It
does not matter what you do to try to clean yourself up. If you don't
trust Jesus to save you through His grace, all your righteousness is as
filthy rags in God's sight. Your flesh isn't accepted before God; it
can't even be reformed. All flesh was done away with at the cross and
now a new Man has come forth—the Christ-man—and true faith is having
confidence in what He did for you.
You may say, "I find it hard
to believe that a troubled, failing Christian like me could be precious
to God. He has to be disgusted with me, because my life is so
up-and-down. I have problems I can't seem to get through. Oh, I believe
He still loves me but surely He is disappointed in me because I have
failed Him so often!"
Please understand: Isaiah's wonderful
prophecy of grace (see Isaiah 43:1-5) was spoken to a people who had
been robbed, snared in holes and cast into prison—all because of their
own foolishness and unbelief. It was at such a point that God said to
them, "Now, after all your failures, I come to you with this message of
hope—and it is all because you are Mine."
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