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Day 18-Matthew 19

Hey! Welcome back! It's late, so I won't be writing too long, but I'll share my thoughts on Matthew 19. Again, I encourage you to read the chapter before continuing reading this post! :)

Doing good: it's something that's been emphasized recently I've noticed. There are tons of scholarships for high school seniors, offering money to kids who "do something good" and send in a video or essay about it. But can a person really do good? In human eyes, it might be possible. But in God's sight, there is no way to be good. Jesus tells us so in Matthew 19:16-30. The rich young man is asking Jesus how to reach heaven and thinks that salvation can come through keeping "the law" (10 Commandments). He probably hadn't murdered anyone or committed adultery. This guy probably thought he was pretty good, and with good reason. He seemed pretty good to any human. But God's standards are a bit different... ok, His standards are WAYY different! There's no way we could measure up to His standards by ourselves. That makes salvation seem pretty hopeless, doesn't it?

But the story isn't over there. Jesus later tells the disciples that salvation is impossible without God. God provided a way, the ONLY way, of salvation for humans. It's only by His grace that we can be saved. Nothing we do could ever gain us salvation. However, James tells us in his epistle that faith without works is dead. If you love someone, you find ways to show them. Why would we not do the same with Christ? If we love Him and trust in Him alone for salvation, why would we not tell Him or show Him how grateful we are? You alone can't do anything good, but God's Spirit in us helps us to do things for His honor and glory! Next time you think you are doing something that is good, remember that no human act is good, but only God can take this sin and turn it into something marvelous for His glory! G'night! :)

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