What are you trusting in?(Part 4)

 So... What Do I Do Now?

Over the last few posts, we've talked about what gets us into heaven. We've talked about the fact that we don't have to clean ourselves up before coming to Jesus. We've talked about the fear that we've gone too far for God to forgive us.

So that leaves one very important question.

What do I do now?

For a long time, I thought there had to be more to it. I thought maybe there was a checklist. Maybe I had to become a better person first. Maybe I had to quit every bad habit before God would accept me.

But that's not what the Bible says.

The apostle Paul wrote these words in Romans:

"If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." — Romans 10:9 (NLT)

That sounds almost too simple. But simple doesn't mean easy. The word "believe" in the Bible isn't just believing Jesus existed.

I believe George Washington existed. I believe Abraham Lincoln existed. That belief has never changed my life.

Biblical belief is different. It's putting your trust in Jesus instead of yourself. It's believing that His death on the cross paid the price for your sin, and that His resurrection proved He had victory over sin and death.

For years, I thought that if I could just be a good enough person, maybe God would let me into heaven. The more I read the Bible, the more I realized that's never been God's plan.

Jesus lived the perfect life I couldn't live. He died the death I deserved. He rose from the grave so I could have eternal life.

Salvation isn't about what I've done. It's about what Jesus has already done.

The Bible also talks about repentance. That's another one of those church words that can sound confusing. Repentance simply means changing direction. It's realizing that I've been living life my way, and choosing to follow God's way instead.

It doesn't mean you'll never sin again. It doesn't mean you'll wake up tomorrow as a completely different person. It means you've stopped trusting yourself to save yourself, and you've started trusting Jesus.

A few verses later, Paul says this:

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." — Romans 10:13 (NLT)

Everyone. Not the people who have it all together. Not the people with a spotless past. Not the people who think they're good enough.

Everyone.

That's why Ephesians says:

"God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God." — Ephesians 2:8 (NLT)

You don't earn a gift. You simply receive it.

If you've been waiting until you're "good enough," stop waiting.

None of us are.

That's exactly why Jesus came. So maybe the question isn't, "Am I good enough for God?"

Maybe the real question is...

Am I willing to trust the One who already did everything that was needed?


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