Perhaps you’ve met one of those Christians who just seem so confident about their future. They say things like, ‘I’m saved.’ And, ‘I know I’m going to be with God.’ or ‘I know I’m going to heaven’. And you think, ‘No way, surely not. I know you and you’re not perfect.' And so your Christian friend’s confidence seems like supreme arrogance. ‘If the Christian God exists and he is holy the way Christians describe him, who can think they are good enough for God?’

If that’s you, here’s something you need to know.

Jesus fulfilled the law for us. He lived the life we could never live, perfectly honouring God the Father. Consider the deeds and words of Jesus in John’s gospel against the 10 Commandments of Exodus 20.*

1. Jesus had no other Gods before God the Father (John 17:4)

2. Jesus was the perfect image of God (John 14:6-10)

3. Jesus revealed God's name perfectly (John 17:6)

4. Jesus kept the Sabbath holy - healing and loving those in need (John 7:23)

5. Jesus perfectly honoured the Father (John 14:31)

6.  Jesus allowed himself to be murdered so he might free those who had hate in their hearts (John 10:11)

7. Jesus loved his bride, his people, to the end, in his death and by his death without failing in love. (John 13:1, 3:29)

8. Jesus came to give and not to take. He gave his life (John 10:10, 18)

9. Jesus spoke and lived the truth, for he is the truth. (John 8:28, 146,10, 7:28)

10. Jesus was content with God’s will even when it took him to the Cross.

Jesus kept the law for us. (I’ve put the 10 Commandments below if you’d like to see the comparison). And so, those who trust Jesus, as their Lord and Saviour, have fully met the righteous requirements of the law because of him. Jesus kept the law. And paid the price for those who didn’t. And so there is no condemnation for a Christian.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:1-2

And so, a Christian is filled with assurance and ought to be. They will be with God. Not because they keep the law of God perfectly. Nor because they’re super moral or even very good. No, it’s because of what Jesus has already done in his life and death for them.

Jesus kept the law for us, because we couldn’t. This is why Christians can be so confident and even sound arrogant. It is not because they are good enough for God, but because only Jesus was good enough. And they’ve put their trust in Jesus.

So, what’s stopping you from turning to him and putting your trust in him?

*This excellent insight is from Exodus For You by Tim Chester. With some small modifications from me.

Original post edited (27th October 2022)

Exodus 20

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

1 “You shall have no other gods before me.

2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

3 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

4 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

5 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

6 “You shall not murder.

7 “You shall not commit adultery.

8 “You shall not steal.

9 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”