John 3: There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God….16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
Romans 3:
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Nicodemus was one of the Pharisees (a leader among the Jewish Sanhedrin). He knew the law and had spent a lifetime trying to keep the law to the best of his ability; yet, he came to Jesus in the dark of the night seeking to know if this was the Messiah. Jesus did not tell him to go out and continue to keep the law and he would gain God’s favor. Jesus instead tells him that the only way to salvation is to believe in the only begotten Son of God who came to die so that the penalty for all of mankind’s sin might be covered once and for all. Condemnation is to them who do not believe that Christ is the Son of God, the only way of salvation. Let’s say that you were in debt to someone for $1,000,000.00 and you could never pay that debt. They send their son to you who says "I will sacrifice all that I have and pay your debt in full, the only thing I want in return is that you believe in who I am and that you accept my gift" The choice is yours. We can never be righteous enough to present ourselves to a Holy and Righteous God. The more we know of His Righteousness, the more we see how depraved we really are. The law could never justify us before God, it can only reveal the truth of our guilt. So for those who think themselves righteous, I pray that the light of God’s Glorious Righteousness so shine into your heart that you see the truth that you need a Savior to stand before God.
And what about you who know all too well how unworthy you are? You hope to "clean up your life" to make yourself worthy to come to the altar of God and ask God’s forgiveness. The truth is, come as you are and lay all your sin at the cross of Jesus; believing and knowing that He has paid the price. He will save you and He will begin the work of "cleaning you up" and grooming you by the work of the Holy Spirit so that you will one day look like the Prince or Princess you were meant to be.