We continue our series on 'Core Christianity: 15 essential doctrines of the Christian Faith, and how they change our daily life.' We've reached the 8th message in this series, and it's on how Salvation is actually accomplished. If I was very kind to an elderly woman in the parking lot of Walmart... really went out of my way to help her load her groceries into her car and then returned her shopping cart for her - but then I went in and robbed the Walmart, I would still go to jail. Even if I believed my good deed should cancel out my crime, the Law doesn't work that way. Since the Bible tells us that God is a perfectly just, holy, and fair God... and that Heaven is place of perfect righteousness... those of us who aren't perfect are in big trouble! As Jesus Himself warned us, "except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). If even the hyper-religious scribes and Pharisees weren't good enough at keeping the law to go to Heaven - how can any of us hope to be righteous enough? In Romans chapter 4 we get the most detailed, clear, and logical explanation of the Christian doctrine of Salvation: how true righteousness is provided by God's grace and received by Faith in Jesus Christ. It's beautiful and powerful and life changing. And it doesn't just change our lives when we get saved! These truths continue to change our lives and shape the way we live each day.