Not Good Enough

As people begin to show an interest in Christ, they struggle with looking inwardly rather than fully to him. Some people get caught up in the idea that they are so bad that there is no way that Christ’s promise of redemption could possibly apply to them. They assume they are destined to perish and go through a phase of despair until the Holy Spirit convinces them the promise does indeed apply to them.  Alternatively, some individuals think they are good enough on their own merits until they are ministered to with God’s word which clearly states that ALL have sinned (Romans 3.)  Other folks combine both of these ideas- they feel they are not good enough and begin working to “clean up their life” thinking this is a prerequisite for calling upon the Lord for forgiveness.

It is true. We are not good enough. But that is not the end of the story as Satan would like for us to believe. There is One that is good enough, the Lord Jesus Christ who became sin for us. There is nothing we can do to earn favor with God. It will never be good enough. Trying to earn God’s favor is acting out the sin of self-righteousness. It demonstrates a lack of faith in the completeness of Christ’s work on the cross. In addition to telling only part of the story, Satan tells an outright lie- that we are good enough on our own merit.  He doesn’t care which view we take, as long as our eyes are on ourselves and not on Christ.  Christ offers the power to overcome these traps by faith; rather than looking inwardly, we must fix our eyes fully on him knowing that he is the propitiation for our sins.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. Deuteronomy 10:16-17

Satan does not only set these traps for the unconverted and those coming to Christ. Satan continues to afflict God’s converted children with these same lines. He tries to lead God’s children away from the gospel with accusations such as: that sin was so bad, you must have lost communion with God/ are not a true child of God. After all, how could a Christian do something so awful? On the flip side, he tempts with legalistic ideas trying to get the Christian feel strong in his own strength and superior to others. Furthermore, there can be temptations to “take advantage of grace” and sin to one’s hearts content knowing that forgiveness is freely offered; a temptation to give into the flesh rather than fight to overcome the temptation in the strength of Christ. (Romans 5:20- Romans 6)

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:18-19

Blessed be the Lord! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. Psalm 28:6-8

Another way Satan tries to trap us is by enticing us to pride in either feeling inadequacy in our gifts and the “little” works we offer, or vice versa, to feel puffed up about how much we are doing.  The feeling of inadequacy isn’t wrong in and of itself; it is good when we realize we are but clay and that our gifts come from him and he gives us the grace to use them. It also is a good desire to want to do more for him. But the truth of our inadequacy can be subtly twisted to bring about discontentment with our gifts and the ways in which God called us to service. It can be twisted into a desire to do something we perceive as big and grand, while blind to the necessity of every gift and every manner of service in the body of Christ. Alternatively, our inadequacy may be wrongly used as an excuse to run from what we are called to, thinking the task to great for us rather than acting in faith and relying on his strength.

But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13

Thankfully, by the grace of God, his children (weather lost or found) will not be fatally ensnared by these traps.

I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. Psalm 91:2-4