by Leigh Ann Dilley on August 25, 2025
Roman 1:17 says “This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say it is through faith that a righteous person has life. If this is true, why do so many of us wrestle with being enough?” I hear people say, “I don’t pray enough or read my Bible enough or volunteer enough.” Some struggle with gratitude or worship. In addition to not being enough, Romans Chapter 3: 9b-10 it says: “We are all under the power of sin… No one is righteous-not even one” Then Paul names a litany of sins to make sure the reader knows that they are not righteous. In this context, the word righteous means someone is right with God. Roman 3:20 says: “no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. Why does it seem hard to be a Christian? Did God set us up to fail?
To get the good news, we must keep reading. It’s true, we all fall short of the glory of God; yet God, in his mercy and grace makes us righteous, through Christ Jesus, who freed us from the penalty for our sins. We become righteous when we believe Jesus’ sacrificed his life so our sin may be forgiven. (vs. 23-25). So, in a sense, righteousness is not about us, it’s all about Jesus. Righteousness and forgiveness go together! You can’t have one without the other.
So…how do we live out righteousness offered through Jesus Christ? In a very real sense, we don’t. It’s not about what we do or don’t do, it’s about an attitude of the heart. Roman 3:29: A true Jew is one whose heart is right with God…not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. That’s not to say prayer, reading the Bible, worship, and act of service, are not important, but as the late great Tim Keller wrote “works matter- not as a basis for salvation, but as evidence that someone has the faith that saves.”
We may feel like we can never do enough or be enough, but the reality is, as believers, Jesus says we are. We do not have to be perfect; just forgiven. God did not set us up to fail, but rather to succeed through our Savior, Jesus Christ.
