Not Good Enough
May 13, 2001
Dear Friends,
Did you ever think you were not good enough?
As we look at the heroes of the Bible, it is interesting to note the multitude of moral failures, errors in judgment and character flaws. Noah and Lot are recorded as being drunk. King David was both an adulterer and a murderer. Solomon and Samson had a weakness for women. Peter liked to speak before thinking and had a several issues with peer pressure. Thomas had a bad case of the doubts.
In fact, we would contend that one of the proofs for the Bible being divinely inspired is the fact that most of its heroes are so graphically portrayed as human. If the Bible were written by man, you would not expect them to portray their heroes as flawed men. Israel as a nation is portrayed as having serious moral problems. Time and time again, the story of the Bible is the story of Israel's failure in every way in which failure can be measured.
The question is why does the Bible portray the people of Israel and its heroes in such a light. I would suggest that there is a powerful lesson to be taken away from this.
The Bible doesn't deal with "perfect" people. The Bible deals with imperfect people with a desire to be perfect. It deals with people who have a greater hope than to muddle through a mistake-prone life for seventy years and then call it quits. It shows faithful people, just like us, who are never good enough, never smart enough and never powerful enough to dismiss a need for divine grace and mercy.
On the other side of the equation, the portrayal of the faithful of the Bible tells us a lot about God too. God deals with mankind with an understanding of their failings. He loves us and cares for us despite our failings. He loves us so much that He gave His son for us. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8)
The lesson is not for us to presume upon God's mercy. We should not adopt the attitude that "we continue in sin, that grace may abound." We should follow the example of the faithful and "fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life." (1 Tim. 6:12)
However, while we do not presume upon the mercy of God, we should never deem ourselves to be unworthy of God's mercy and grace. Sin can be so deceitful that we can think ourselves unworthy of God's love and forgiveness. We can look at our sins and think how completely unworthy we are. And guess what? We aren't worthy! But isn't that the point? Neither were all of the others.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 3:23,24)
Isn’t this is what Paul tells us?
“Though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 1:13,14 NRSV)
Have a great week!
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