Perfection Realized

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. James 2:10

D.L. MOODY
The Ten Commandments are not ten different laws; they are one law. If I am being held up in the air by a chain with ten links and I break one of them, down I come just as surely as if I broke the whole ten. If I am forbidden to go out of an enclosure, it makes no difference at what point I break through the fence. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” The golden chain of obedience is broken if one link is missing.

ERWIN LUTZER
This statement from James indicts all of us. It shatters every deception of self-righteousness and humbles all of us who think we are better than others. True, it is better to be a decent citizen than a criminal, but we all stand in need of abundant grace. We are all guilty of breaking all of the commandments. 
Our problem? Nobody can get to heaven unless he is as perfect as God. No one understood this better than Martin Luther who spent hours in confession, trying to make sure that each sin he had committed was forgiven. But then he saw the answer to his quest: we receive the righteousness of Christ by faith. 
As we sing; 
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
To break one commandment is to break them all; but Christ fulfilled the law perfectly and we receive His righteous obedience and sacrifice.

PRAYER
Father, thank you for Jesus, who took my sin on the cross and gave me His righteousness, so that you now see me as perfect in Him.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How does the law expose our need for a Savior?

Are you relying on your own goodness, or on Christ's perfect righteousness?