Summary and Conclusion. We have seen God’s standards; reviewed the pre-eminence of, and the process for, restoring fellowship; examined the link between fellowship and the filling of the Holy Spirit; and cited the role of faith in our walk in the Spirit. We understand the power of God and the weakness of man…His bigness and our smallness. At the same time, we are coming to know what God expects from us, i.e., His standards…and this creates in us a sense of urgency to do what He expects.

We acknowledge the importance of meeting the standards God has given us, but they are daunting and formidable. We see these standards, and know in our inner selves that we can’t meet them, which gives rise to a new question: If we can’t live up to the standards, why would God require them of us? He has set the bar too high for us to clear, and now He is demanding that we jump over it.

Pay attention…We must begin to fathom how fervently God wants us to learn that His way of dealing with us is not through some capability inherent in us…but in bringing us to an understanding that the only way we can clear the bar is for God to lift us over it. All He wants from us is our trust that He can and will do it.

Everything God requires, He provides a way to fulfill. When we read the Bible and see God’s standards, these should be seen as alerts for us to reach out for grace assets. The standards are calls for us to confess and trust.

“Negative” standards call for us to confess our sins. When we see God’s proscriptions (“negative” standards), if we tend to feel a little panicky, it is because we are reverting to a belief that we have to figure out a way to have the courage, the determination, and the initiative to avoid the bad thoughts and behavior that God prohibits. We believe in ourselves, to do what God requires, while the correct response is for us to admit that we cannot live up to God’s standards, and that we are dependent on His mercy.

From a different perspective, when God presents “positive” standards, such as those commanding that we love and rejoice, we can know that these are calls for us to be “filled with the Spirit” and to “walk in the Spirit”, because positive standards are “fruits of the Spirit”. And Who produces God’s fruit? Only God. After we confess, which satisfies the negative standards, we then move toward fulfilling the positive standards by walking in faith, which means trusting His Word, His promises, His power, His love…and, yes…His forgiveness. As we do this, we will be studying His Word and enduring His training, so that our faith will become stronger and stronger.

We understand better now what God wants and how God works. Our path will not be an easy one, and we will often not know where God is taking us, but we can be sure that He wants to give us His best, and that His grace is always sufficient to meet our needs. He guarantees it…in writing.

I am struck with the emphasis we are making today in regard to good behavior. There's nothing wrong with good behavior, of course, and the entire Bible describes God's standards for morality and righteousness. It's good to be good.

Where we find the rub, however, is in our persistent belief that we can produce such goodness...that somehow we can become good enough to satisfy God's requirements for morality and holiness. These requirements range from the severest prohibitions of immorality to the highest constraints toward noble magnanimity.

The question arises: Can we meet God's requirements? In other words, can we satisfy His standards? Keep in mind that we must be 100%, behaving with Christ-like purity, for it to count with God. We must, in essence, be perfect in avoiding the"do-not's", and in achieving the "must-do's" (of Scripture) to satisfy God's holy prescriptions.

The Bible is clear that none of us reach the divine level of performance that matches God's standards, even though some of us do considerably better than others. Our dilemma is that we achieve goodness only in comparison with others. We reflect only a "relative" righteousness, which does not comport with the ABSOLUTE righteousness of God. We have such high opinions of our own abilities and achievements. We have no idea how big God is.

Our inability to achieve holiness on our own requires God to give us what we do not have, and do for us what we cannot do. This is called "grace", which is manifested as mercy and forgiveness. Our inabilities must be forgiven. Being righteous means being cleansed, and cleansing comes from God. The Bible says that no amount of soap will enable us to cleanse ourselves. True righteousness is given, not achieved through human initiative.

 So where is personal responsibility in all this? If we do not achieve righteousness by following the rules, does this mean we surrender to licentious or hateful behaviorf? Of course not. But the right thing we aspire to must be done in the right way, and that is by ackn0owledging God, not only as the Creator, but as the author and director of all good things. Only what God does pleases God. We are "righteous" only to the degree that we participate in His divine action and plan, and that is done ONLY by acknowledging God's greatness, confessing our inadequacy, and resting in His power.

Our commitment is to God, and not to self-generated goodness. The means for divine achievement is through God's mercy and forgiveness, made possible by the work of Christ. Appreciation for this mercy is a much greater motivator for behaving well than mere self-determined conformity to a code of conduct. Accessing mercy brings credit to God; self-motivated effort brings glory to self. What's more, we find in God's mercy the means to tapping into divine power, which makes righteousness a reality in Christian experience.

One thing I am learning lately is how immense God's love is. It has no end, and it never fails. The plan God devised to save all who believe in His Son is based on His love. That love toward believers is now seen as grace aimed at  frail, unsteady humanity that persists, even though eternal salvation is guaranteed. God's love is so great it even wraps around His justice and righteousness...these are satisfied through the loving gift of Jesus Christ, prompted and completed by God Himself.

Because God's love projected a plan for man to be redeemed, even though we have failed miserably to do "good" as individuals and as a race, God's love for us operates without impediment, disregarding our failures except to use them as opportunities for Him to train us to trust Him and live with our focus on Him. His attention is on His Son's completed work, and that is where He wants our attention, as well. It is more important for us to see God's goodness, grace, and kindness, than for us to swell up and beam and look for God’s approval when we think we have done something good.

The work of Christ brings forgiveness...total removal of our misdeeds...making us perfect in God's eyes for all eternity. But while we are in these bodies, we will fail again and again. Studies that we are now conducting purport to give us victory over these failings, but we will continue to violate God's standards. And if we break one rule, we break them all, so we can never judge each other for our diverse sets of weaknesses. We all have them. We must be aware of our unique failings, and submit them to God, fully aware that the victory will never come through grim and set-jawed determination, but only by means of the grace which God offers.

This is why believers confess their sins. We can't stop messing up, so we continually confess, acknowledging that all good comes from God. This is humility, recognizing that we are dismal failures AT OUR VERY BEST, and that God can use even our sins and turn them to GOOD, if we expose them to Him and admit that we are inadequate to please Him in ourselves.

What generates MORE GOOD is MORE GOD, and LESS OF US. He is patiently waiting for us to abandon our petty, fleshly, often legalistic programs for satisfying Him, and for us to embrace the loving and gracious extensions that He makes. He offers forgiveness, and gives us strength so we can do better. But our humanity almost constantly overrides His divinity.

The point is singular and clear: We must count on His loving forgiveness for us to participate successfully in His plan, MORE THAN we count on our being good enough to satisfy Him. There's nothing wrong with our being the best that we can be, but our goodness is not the basis for our fellowship and harmony with our Creator. The basis for fellowship is grace and God's provision for our failure, more that it is our never failing.

So, if you fail--and you will, at times and in ways--don't waste your time agonizing over your failure. Your helplessness is well-established. Turn immediately to God. Confess. Acknowledge His love and grace and KEEP ON WALKING. Ps. 33:22: "May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you."