Such Good News

Did you know that the word "gospel" actually means "good news?" I betcha did.

It is easy to forget, though, that this whole Christianity thing is supposed to be news that is actually good to hear. So much of what we hear focuses on our responsibility to "do better" and "be better." And of course all believers are called to be holy, just as Christ is holy.

But there is the problem, you see. Christ actually was, and is, holy. We...aren't. Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking that we can be if we just try hard enough. (Hello! Pride and Self-Righteousness! Hello!)

But the simple truth of the matter is that we never will measure up. We won't ever do good enough or be good enough. We simply aren't capable of it. Plus, all of the good that we earnestly attempt to do is totally undone by the smallest guilty action.

Its enough to make a girl depressed and exhausted...all that trying and doing and being and never measuring up despite it all.

THAT my friends, is why the good news is so, well, good. It isn't up to us at all. We don't have to do it. The good news is that Jesus already has done it...all of it...and He did it perfectly. The better news is that He will give us all the credit for the righteousness that He accomplished.

If that isn't the most amazing news you've ever heard, then I'd like to gently suggest that you don't actually understand what the news is.

Psalm 40:9

"I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly"