How can the idolatrous sinner be reconciled to God?
Conflict Resolution vs Reconciliation - Lesson 3 - Receive God's Forgiveness, Questions 14 & 15, p. 46
God's Word provides insights into the futility of relying on our own good deeds for righteousness. In Isaiah 64:6-7, the prophet Isaiah expresses the inadequacy of human efforts to attain righteousness: "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities". This passage starkly reveals that even our best efforts are tainted by sin and insufficient to meet God's holy standards.
Similarly, in Luke 18:9-14, Jesus shares the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector to illustrate the dangers of self-righteousness and the value of humility before God. The Pharisee, confident in his own righteousness, prays: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get" (Luke 18:11-12). In stark contrast, the tax collector, aware of his sinfulness, humbly pleads: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" (Luke 18:13). Jesus concludes, "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14). This parable underscores that righteousness cannot be earned through our deeds but is granted through God's mercy to those who recognize their need for His grace.
The futility of self-reliance is further clarified by the Apostle Paul in Romans 4:25-5:2: "who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God". Herein lies the glorious truth of the gospel: righteousness and peace with God are not achieved by our deeds but through faith in Jesus Christ, who bore our sins and secured our justification.
The Scriptures teach that reliance on our own good deeds for righteousness is futile. True righteousness comes only through humble faith in God's mercy and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Let us, therefore, cease to trust in our own efforts and fully embrace the grace that is freely given to us in Christ.
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