be justified by faith in Christ

and not by works of the law, because by 

works of the law no one will be justified.

Galatians 2:16

If you do not have faith in Christ, you have no righteousness.  The righteous things you try to do are repulsive to God.  And if you do have faith in Christ but still think you have to perform to make God accept you, then you will have to keep the whole law that God has given.  All of it.  Can you do that?  Every minute of every day?

Christians do not seek to earn God's favor.  We simply have faith that the One who loved the Father perfectly, gave himself on our behalf.  We turn to him in something called repentance.  It's where you say something like "I don't want my sin anymore, I want God."  And you do a 180.  And with faith in Christ, you live a new life.  You don't have to be good enough for God to accept you, you just need to accept Jesus.  He did what you could not do.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.  Look, I Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision (a work to earn God's favor), Christ will be of no advantage to you.

I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.  

You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law, you have fallen away from grace.

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, 

but only faith working through love. 

Galatians 5:1-6

For you were called to freedom brothers.  Only do not use your freedom

as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Galatians 5:13

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh...

if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law...

those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:16,18 & 24

This is what it means to be a Christian.

All are invited to come to Christ.

Will you?