The Bible says that do not just commit sins, but we are by nature sinners (Romans 5:8), helpless (Romans 5:6), and enemies of the God (Romans 5:10). Isaiah says that mankind is estranged from God (Isaiah 1:4). Because he is a holy God, he is not able to meet with us on our terms.
And that is why God took on human flesh to be the go-between for man and God. Jesus is our mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). But that does not only mean that he pleads for us, that means that God accepts us through Christ. The Bible is very clear that we are accepted as we are in Christ. For instance, Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ.” Other examples are in these verses: Romans 6:1-11, Ephesians 1:3-14, Philippians 3:7-11, Colossians 3:1-4, to name a few.
So, what that means is that God could not just accept me as I am. If he did that, he would not be dealing with my sin seriously, which is an infinite offense to his glory (Romans 3:23). This does not mean that we have to clean our lives up before we come to Christ. It is precisely the opposite: we are to come to Christ as we are because it is only in Christ that we can have a right standing before God. His righteousness is our righteousness. His holiness is our holiness. His death over sin is our death over sin.
To put it differently, Jesus does not just provide our right standing before God, he is it. Our hope is found in him alone.
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