What Do You Lack Dear Sinner?
If you ask religious men and women what they consider their position before God to be, the vast majority will tell you they think they are lacking in certain areas of their lives, which in turn causes God to have a lower view of them. They’ll give you a variety of answers concerning the areas in which they are lacking:
“My faith isn’t what it should be”
“I don’t keep the 10 commandments like I should”
“I don’t love God or my neighbor as much as I should”.
If you find yourself giving these kinds of answers, please Biblically answer these questions for me:
Where in God’s Word do you find that your faith, or even the strength of your faith makes you acceptable to God?
Where does God’s Word tell you keeping the 10 commandments makes you acceptable before God?
Where does God’s Word tell you loving God makes the difference between lost and saved?
The Lord Jesus Christ dealt with a man who entertained these same deadly assumptions in Mark 10 and Luke 18 and He set the record straight concerning what it requires to make a sinner have a perfect righteous standing before a Holy God. This young man approached Christ after hearing the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee and asked a question:
“And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
(Luke 18:18)
He basically is asking Christ WHAT CAN I DO to merit, earn, or achieve eternal life. This is the natural tendency of every unregenerate son of Adam, SALVATION BY WORKS.
Notice Christ’s response in Verse 20 Christ wasn’t telling him if he kept these commandments, he’d be saved by his obedience. He was showing him what God required (PERFECT OBEDIENCE) and the absolute impossibility of any man obtaining such obedience by his works. Nevertheless, this man hypocritically thought he had kept the law – “And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.” (Luke 18:21)
The religious world would have given this man a star and welcomed him as a child of God, but Christ points out the error in his thinking salvation is by works – “Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22)
With all his supposed righteousness, HE LACKED ONE THING. His righteousness didn’t meet the Holy demands of God’s law and justice. Christ was pointing this man away from his own righteousness and directing him to the Righteousness of God established by Christ’s obedience unto death as the Substitute and Representative of His elect at Calvary – “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” (Romans.10:3)
As a child of God, WE LACK NOTHING!
In Christ we are “complete” (Colossians 2:10), “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight” (Colossians 1:22), and “made the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
If you are lacking, YOU ARE LOST!
God help you to find all you need in Christ!
By Richard Warmack
Jesus is LORD! 
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