John 15:5; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10-17

John 15:5
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing

Isaiah 64:6
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Romans 3:10-17
10As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."[c]
13"Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit."[d]
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."[e]
14"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."[f]
15"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know."[g]
18"There is no fear of God before their eyes."[h]

Does God believe in you? Would it surprise you if I were to say that He does not in the least bit? That does not sound very encouraging, but it is true, there are plenty of His Words throughout the Bible that restate the "apart from me you can do nothing" concept again and again.

But with that in mind, think now about the first part of John 15:5. How much power must there be in our Savior, if we, who have no value to God apart from Him, can "do all things" when we do believe in Him? The next time you feel like a failure, accept that you are one, then look to Jesus, and know that He did not fail, and that when He is the object of your life you cannot either. The next time you feel like a coward, accept that you are one, then look to Jesus, and know that He did not back down in the face of adversity, and that when He is the object of your life you will not either. The next time you feel discouraged, know that Jesus believed in His Father's plan despite many causes for doubt, and know that kind of faith is yours too, when you look to Him for reassurance.

Put another way, our Savior's life and subsequent sacrifice is so potent, so perfect, so pure, that even someone who can do nothing good, someone who has continually thought only evil, someone whose best works accumulated over his entire life could only be traded for a soiled feminine napkin, can be made perfect just by believing in Him. In our limited understanding, we may think we do not fit in these categories apart from Him, but if we believe the Bible we must accept that we do. Once we do that, our eyes become open for the first time to Jesus's full person and not only what He means to us, but the full extent of who He is and what He has done.