Meet Matt McGann

If God asked you why He should let you into heaven, how would you answer? My answer looked totally different five years ago.

I identified as a “Christian” growing up, but I thought faith was based on doing good things so that God would be pleased with me. I went to church and Sunday School every week, said my prayers, and even played in the band during our youth service. My desire to measure up manifested in the way I chased after approval from those around me, whether it be classmates, teachers, or colleagues. Before long, I became exhausted and anxious to the point of feeling paralyzed. A perpetual worry and stress came from my inaccurate view of salvation—a view that completely contradicts what God tells us in today’s passage.

I learned there’s no way that I could ever be good enough on my own, as “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Because we all have sinned and fall short of God’s standard of perfection, the first half of Romans 6:23 tell us that the payment, or the “wage," we deserve for our sin is death, which in this context means an eternal separation from God.

That may seem like bad news, but it’s not the end of the story! The second half of the verse reads, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There’s nothing that we can do to earn a right standing with God, but His gift of salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection is free; there’s nothing that we have to do to earn it! We just have to accept this gracious gift. And the result is eternal life—life with Christ both now and eternally.

As I understood this truth, I felt the waves of anxiety start to diminish. I didn't have to be afraid of rejection from those around me because nothing could change God’s love for me. I still struggle with sin, such as people-pleasing, but because of the freedom I have experienced through what Jesus did on the cross, my shortcomings no longer define me, and the Lord is changing me into His image.

Eternal life begins the moment you trust in Christ, and it never ends. It is the richness of a walk with Christ now, and the glorious certainty of being with Him forever.