By what “measuring stick” do you judge success? How about God? What constitutes “success” in His eyes, particularly regarding salvation?

We all have some picture in our minds of what it will be like when we die and stand before God and get our “grade.”

Many people imagine an inquisition, where we are asked about our behavior, our law-abiding lives, our religious devotion, etc.

Some think we will be given a final exam, asked questions, and if we give the right answers, we’re in. 

The trouble with these fallacious notions is that they invariably point back to ourselves, to our so-called “qualifications,” our right answers, our correct church affiliations, our theological correctness, etc.

Bad plan.

Nothing like that is going to happen. It will be comparatively simple. I’m reminded of the whimsical song of yesteryear by Louis Jordan, “Is you is, or Is you ain’t (my baby …)”

God’s Simple Criteria

Forget about pulling out your spiritual résumé in front of God. His standards are infinitely above your pay grade.

Jesus put it this way in Matthew 5:48, “Therefore, you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 

Later, the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:2: “…the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Ouch! 

That word “perfect” should stop us all in our tracks. “Perfect?” Are you kidding? So far, it sounds like Heaven is going to be a lonely place. Read on.

God’s ‘Measuring Stick’

When Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me,” He was saying that only He was qualified to enter Heaven on His own recognizance.

Therefore, if you want to enter Heaven, you must somehow connect with Christ and ride in with Him, or more correctly, IN Him.

The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 5:8-10, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him, being designated by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”

He added later, “For by one offering He (Jesus) has perfected for all time those (believers) who are sanctified.”

A Common Trap

When we meet up with God, there will be no hiding behind our relative “righteousness” compared with other men.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:11-13, “For we do not presume to rank or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they have no understanding.”

Remember, God’s standard of measure is Christ Himself.

So, how can we connect to Christ’s right-standing (righteousness) before God?

Becoming ‘Perfect’

Start by heeding Paul’s admonition in Philippians 3:8-9, “… that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith …”

There is a beautiful word that cuts through all the religious clutter: “imputation.”

The best illustration of this is in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

This is known as the “great exchange.” Our sins were imputed, or transferred, to Christ on the cross; and Christ’s righteousness is imputed, or transferred, to our spiritual account the moment when we come to faith in Him.

Paul put it this way in Romans 4:5-8:

“But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,
And whose sins have been covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”

How About You?

So, “Is you is, or Is you ain’t covered in Christ’s righteousness?” Or are you still stuck with your own spiritual résumé?

As written in Hebrews 12:22-24:

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.”