(8) When I Am A Failure

I am a failure. Those words are words of discouragement. Those words are true. I am a failure. But I am not discouraged. I am confident, hopeful, expectant. I have peace, courage, determination. I am a fearless failure.

My failure runs deep in the one pursuit, the one success I value most highly in life, honoring the glory of God and being like Christ. But, I am not defeated. I am not discouraged. I can run boldly into the presence of the one I fail to honor without fear of being cast out. Why? Because I have a firm belief in God’s Word that it is not my success or failure in being or doing right that grants me my standing before God. No, it is a righteousness that is not mine that grants me standing, acceptance, and confidence before my infinitely holy, righteous and just God. Paul explains the foundation of this fearless failure. It is being declared right with God because we have received the righteousness of Christ by faith.

For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law . . .We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. . . . So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. (Romans 3:20-22, 28 NLT)

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NAU)

John Piper calls this gutsy guilt. Writing in When the Darkness Will Not Lift He says,

Gutsy guilt means learning to live on the rock-solid truth of what happened for us when Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again from the dead. It means realizing that in this life we will always be sinful and imperfect. Therefore in ourselves we will always be guilty. This will prove emotionally devastating if we do not discover the reality of justification by faith, that is, the secret of gutsy guilt.

The best news in all the world to the “ungodly” who grieve under the cloud of darkness and guilt, is the news that God, by faith alone, counts them as righteous because of Christ. The capstone of joy-producing glory is that justification is by faith alone apart from works of the law. This is the rock where we stand when the dark clouds gather and the floods lick at our feet: justification is by grace alone (not mixed with our merit), through faith alone (not mixed with our works) on the basis of Christ alone (not mingling His righteousness with ours), to the glory of God alone (not ours).

God accepts us on the basis of Christ’s righteousness, not ours. To be sure, our progressive sanctification – our all-too-slow growth in Christlikeness – matters. It is the necessary evidence that the seed of spiritual life is in our soul and that our faith is real. But, Oh what a difference it makes to be assured, in the discouraging darkness of our own imperfection, that we have a perfect righteousness outside ourselves, namely Christ’s.

“The best news in all the world to the “ungodly” who grieve under the cloud of darkness and guilt, is the news that God, by faith alone, counts them as righteous because of Christ.” This is the gospel. This is the good news that I stand on when I fail. I can run boldly into the presence of a perfect, pure, holy, righteous, just God because I am righteous in Christ. I am a fearless failure.


Next:  (9) Who Are You?