My question for you today is simply this:
Do you really (really?) believe that Jesus “paid it all”…and that you now (as a believer in Jesus Christ) stand before Him totally and completely forgiven and clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ?
Here’s an excellent post I came across from Pastor Justin Buzzard on the “gospel of grace and sweatshop religion.”
The gospel of grace is the end of all sweatshop religion. We are saved by Jesus’ sweat and blood, not our own.
I think the existence of sweatshop religion can only be attributed to Satan, the Enemy of God and grace. Somehow Satan has so deceived the world that most people confuse Christianity with a sweatshop: sweating and laboring in cramped, love-less conditions in order to make a buck.
Read the Bible or hear the true gospel preached and you discover that Christianity is actually the announcement that the sweatshop is closed! God has fixed our greatest problem for us. The Son of God lived, sweat, and worked for us. Jesus did the labor that we could never do: performing perfectly for God. And along with his perfect life, his perfect performance, Jesus received the punishment we all deserve.
Instead of pridefully and sheepishly trying to make up for our very imperfect lives in the sweatshop, we are free to exit the building. Listen closely and you’ll hear the announcement made from Calvary 2,000 years ago: “It is finished!” The sweatshop is closed!
Sinner, quit the sweatshop. Your sins are forgiven. There’s a new life waiting for you.
In case you still have doubts, I challenge you to ponder deeply the following Scripture verses…
“…but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:13 NASB)
“…He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12 NASB)
“…having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13b-14 NASB)
“…and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Philippians 3:9 NASB)
“…to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us.” (Ephesians 1:6-8a NASB)
“When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.” (John 19:30 NASB)
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
THAT… is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Selah!