Why Can't I Do It Myself?

Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. (Galatians 2:16, 20, 21 NLT) 

This takes some pressure off. I am a goal person, and nothing makes me more miserable than failing to reach my goal. Too May times it feels like the goal is to be able to obey the law perfectly so that God will love me. This is impossible, and if it is my goal, I will always fail. God knew this from the beginning, and He gave us the law so that we could see how much needed Jesus. My life makes that pretty clear, I fall short every day. That is why it would be so frustrating if following the law perfectly was the goal of this life. 

That doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to keep the law. God made it therefore it is perfect and we should do our best to obey it. However, we have to remember that the law doesn't save us, Jesus does. Like Paul says at the end of the chapter, if the law could mark us right with God, then there would have been no reason for Jesus to come here and die. So clearly that was never the plan to start with. Thank goodness Jesus did come here and die so that I could be made right with God. 

Now when I am baptized (according to Romans 6), I am buried with Jesus and raised to walk in a newness of life. I have been cruicified with Him and I no longer live but it is Christ who lives in me. His grace means evening, because getting to God isn't something I can do on my own. I can try as hard as I want to, I can put all of my Type A personality to use, and I will never get there. That is why Jesus came. That is why it's called good news. His grace is amazing!

Enjoy the Journey