Whether it’s grading films, evaluating staff, or being evaluated by a superior, we’re all familiar with some standard of measurement—systems by which we determine how things are going. God has a system too. His system is called the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20. If we have broken even one of these commandments, the Bible says we’re guilty of breaking them all (Jms 2:10).

The verse above relates that we are all in the same spot in relation to God’s measuring device. We’ve all gone astray. Scripture says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rm 3:23), and that “the wages of sin is death” (Rm 6:23a). This sounds like a no-win situation; but, thankfully, the scene doesn’t end there. The Lord has laid our sins—our failed evaluations—on Christ, who payed their penalty on the cross. “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God” (1 Pt 3:18), and “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rm 6:23b).

But these truths mean nothing as long as we’re still trying to work hard enough on our own to get a good evaluation. If we could do that, then Christ died for nothing (Gl 2:21). Instead, by faith we must come to Christ and ask Him to forgive us based on His merits, by way of His cross and resurrection, and invite Him to come into our lives and be our Lord and Savior. “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8–9).