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What I mean is that confidence in our virtues keeps more people out of heaven than all their adultery and drunkenness combined.” We cannot be good enough. We will never meet God’s standards. To please God, we must confess our bankruptcy. “None is righteous, no, not one. . . . All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:10, 12, quoting Ps. 14:1, 3). We cannot be good enough because God requires perfection. “No one is perfect” is one of the most common expressions in the English language. That’s the problem. We must be perfect. Many Christians and non-Christians do good deeds. Many non-Christians care for the sick and serve in soup kitchens. Audrey Hepburn spent the last years of her life serving children in Third World countries. Paul is not saying that people do not do good deeds. He is saying that unless these deeds are done with faith toward God and for the glory of God, they earn no merit with God. It is not enough to do good things. The deed must proceed from holy motives. That is why we conclude that no one can earn heaven. It is utterly impossible.
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William P. Farley (Gospel-Powered Parenting: How the Gospel Shapes and Transforms Parenting)