-Man’s default posture in relation to deity is one of works, trying to curry favor with whatever god we believe we have to do by whatever means we believe to be necessary. Atheists and skeptics generally excepted, of course. But the native instinct of fallen man is to try to work his way back to paradise. For all his hiding and hurling, he wants to get back to the garden, and he assumes it is on him. Generally be a nice person, throw in some good deeds for favor, and (hopefully) you’re good to go. For those who are convinced that there is some greater being who has at least some level of authority over the things that concern them, the way to relate to said being is by trying to do whatever good works are perceived to be required in order to cultivate right standing in their eyes or otherwise appease them. Whatever it takes to make them happy. Or at least to not make them angry. But it's all on me.
-One inevitable byproduct of such a system is the tendency for man to ‘broaden his phylacteries.’ In other words, to show off to my fellow man how successfully I am performing the prescribed good works within whatever religious system I happen to be operating. Fallen man in his insecurity desperately wants to feel better about himself in relation to deity as well as compared to his fellow man. No doubt there is no end to the ways we might invent to cast ourselves in a better light, to show off our progress and relative superiority to those around us.
-None of this in true Christianity, however. It’s all out the window (or is supposed to be). Turns out there is not one good deed we can do, not a single thing we could ever do to help effect any rescue from the eternal consequences of our sins or otherwise do anything to improve our standing in the eyes of our Creator. He is the One True God, and He is holy beyond compare or comprehension. Totally perfect in every sense, and His standard is perfection. You are perfect, or you fall short - there is no middle ground, no degrees of separation or some sliding scale of spiritual progress. A level playing field, this. And it is readily apparent that there is not one work (or any combined amount of works) that anyone could ever do to attain the moral perfection required to get back to paradise. The way back is through the foolish-looking narrow door, simply to believe - in Jesus. He is the Way, the only Way. For those who do make it - based solely on the gracious gift of God through Christ - once there, there will be no boasting, no bragging about what he did or she did to get there. No, all who make it back to paradise will be fully aware that they had nothing to do with it. All they did was believe, and theirs is a completely unrepayable debt of gratitude. Unending celebration, yes, but boasting - no way.
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