I hear that from a lot of folks. They say to me, �I just don�t feel the need for Christ.� As if Christianity were something that were packaged and sold through Madison Avenue! That what we�re trying to communicate to people is �Here�s something that�s going to make you feel good, and everybody needs a little of this in their closet or in their refrigerator,� as if it were some commodity that�s going to add a dash of happiness to our lives.
If the only reason a human being ever needed Jesus was to be happy and a person is already happy without Jesus, then they certainly don�t need Jesus. The New Testament indicates, however, that there�s another reason you or somebody else needs Jesus. There is a God who is altogether holy, who is perfectly just, and who declares that he is going to judge the world and hold every human being accountable for their life. As a perfectly holy and just God, he requires from each one of us a life of perfect obedience and of perfect justness. If there is such a God and if you have lived a life of perfect justness and obedience�that is, if you�re perfect � then you certainly don�t need Jesus. You don�t need a Savior because only unjust people have a problem.
The problem is simply this: If God is just and requires perfection from me and I come short of that perfection and he is going to deal with me according to justice, then I am looking at a future punishment at the hands of a holy God. If the only way I can escape punishment is through a Savior and if I want to escape that, then I need a Savior. Some people will say that we�re just trying to preach Jesus as a ticket out of hell, as a way to escape eternal punishment. That�s not the only reason I would commend Jesus to people, but that is one of the reasons.
I think that many people in today�s culture don�t really believe that God is going to hold them accountable for their lives�that God really does not require righteousness. When we take that view, we don�t feel the weight of the threat of judgment. If you�re not afraid to deal with God�s punishment, then be happy as a clam if you want. I would be living in terrible fear and trembling at the prospect of falling into the hands of a holy God.
