So … now what?

Door one

What just happened to you

You didn't turn over a new leaf. You didn't get put on probation. Something happened that you could never have done to yourself.

You became His righteousness

This is the one. If you get this, everything else follows.

Jesus, who had never sinned once, BECAME sin on that cross. Your sin. All of it. And in exchange you BECAME the righteousness of God. Not righteous-ish. Not righteous on your good weeks. His righteousness, credited to you, right now, while you're still figuring out how to pray.

You will never be more righteous than you are at this moment. Let that land!

You are holy and blameless, and you always were

Before the foundation of the world. Before you existed, before you blew it, before any of it. He already called you holy and blameless. That word alone has broken years of striving off people who spent their whole lives trying to earn an approval that was already theirs.

You're forgiven, and it's finished

At the cross Jesus wrote a blank check for every sin and every ounce of baggage you will ever carry. Past, present, and future. You don't have to carry it another day. You will still feel guilt sometimes. Guilt is a feeling. Forgiveness is a fact, and the fact doesn't move when the feeling does.

God is not disappointed in you

You did not earn your way in and you cannot fall out by being bad at this. He isn't tapping His foot waiting for you to get impressive. He's your Father, He's genuinely glad you're here, and He wants your affection way more than He wants your performance.

The Holy Spirit lives in you now

Not a feeling. Not a force. A Person! God Himself, with you, in you, closer than the people in the room. He'll comfort you, teach you, convict you kindly, and speak to you. Most of learning to walk with Jesus is learning to notice Him.

So walk like it

You're the righteous now. That's your name. Boldness isn't a personality type you were either born with or not, it's what comes out of a person who knows what they've been made.

You will still mess up

You will. Probably soon. When you do, don't hide and don't grovel. Turn back to Him and say so. That's it. Hiding is the only thing that actually costs you anything, because it's the one thing that keeps you from Him.

Door two

If you're still deciding

Nobody's going to pressure you here. You're allowed to take your time, ask hard questions, and stay skeptical while you look.

Sometimes praying feels like talking through a closed door

If that's you, you're not crazy and you're not the only one. All of us have sin and baggage in our lives, and it sits between us and God like a door nobody can open from this side.

So He opened it. On the cross, Jesus wrote a blank check to pay for all of it, every bit of sin and every ounce of baggage, so that you don't have to carry it any longer. You cannot earn your way into heaven or into God's approval. Nobody can, and that's the whole point.

Jesus is standing at the door of your heart, knocking, waiting on you to answer and accept the free gift of salvation and HIS righteousness. Not so you can start performing. So you can live a life enjoying God and advancing His kingdom every single day!

So here's the question

Would you like to trade your dirty rags of self righteousness in for His love and approval today? Would you like to be forgiven of all sin, past, present, and future, and step into a real relationship with God right now?

There are no magic words

There's nothing powerful about a particular sentence. But if you want words, here are honest ones. Say them slowly, and only if you mean them.

If you meant that, then everything in door one is now true about you. Go read it!

If you're not ready, do this instead

Try this, even if you're unconvinced. Get alone and say out loud, “God, if you're real, I want to know. Show me.” That's an honest prayer and He isn't offended by it. Then start reading the book of John, a little at a time, and watch what He does.