"Indeed it is the straightedge of the Law that shows us how crooked we really are," (cf. Romans 3:20, Phillips). The law measures us, it doesn't save us!
The chief qualification, it is said, to enter heaven, is to admit or realize you are not qualified; to see how you fall short and are not self-righteous in your own eyes, justifying yourself or minimizing your sin. We all tend to justify ourselves. For we cannot know how sinful we are till we try to stop sinning, and we cannot stop sinning! Then we realize we are slaves to sin! You don't know your enslavement to sin till you try to give it up, and you have to give it up to realize your slavery. It's like the smoker that thinks he can overcome and kick the habit till he tries to do and realizes he cannot of his own willpower.
Salvation must be solely the gift of God, and not of our own works or merit thinking we deserve it because of what we've done in our own right. We are never good enough to be saved, but bad enough to need salvation. Gifting means grace and that's part of the formula of the Reformers: by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, by the authority of Scripture alone, and to God alone be the glory: the Five Only's (sola gratia, sola fide, soli Christo, sola Scriptura, soli Gloria Deo).
We must not add merit to grace, works to faith or tradition, or church authority to the rule of our faith--the Bible alone. And we must not pat ourselves on the back in congrats but give God sole glory. The summation of Reformed theology can be summed up in Jonah 2:9 saying, "Salvation is of the LORD." That means not of us and the Lord, nor of us alone, but of God alone! We didn't cooperate even just like at our first birth; therefore, it's called monergistic (one-sided), not synergistic (cooperative).
In salvation, we must confess and recognize our sin (nature) as well as our sins. This is hardly mentioned in churches today because it's such a killjoy word! We must be saved from what we are (in a state of sin and rebellion or depravity) and justified and forgiven for our sins (our transgressions). As believers, we must realize we are still sinners, though we are justified (cf. Gal. 2:17). We can never achieve entire sanctification or perfectionism (cf. Prov. 20:9) as some denominations teach but we can progress in our power over sin and not let any certain sin dominate us (cf. Psalm 119:133; 19:13; 18:23; Romans 6:14; 1 Cor.6:12) We are not to be controlled by any sin and to have power and victory over them and not let them have dominion over us. This can be a pet sin (cf. Heb. 12:1) or one that easily besets us and our secret sins. or we may be known by as the Bible says that for sure our sins "will find [us] out." (cf. Numbers 32:23).
In repentance, and we must realize that repentance and faith are linked (cf. Acts 20:21) and go hand in hand can be seen as the flipside of each other. There can be no genuine repentance without saving faith! Sometimes we may wonder if our faith is strong enough and not realize our repentance is not thorough enough. God doesn't make us righteous, not even in the eyes of the world, but reckons or considers us righteous--we are declared righteous. Our righteousness is completed in heaven only. Christians just recognize, acknowledge, and know their sins and are not blind to them like the infidel and we confess them and don't attempt to justify ourselves. But there is no condemnation for the believer in Christ, and he shall not come into judgment (cf. Romans 8:1; John 5:24).
Whenever we sin, we have an Advocate to make intercession (cf. Heb. 7:25). We have admitted our spiritual bankruptcy before God, emptied ourselves of our self-righteousness, and come clean with God with nothing to hide. We realize God doesn't grade on a curve and all are sinners and we are no better than others: We don't play the "let's compare game." (cf. 2 Cor. 10:12). We don't have any credentials to boast of but must plead the merits of the blood of Christ shed on our behalf.
Salvation goes to the lowest bidder as Paul saw himself as the "chief of sinners," and John Bunyan wrote his testimony in Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, not to the one with the highest spiritual pedigree or credentials or best resume: We have nothing to offer but brokenness and strife, a contrite and penitent heart. This is the catch-22: To be good we must realize how bad we are; to see how bad we are, we must try to be good.
Don't think of sins as God not wanting you to enjoy life and He's a cosmic killjoy spoiling it all, but God didn't design us for sin and He knows what's best for us emotionally and spiritually and for our own good--if we had our own way--and sin is doing your own thing and your way, not God's--then we'd surely mess up our lives and our souls; if God ever said, "Okay, have it your way!" we ruin it for ourselves and lose our happiness that is only possible through knowing Him as Augustine said, "Our souls are restless till they find their rest in God." Soli Deo Gloria!
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