Brian Onstead

We’ve likely all heard this statement: “I’ve got bad news and good news for you. Which one do you want first?” 

Well, when it comes to Christianity, there is both bad news and good news. I’ll give you the bad news first. The bad news is that God will by no means clear the guilty (Exodus 34:7). You may say to me, “Well, that sounds like good news to me! All these evil people in the world and around me need to be punished! Finally, there will be justice!” 

However, the problem is that you and I are included in the evil in this world. God says in Romans 3, “none is righteous, no, not one … no one does good, not even one.” 

Do you find what God says here hard to believe? You may be wondering about all the good that humans can do such as serve their country, pay the ultimate sacrifice, save people’s lives and help someone in need. While these are good things, they do not meet God’s perfect standard because God not only looks at the outward actions that man can see, he also looks at the inward heart motives. All good works must be done from a heart of faith and love towards God, and cognitively for his glory ­— that is, to draw attention to him for his praise. Every desire of our heart must stand in awe of his greatness, and everything we do must be done in recognition of him. If not, then the good work is like a piece of fruit that looks really good on the outside but is rotten on the inside. Which one of us would not immediately throw out that fruit when we discover it is inwardly rotten? This is every single one of us according to God. This merits nothing but God’s eternal judgment. This is the bad news.

But there is good news! God sent his eternal son to become a man (without ceasing to be God), the Lord Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life of righteousness to God’s law. He was perfect inside and out. And the good news is that those who trust Jesus get credit for his perfect obedience to God. God views those who simply trust Jesus as if they had lived Jesus’ life. And Jesus also went to the cross in order to publicly pay for our rotten sin. Jesus got credit for believer’s sins; God viewed him as if he had lived their rotten life. This is a free gift for those who trust Jesus to be their righteousness and to take the penalty for their unrighteousness. There are no strings attached! The bad news is that we are not good and therefore deserve God’s judgment. The good news is that Jesus took care of that for us by being good in the place of sinners in order to earn our acceptance before God and took the punishment deserved for all our sin. 

(Brian Onstead is the Pastor at Trinity Bible Church.)