Filthy Rags

I would like you to join me in conducting an imaginary open ended survey on the street this very day. Let’s pretend that we all are armed with the required clipboard and pencil and ask the very simple question, “How do we get to heaven?” I sincerely believe that the vast majority of respondents will assure you that they indeed do believe in heaven and that the more good deeds you have done in this world the more likely it is that you will go to heaven. If you have done more good than bad then you are in. It is kind of like storing up Aeroplan points or Air Miles in order to cash them in at the pearly gates (whatever and wherever they are). Mainstream religion has perpetuated this myth for centuries. Verse 6 in Isaiah 64 refutes this popular but defective theory in the strongest of words. We must keep in mind that Isaiah, being a prophet, was told directly by God what to say.

6 ¶ But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

Our best efforts are so defective, and so far short of the rule, that they are as rags…filthy rags. These rags cover nothing and are good for nothing. They are so full of sin and corruption cleaving to them that they are as filthy rags. When we would do good, evil is still present within us. Just what is our motivation to do the right thing? Is it completely unselfish? Is there an intrinsic reward like the recognition of other men present? The iniquity of even our holy things would be our ruin if we were under the law of the Old Testament. No matter what we do in the name of right, we cannot and will never measure up.

We are saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and not through our works. I am so thankful for this fact! If my good intentions and good actions are what I am judged upon, I am in very serious trouble. I find this verse very sobering, but at the same time it provides relief. If I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, I don’t need to depend upon my questionable righteous acts in combination with my most certainly sinful acts. Measuring up is just not an option.

What a relief!

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