Jesus is Enough

We live in a culture of more. People chase after more money. They want more stuff. More fame. More health. More power. More. More. More. And if you get more, it’s still not enough.

The Emptiness of More

Many seek more through religion. They take pride in their lineage. They emphasize their obedience to the commandments or rituals. They point to their rank. To gain God’s blessings and favor more, they unwittingly hop on a hamster wheel where there’s always more for them to do. This results in either slavery to pride when they succeed or bondage to despair when they fail. The work is never finished.

This inevitably leads to “It’s never enough” or “I am not enough.”

The apostle Paul had the lineage, the ritual, and the rank as a Pharisee. Humanly speaking, there was plenty he could brag about. But he didn’t. Instead, he describes his own righteousness as “dung” (Philippians 3:8). Isaiah describes the best human efforts as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). The Bible repeatedly describes human righteousness in repulsive terms.

If you feel empty, wanting more, you’re looking in the wrong place. You’re hoping to discover in yourself what can only be found in Christ alone.

Only Jesus is Enough

There is only one who is enough—Jesus! He lived perfectly as our substitute, in our place. Sinners and outcasts who could never live up to the impossible demands of the day were made whole in him. He does the same for us today.

Paul shared how he wants:

“[T]o be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

Philippians 3:9

Paul teaches us that having enough, being enough, is never found in our obedience to the commandments (“the law”). It’s found when we trust that Jesus already obeyed the commandments perfectly in our place and, through faith, he gives you the credit. From the cross, Jesus cried out: “It is finished” (John 19:30), literally “paid in full.” Heavenly Father accepted his payment on your behalf. Christ’s perfect record is enough. When you stand on his perfect record, you are enough.

Don’t Poison Perfection

“That’s too simple.” “There has to be more.” Restless hearts insist on adding to Christ’s completed work. Some believe, “God won’t accept me unless I do my part.” Don’t buy the lie!

See Also: The Standard of Perfection

The implication is that Christ is not enough.

This is the greatest sin imaginable. Insisting you must do your part rejects God’s complete and perfect payment for you. It is unbelief and punishable by hell itself.

If you could win righteousness by obedience, then Christ died for nothing (Galatians 2:21). Any attempt to add your own efforts results in rejecting Christ’s saving work (Galatians 5:4). You either stand on grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), or you will have to stand on your own works alone because the two cannot—will not—be mixed (Romans 11:6).

See Also: What is the Purpose of God’s Law?

No Need for More

If you’re looking for more, take another look at Jesus. Be ready for more than a surface glance. This requires a deep dive. If you’re still looking to Christ for what he can give you, you’re missing all that he is.

“He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

Colossians 1:18

Preeminence. He’s the top. There’s nothing else to gain. There’s nothing more to get. The end, the goal, what it’s all about, is found in Jesus alone. Through a faith relationship, you are found in him, and you realize Jesus is enough.

Trusting in Jesus doesn’t guarantee more. He never promised everything would go right (John 16:33). What he does promise is that he is enough. Jesus is all that you need.

Jesus is Enough!

You may pursue wealth. You may receive it. You may not. Either way, Jesus is enough.

You may pursue health. You may find it. You may not. Either way, Jesus is enough.

“As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”

2 Corinthians 6:10

If you’re still in pursuit of more or you insist there is more you must do, you may think you know Jesus, but you don’t yet have a saving faith relationship in his name. However, when you, like Paul, disavow your own efforts and lose yourself in Christ, you discover it’s not what Jesus gets you. It’s who he is. He is preeminent, top of the chain. There’s nothing else to want. There’s nothing else to pursue. You have all you could ever ask for. Jesus is enough.