A Passing Grade In The School Of Righteousness

For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath.
Romans 4:14-15

According to some views, God will grade “on a curve,” looking at your life in comparison with others. If the good outweighs the bad, you pass the test of life and get into heaven. However, a passing grade in God’s school of righteousness has always been 100 percent. Anything less, and you fail.

Donald Barnhouse provides this insightful look at the folly of trying to “make the grade” on the basis of good works rather than on God’s work.

WALK WITH DONALD BARNHOLISE
“We can see where an argument about salvation by works would lead us.

“Suppose a man has made certain sacrifices in his giving to worthy causes. Has he made sacrifices enough? Is there a percentage that may be established?

“If that is so, what about a poor man and a rich man? A poor man may have five children and fifty dollars a week. Is he supposed to give five dollars a week to good Christian causes? And if another man has a thousand dollars a week and only a wife and one child, can he get by with God by giving a hundred dollars a week?

“The absurdities of the comparisons become evident the further we push them to logical conclusions.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD
You may be smarter than most, more generous than many, more honest than some. But when the comparison is made between sinful people and the holy God, your best efforts resemble “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).

God knew that. So he sent his Son to pass the test for you. By placing your confidence in Jesus, his grade becomes yours.

And when the choice is between a perfect score or failure, with eternal consequences, wouldn’t you prefer having Christ’s grade to your own?