Dec 10

Psalm 51
Memorise Isaiah 64:6-9
“we are all as an unclean thing”

Many unbelievers have the vague notion that doing good deeds is somehow linked to going to heaven. They think that, as long as they live generally moral lives and do not commit any heinous crimes or major trespasses, they should somehow be able to make it into heaven.

Yet we know that this is as far from the truth as it gets. Because of the problem of sin, no amount of good works can ever erase the sin that is in us. From the very moment we enter into this world, we have the sin nature in us. In fact, even before our birth, we were already “shapen in iniquity” (Psalm 51:5). There is no running away from the sin nature that is in every single human being.

But some may argue, “I have done a lot of good works to help people. Don’t they count for anything?” In fact, the word “good” here is a misnomer

– we may perceive our works to be good by the world’s standards, but in God’s eyes there is nothing good in the works of a totally depraved sinner. We read in Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags”. Before we are saved, all our seemingly good deeds are “as filthy rags” to God. Our “good” works are rubbish to God because we are in the first place not right with Him. God sees our hearts, and He knows the selfish motives behind our display of righteousness or goodness. Man cannot see it, but God sees right through us. Therefore no amount of good works we do can ever save us from our sins.

Of course, this does not mean that good works have no place in our lives. If you are a believer, you are able to do good because of the righteousness that Christ has wrought in you, and the new man that you have put on. These good works will now be accepted of God if they are truly done with the right motives and in the right spirit, and they will be stored up as treasures in heaven. Dear teen, may you thus seek to do good, not as a means of salvation, but as evidence of your salvation.

Thought: Good works do not save; only Jesus saves.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for saving me through Your Son.