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One of my favorite thoughts is that God accepts us because we believe in Jesus. Every person can be acceptable to God if they trust in Jesus. Faith is what makes us right with God. 

Paul was trying his very best to get Jews to understand that they couldn't earn God's favor. This went against everything they knew about God. They tried to live by a strict law for hundreds of years to prove their holiness. But the only thing trying to live perfectly did was reveal the fact that they weren't perfect. 

Here's what he wrote to them:

But we know that God accepts only those who have faith in Jesus Christ. No one can please God by simply obeying the Law. So we put our faith in Christ Jesus, and God accepted us because of our faith. 

When we Jews started looking for a way to please God, we discovered that we are sinners too.

 The Holy Bible: The Contemporary English Version, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), Ga 2:16–17.

God knows that we aren't perfect.

Think about this for a second: God knows EVERYTHING about us—every thought, desire, motivation, emotion, and action. He's seen it all. How do you measure up? Are you good enough to stand blameless? You feel ashamed if you're like me because I fall short in so many areas. There's nothing perfect about me; I'm guilty of being a sinner. 

No wonder there are so many people struggling with depression, anxiety, and feelings of hopelessness. So what do people do? They see a therapist or find a doctor to prescribe meds to help with all these emotions and imbalances. But medicine and science offer little help for the desperate need for the human soul that needs restoration and healing. 

No, only Jesus can help. He IS perfect. Jesus didn't mess up His life. He is the Son of God! And what did the Son of God do for us? How can He help our hurting souls?

Perfect Jesus was accused of crimes He didn't commit. He was murdered, and He came back to life again. Jesus is alive right now! 

Why does that matter, and how does that help us? When you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He rose from the grave, then it gives you hope that if He really defeated death, then maybe He can help us defeat death. Death that we deserve because we have all sinned. 

Later in the same chapter, Paul says something that makes a whole bunch of sense:

I have been nailed to the cross with Christ. I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. I don't turn my back on God's undeserved kindness. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die. 

 The Holy Bible: The Contemporary English Version, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), Ga 2:19–21.

I imagine the worst parts of me being nailed to the cross. The part of me that I wish didn't exist. My sinful nature that I don't want anyone else to know about. I imagine that it's hung up there for everyone to see. 

And it dies.

And as Christ rose from the grave, the new me can start to live again. But now, I don't live for myself; I get to live to set other people free! 

God accepts those who place their faith in Christ because they accept that they are sinners who need restoration and new life. Jesus is the way to new life. The old us can die, and the new us can live for Him. 

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to live!