The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction.

Romans 3:22

A while back a friend asked me if I would go to M.D. Anderson, the world renowned cancer hospital in Houston. The man that I was visiting was dying of pancreatic cancer and he was only 53 years old. I knew him a little, not well. He had been a great distance runner, a member of the U.S. Olympic team. When I came into the room and greeted him, he looked at me and said, "I'll shoot straight with you: I'm afraid to die." I appreciated his honesty and I asked, "Are you ready to meet God if you die?" He responded, "Yes, I have asked forgiveness from Jesus, but I am worried that I have not been good enough." At that point I explained to him that it was not about being good enough, that salvation is a gift of God, freely given when we place our trust in Jesus. If he had placed his trust in Christ to save him, then he could be assured that God had accepted him and that he would go immediately to heaven.

I appreciated this man's honesty. I am concerned that many people wonder if they have been good enough, if they have done enough. But the only question is: Am I trusting in Jesus to get me to heaven or am I trusting in myself to be good enough? The Bible teaches over and over, and nowhere more emphatically than the book of Romans, that we are justified, or made right with God, by faith, by trust, by believing in Jesus.

Someone put it this way: "God justifies the believer - not because of the worthiness of his belief, but because of Christ's worthiness, who is believed."

If you have never done so, then right now breathe a prayer: "Jesus, I trust you alone to save me. All my hope is in you. Thank you that you died on the cross and paid for my sins. Thank you that you are faithful to hear this prayer and save me. Thank you so much. Amen."

Lord, I am so grateful that my salvation does not depend on how good I am but only on how good Christ is.