NCC Q13: No more charades!

New City Catechism Question 13

http://www.newcitycatechism.com/

Q: Can anyone keep the law of God perfectly?

A: Since the fall, no mere human has been able to keep the law of God perfectly, but consistently breaks it in thought, word, and deed.

Romans 3:10-12

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

The very simple answer to this catechism question is a resounding “No!” No one can keep the law of God perfectly, and as discussed in previous posts, this reveals out need for a savior and drives us desperately to that savior, Jesus Christ. The cross of Jesus Christ is the only beacon of hope for all of humanity who has failed miserably to keep God’s law.

But I have to admit that I struggle with this catechism answer. Not because I don’t believe it…trust me I believe this true to the core of my being! But I struggle with this because so often I see so many Christians (myself included) trying to act as if they are able to keep the law of God perfectly. As a pastor I know that I am called to be a role model and an example for the body of Christ. But it is so easy for that calling to slip into pressure (self-inflicted most of the time) to look and act perfect. It is easy to feel that we have failed in ministry and in life if anyone sees the slightest bit of our sinfulness. Certainly we don’t want to put our sin on display. We should strive for righteousness in every part of our lives. But we can’t let that goal lead us to put up a façade to the world that says we are perfect. Because we are not.

Now there could be any number of reasons why we are so prone to projecting this image of perfection when clearly we are not (both in light of the biblical witness and our own experience). It could be that too often as Christians we buy into the refrain we hear from our culture…the idea that we’re all generally good people. It could be that we fundamentally misunderstand the nature of our sin and our call to repentance; instead of seeing sin as a complete rejection of God and as pursuing a course that is the exact opposite from his will, we see our sin as a slight deviation from God’s will, and therefore our repentance is not a complete reversal of direction, but only a slight course correction. If that is our view then our sin isn’t really...well...that sinful. Or it could be that subconsciously we still insist on some form of works righteousness, even though we know that we are saved only by grace.

Whatever reason, it is critical that we stop playing Christian charades and tell the world that we have our act together. Doing so will cripple our evangelism. If the image we project to the world is that we are able to follow God’s law and that we are good people, then what need do we have for a savior? What need is there for the cross? And if having our act together, or at least looking like we have our act together is the qualification to come to church on Sundays, then the people who need to hear the good news the most will never come through the doors of our church.

The church is not, and cannot be a social club for people who pretend to follow God’s law perfectly and have their lives in order. The church is, and must be, a life saving station on the shore of a rocky, treacherous beach, ready to take in all who need to be saved. No one can follow God’s law perfectly, and the beginning of us being able to present the good news to people who are lost is the clear message that all of us have broken God’s law and universally stand in need of a savior. No one is righteous, no, not one! All of us stand guilty before a holy God in desperate need of a savior. But Jesus Christ has kept the law perfectly, he died in our place, so that we can stand before God clothed in his righteousness. And for a desperate sinner, that truly is good news.