Jesus said to his disciples:
"I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses
that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
EXACTLY!!!! So, if you insist on looking in the mirror for the reason for your getting into heaven (and thus reject Christianity) then it's simple: Just be a WHOLE LOT better than the Pharisees (who lived as righteous of a life as humanly possible) and be equal to God - then you won't need forgiveness or reconciliation or justification and salvation - and thus won't need Christ: you can look in the mirror at self rather than looking at the Cross to Christ. Yes, you're right, my Catholic friend: the Law can make for salvation but only if you keep it. 24/7. In thought, word and deed. In attitude and life. From conception to death. Exactly like Jesus. Exactly like God. If you achieve that, you'll be the only mere human to do so (joining with Jesus who of course was not just man but also fully God). Good luck!
Matthew 5:48, "You must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."
1 Peter 1:16, "You must be holy even as God in heaven is holy."
John 15:12, "Love all people just as I (Jesus) first loved you."
Ephesians 4:32, "forgiving one another, just as God in Christ first forgave you."
First John 2:6, "Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did."
Philippians 2:5, "You must have the same attitude that Christ did."
The word "sin" literally means "to miss the mark." In ancient Greece, if an archer missed the target, the therefore "sinned" because he missed the mark, missed the target. The Bible says "ALL fall short." IF you have absolutely, perfectly, divinely, 24/7 "hit" all the targets above, then you are obedient, sinless, holy. Otherwise...... So, what God says below is simply the undeniable reality....
Psalm 51:5 "I was sinful at birth"
Genesis 8:21, "Every inclination of man's heart is evil from childhood."
Romans 5:12, "Sin entered the world through one man's sin, and death through sin, and therefore death came to all men for all have sinned."
First John 3:4, "Sin is lawlessness"
Romans 3:12, "There is no one who does good, not even one."
Mark 10:18, "There is none who is good but God exclusively."
First John 1:10, "If we claim we have no sin, we make God a liar and His word is not in us."
Pax CHRISTI
- Josiah