You and I cannot save our souls, and we also cannot make ourselves holy. Jesus does it all. When you receive Christ as your Savior, you are instantly justified. And then the Lord begins to produce His holiness in you and through you. The credit goes to Jesus. The glory goes to Jesus. And the believer eventually goes to heaven.
No other person and no other religion can justify you before your Creator. Only Jesus can do it. And no other person and no other religion can place the holiness of God within your soul. Only Jesus can do that as well. Justification and sanctification are both accomplished by Christ, and He does it in the lives of believers because He loves us.
You cannot make yourself righteous in God’s eyes, but Jesus can. You cannot make yourself holy, but Jesus can. Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to say “Yes” to Christ and “No” to sin. By saying “Yes” to Christ, you are agreeing with Him that only He can wash away your sins. By saying “No” to sin, you are resisting the desires of your sinful nature. Jesus enables you to say “Yes” and “No” in a way that pleases the Lord. If we don’t listen to Jesus, we easily tend to get it wrong.
Written by Dan Delzell
About the Author : Dan Delzell is the pastor of Wellspring Lutheran Church in Papillion, Neb. He is a regular contributor to The Christian Post.
Source (Original Post) by Christian Post