Have you ever asked yourself, Am I a good person? If you’re curious about the answer, there are plenty of (not so) helpful quizzes you can take online to be assured that you’re a good person.
If you’re ever feeling down, retake that quiz—or, better yet, make a habit of writing down all the good things you do, put that list in a nice picture frame, and hang it on a wall in your home. Whenever you start to wonder, just look at that wall, see all the good things you’ve done, and say to yourself, “I’m a good person.”
But sooner or later, you might start to wonder, If I’m such a good person, then why do bad things happen to me? There are worldly answers to that. A general idea in our world is that what goes around comes around. As long as we do more good things than bad, everything will balance out, and we’ll be just fine!
And so the conscience is put at ease. For a little while at least. I’m a pretty good person. People can go on feeling that way their whole lives until they ask one more question: If there really is a heaven and hell (and I’d rather not think about hell, so I won’t), have I been good enough to get into heaven?
That question is harder to answer. People might look to that impressive wall of accomplishments—the things they’ve done in life, the plaques they’ve added one by one to their wall of good deeds.
At the end of life, are those good deeds enough? Is the claim “I’m a good person” enough? Does the good outweigh the bad . . . or not? Many people think it does. I’m a good enough person. Open those pearly gates for me, St. Peter. I’m not perfect, but who is?
God is.
He sees that there’s more to that glowing “wall of deeds.” God sees the bad hanging there too. Even if we try to hide those deeds away behind a curtain or in a dark basement corner. And even if God were to focus on just the good according to his perfect standards, even those deeds are less than nothing. They’re filthy rags. That whole wall of deeds is full of evil and darkness. And if that’s what we cling to as our ticket to eternal life, it’s only going to bring us condemnation.
I’m a good person. That lie needs to be crushed by God’s law. Nothing short of the Holy Spirit is going to convince us otherwise. Am I a good person? God’s law gives us another question to ask: Am I perfect? The inevitable answer is no. No, we’re not perfect. And because we’re not, we don’t deserve anything good and certainly don’t deserve to go to heaven. No, we only deserve death and hell. As we look at our wall of deeds—both the good and the bad things we’ve done—that can be crushing. Guilt consumes.
Thank God for the gospel message. Thank God for Jesus!
Why? Because Jesus took our sinful, terrible deeds that we don’t want to admit to, much less hang on a wall. He’s taken and hung them on his wall instead. He claimed them as his own. That’s Good Friday. Jesus took on the sins of the whole world, made them his own, and suffered the wrath of God in our place.
On Easter Sunday, God the Father’s stamp of approval was placed on everything Jesus did—made evident by God not abandoning his Holy One to the grave. Sin, death, and the devil were absolutely abolished. And now Jesus gives us his perfect deeds to cover us, freely out of love.
Jesus’ resurrection changes everything for us. Because we’re sinful people, there are times when we find ourselves looking at our wall of deeds. That can be crushing. Our guilt can consume us until we’re left with nothing but despair. When that happens, Jesus tells us, “Don’t look at those things! Look at my cross. Look at my empty tomb. See my head, my hands, and my side—the blood I shed for you. Look! I have taken away all of your sins. Heaven is your home. It’s yours. I give it to you freely out of love.”
We don’t have to wonder, Is this enough? Am I good enough? We know. Heaven isn’t ours because of us. It’s ours because of Jesus. Now everything we do is done out of love for him. It’s our way of saying “Jesus, you’ve done everything for me. My life is yours. Everything I do—it’s for you. Thank you, Jesus!”
Dear Christian, hold Jesus and the victory he won for you before your eyes always throughout life—no matter what—because he is the answer.
Your works, not mine, O Christ, speak gladness to this heart; they tell me all is done, they bid my fear depart. To whom but you, who can alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee?
(CW 560:1)
Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.