Christ Jesus came into the world. . .
. . . to save sinners.
Have you ever failed your family? or friends? Ever failed to live up to your own standards? That’s almost a foolish question, isn’t it?
The Bible says in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 7 and verse 20,
Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.
We have all done things we know we shouldn’t have done, that we wish we could retract. And we’ve all failed to do things we know we should have done, and we wish we could go back and get a second chance to do it – but it’s too late.
Are you willing to admit it? Admit, that is, that you are the sinner Jesus Christ died to save? If you feel you’re pretty good, good enough that God should accept you, then you don’t qualify.
Think about it this way: Suppose we could measure somehow and determine that your neighbor is 51% good and 49% bad. Do you think he has done enough good to earn a place in heaven? Most people don’t – I’ve asked them! So what should it be? Well, God says that He won’t accept any sin in heaven at all. He’s seen quite enough of the results of our rebellion against Him here on earth, and He won’t have it in His home, heaven. The prophet Habakkuk said this in the Bible,
Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. (Habakkuk 1:13, NASB)
And there’s another issue – Christ Jesus came into the world for the purpose of saving sinners. He wouldn’t have died for sinners, at the hands of sinners, if there had been any other way. And since the Son of God has died in payment for your sin, it’s nothing but a terrible insult to offer God anything else.
So there you have it. If you are willing to admit that you are the sinner then the Bible says that Christ Jesus died to save you. If you’re willing for the transaction to take place – your sin exchanged for God’s forgiveness, then now would be a good time to tell Him that that’s what you need, and you’d like for Him to make the transaction.