How Good Do I Have To Be?

Earlier this morning I was looking up various passages dealing with the sovereignty of God and especially those dealing with His choosing of people. Of course this led me to the book of Romans chapter 9. I was again blown away by this amazing God who does all things for His own glory. As I read I was struck by the words at the end of the chapter,

What shall we say, then? That the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it tis written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

I was again confronted by the Good News, the Gospel. This is the good news that God can and does declare unrighteous people (me) to be righteous. A good standing before God is not something that anyone can work for. God alone is righteous and He alone can impute righteousness to us and He does not do it based on our merit but rather He makes the sinner righteous who is trusting in His Son. He alone gets the glory. None will stand justified before Him on their own merit. But to those who trust not in themselves but in Him who justifies, they are saved by grace through faith.

What an amazing God. Let my pride fall; I have nothing in myself of which to boast. Let my guilty conscience rest; I have been declared righteous before this holy God forever. Hallelujah!!! What a Savior!!!