September 18, 2026 | www.GospelofJesusChrist.blog | River Wilde
There once was a man who had spent nearly his entire life trying to please God.
He was a good man by almost anyone’s standards. He attended church faithfully. He gave money to help others. He served whenever he was asked. He participated in religious ceremonies and tried to obey everything his church taught him.
Whenever doubts entered his mind, he reminded himself of everything he had done.
Surely God sees my efforts.
Surely all these years of service count for something.
Surely belonging to the right church will help me when I finally stand before Him.
He believed in Jesus Christ. He loved Jesus Christ.
But without realizing it, his confidence wasn’t completely in Jesus Christ.
Some of it rested in Jesus.
Some rested in his church.
Some rested in his obedience.
Some rested in religious ordinances.
Some rested in the good things he had done.
And some rested in the religious leaders he had trusted throughout his life.
Then one night, the man had a dream.
In the dream, his earthly life was over.
He found himself standing before God.
Suddenly everything that had seemed so important on earth disappeared.
There was no church building behind him.
There was no religious leader standing beside him.
There were no certificates showing the ordinances he had completed.
There was no congregation to testify about what a wonderful person he had been.
There was no list of positions he had held.
There was no record of how much money he had given.
There was only the man—
and Jesus Christ.
For the first time in his life, the man understood something that frightened him.
He had spent years building a religious résumé.
And now he was standing before God with nothing in his hands.
He began thinking about everything he had done.
I attended church.
I served.
I gave.
I obeyed.
I performed religious works.
Then suddenly the words of Jesus came into his mind:
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?… and in thy name done many wonderful works?” — Matthew 7:22 KJV
The man became silent.
Those people had works too.
In fact, their works sounded far more impressive than his.
They had prophesied.
They had cast out devils.
They had done “many wonderful works.”
Yet Jesus had answered:
“I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” — Matthew 7:23 KJV
For the first time, the man noticed something he had overlooked for years.
The people in Matthew 7 were pointing toward what they had done.
Have WE not prophesied?
Have WE not cast out devils?
Have WE not done wonderful works?
Their confidence was in their religious accomplishments.
The man looked down at his empty hands.
Then another Scripture came to him:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”
“Not of works, lest any man should boast.” — Ephesians 2:8–9 KJV
Not of yourselves.
Those words suddenly seemed enormous.
He had read them many times, but now he understood them differently.
God wasn’t asking him to bring a résumé.
Salvation wasn’t something he could earn and then present to God as evidence that he deserved heaven.
It was:
“the gift of God.”
Then the man remembered another person from Scripture.
A thief.
The thief hanging beside Jesus had no religious résumé whatsoever.
He couldn’t climb down from the cross and start attending church.
He couldn’t be known for years of good works.
His hands were nailed to a cross.
There was absolutely nothing he could do.
So he turned toward Jesus and said:
“Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” — Luke 23:42 KJV
And Jesus answered:
“Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” — Luke 23:43 KJV
The man suddenly understood.
The thief had nothing in his hands either.
But he had Christ.
And Christ was enough.
Then he remembered Nicodemus.
Nicodemus had been almost the opposite of the thief.
He was:
“a man of the Pharisees”
and:
“a ruler of the Jews.” — John 3:1 KJV
Jesus even called him:
“a master of Israel.” — John 3:10 KJV
Nicodemus had religion.
The thief had almost none.
Yet both men needed exactly the same thing.
Jesus Christ.
That was why Jesus had told this extraordinarily religious man:
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” — John 3:3 KJV
Suddenly the man began seeing his life differently.
His church couldn’t save him.
His religious leader couldn’t save him.
His ordinances couldn’t save him.
His good works couldn’t save him.
Even his own righteousness couldn’t save him.
There was only One who could.
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” — 1 Timothy 2:5 KJV
One mediator.
Not two.
Not Christ plus another man.
Not Christ plus an institution.
Not Christ plus his accomplishments.
Jesus Christ.
