Give me a break!

 Give Me a Break!

 

Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.

MATTHEW 5.17

 

I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

PHILIPPIANS 3.9

People are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.

ROMANS 4.5

 

“Can’t you just give me a break?” That’s how we feel sometimes when we turn in a less-than-perfect research paper for class or a not-quite-good-enough project to a boss. It’s what we want to say to the police officer when we get pulled over for driving a few miles over the speed limit. “Nobody’s perfect!” we want to say, wishing our teacher or our boss or the police officer would just lower the standard so we could slip by.

That’s what some people are hoping God will do someday — that he will lower his standard of perfection and let them slip into his good graces because of all their sincere efforts and good intentions. But God cannot and will not lower his standard.

The standard has been set. And the standard is holiness. It’s a standard none of us can live up to. And while it might seem fair and reasonable to us that God could simply lower his standards to allow for a little sin, a little humanness, to do so would make him less than God. So how will any of us make it into his family, into his presence? We need someone perfect to take our place and live a perfect life so we can get the credit for it in God’s eyes. And this is exactly what Christ has done for us! So instead of lowering the standard, he fulfils it for us. Jesus fulfils what the law demands in our place, and we get the credit for his righteousness.