As I understand it, every religion in the world, past or present, bases the success, or worth, of the people following it, on their performance. The followers are successful by following a proscribed set of rules, or principles.
Every religion, but Christianity, that is. In Christianity, a follower's success, or worth, is based on what one, specific, other person did. Followers accept, receive, rely on, trust, and rest in the results of what that other person did. From one point of view, it does not matter what any person does, before or after, because it does not affect the person's success, or worth.
(1) Everything, ultimately, and completely, depends on what that one person did.
(2) There is nothing we could have done to achieve success. And if it depended on our effort to keep, or maintain, the success, or worth, achieved for us, we would have lost it on the first day.
We cannot now, nor in the future, of this life, act, speak, think, or feel, in a way that will achieve the goal, or keep the goal, of right standing with God.
This does not mean God does not care how we act, speak, think, or feel. Because he does.
As we have said in the past: God designed humanity to live a particular lifestyle. This lifestyle leads to right standing, his favor, and optimal living. God has also designed each person for a particular, unique niche in history. But the first people chose to move away form God, and that decision broke the world. The human ability to live in agreement with their design, and their unique niche, was broken.
So, how do we live? And how do we view ourselves?
On one hand, it does not matter how we live. We cannot live righteously. If we pursue following Jesus, we will be transformed. We may even grow to walk in some areas perfectly. But we will never be perfect.
Moreover, Jesus' work on the cross gives us our standing. We accept it. We rest in it. And, except in the possible case of rejecting Jesus, after we chose to give him our allegiance, our fate, and standing, are in his hands. And he is constant, and perfectly faithful.
On the other hand, it does matter how we live. God has chosen us to be his child, and part of his family. God has chosen to be with us, to listen to us, to speak to us, and to act for us. We represent him, and demonstrate who he is. All of the people, outside of God's family, learn who he is, and what he is like, by seeing how his family lives. And this "testimony" is more than just keeping the rules.
How we view ourselves in relationship to God is a more important question. Are we a servant? Or are we part of the family? Are we a pardoned wretch? Or are we a beloved son? Family is more important than the servants. A son is definitely more important than a wretch.
And what is most important is how God views us. Servant and wretch? Or family and son? Because God's view is the definition of reality. I am, your are, who God says we are. God's word is our identity.
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