Then, in his dream, the man imagined placing everything he had trusted throughout his life onto a table.
First he placed his church membership there.
Then his religious accomplishments.
Then his ordinances.
Then his years of service.
Then his good deeds.
Then the religious leaders he had trusted.
One by one, he removed them from the foundation of his salvation.
Finally there was nothing left.
Except Jesus.
For a moment that frightened him.
Then it gave him a peace he had never experienced before.
Because he remembered the words spoken from the cross:
“It is finished.” — John 19:30 KJV
Finished.
Jesus hadn’t said:
“I have done most of it.”
He hadn’t said:
“I have completed My portion; now finish yours.”
He said:
“It is finished.”
And Scripture explained:
“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” — Hebrews 10:10 KJV
The man finally understood what complete confidence in Christ felt like.
It wasn’t confidence that he had done enough.
It was confidence that Jesus had done enough.
It wasn’t confidence in his ability to hold onto Christ.
It was confidence in Christ’s ability to hold onto him.
Paul had said:
“I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” — 2 Timothy 1:12 KJV
The man noticed something beautiful.
Paul didn’t say:
I know what church I have believed.
He said:
“I know WHOM I have believed.”
The man awakened from his dream.
Nothing outside his bedroom had changed.
The same church buildings still stood.
Religious leaders still preached.
People still debated doctrines.
People still argued about which religion was correct.
But something inside him had changed.
For perhaps the first time in his life, he could answer one question without hesitation:
“What are you trusting to get you into heaven?”
His answer was no longer complicated.
Jesus Christ.
Not Jesus plus his church.
Not Jesus plus his works.
Not Jesus plus his ordinances.
Not Jesus plus a religious leader.
Not Jesus plus his own righteousness.
Just Jesus Christ.
And suddenly he understood why Scripture says:
“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” — Psalm 118:8 KJV
There may come a day when everything else we have trusted is taken away.
Our possessions will remain here.
Our titles will disappear.
Our accomplishments will become history.
Our religious leaders will not stand in our place.
And our churches cannot answer for us.
Ultimately, each of us must come to Jesus Christ ourselves.
Perhaps the most important question isn’t:
“What religion do you belong to?”
Or:
“How many good things have you done?”
Perhaps the question is much simpler:
“Where is your confidence?”
If everything else were removed today—your church, your works, your ordinances, your accomplishments, your reputation and every person you have ever trusted—
would Jesus Christ alone be enough?
The Gospel gives a wonderfully simple answer:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” — John 6:47 KJV
Empty hands are not something to fear when those hands are reaching toward Christ.
Our confidence is not that we are enough.
Our confidence is that Jesus Christ is.
If you haven’t already, I invite you to become, “Born Again” as Christ so beautifully taught in the New Testament.
Jesus made being born again simple, personal, and beautiful. He explained how: “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15).
And then came perhaps the clearest invitation of all: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
To be born again is to come to Jesus Christ in faith—recognizing that we are sinners and cannot save ourselves, believing in Him and His atoning sacrifice, and receiving the everlasting life only He can give.
The atonement of Jesus Christ was offered for all mankind, but because of our free agency, we must choose to accept the gift that Christ is offering, or simply reject or not care about this priceless gift.
We don’t earn the new birth; we receive it by faith. Jesus said it beautifully: “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47 KJV).
Where does your spiritual confidence rest? If it is not 100% in Jesus Christ, I invite you to consider becoming Born Again. He is all that is necessary for you to join Him in heaven. It is up to us to have belief in Him and His atonement through the faith that we have. Do you have faith, and place all of your spiritual confidence in Him, or is it diluted by thinking that it involves your church, religious ordinances, and your good works?
Matthew 7:21–23 KJV:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven…
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
We are talking about Heaven. The consequences of getting this wrong are startling. I invite you to go to God with any of your questions that you might have regarding this matter. Let Him be the one to confirm all truth. Please do not let deception win regarding this important truth.
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