The Kingdom of God Is Not a Meritocracy

We live in an age of relentless performance, even the redeemed can find themselves living as though the Kingdom of God were a meritocracy, an achievement-based system where worth is measured, acceptance is earned, and love is conditional. An age where metrics dominate our modern lives: productivity, visibility, progress, results, etc. It is not surprising, then, that many of the faithful unconsciously import these expectations into their spiritual lives.

Yet, the gospel announces something radically different. The Kingdom of God is not built on merit, but on mercy; not on performance, but on promise; not on human striving, but on the grace of the Father revealed in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus (Jn. 1:14–17). It is not a ladder of success to climb, but a gift received. And still, many born-again believers walk under a cloud of self-condemnation. Why?

Despite being justified by faith, countless disciples continue to mentally rehearse and revisit their failures, magnify their shortcomings, and measure themselves against impossible standards. We know the language of grace, yet live as if we were spiritual orphans: unsure, unworthy, and unaccepted (cf. Rom. 8:15).

Self-condemnation often sounds like:

“I should be further along by now.”
“God must be disappointed with me.”
“I keep messing up; maybe I’m not really saved.”
“Other Christians seem so much stronger than I am.”

These voices are not the conviction of the Holy Spirit, who convicts in order to heal and restore (Jn. 16:8). They are the echoes of a heart still learning to trust the Father’s love. There is a stream within modern Christian culture, subtle, often sincere, but spiritually suffocating, that mirrors the spirit of the Pharisees of old. It emphasizes rule-keeping and man-made tradition over relationship, performance over presence, behavior modification over heart transformation, and outward appearance over inward renewal (Matt. 23:25–28; cf. Mk. 7:13).

This spirit does not always deny grace outright; it dilutes it. It preaches salvation by grace, but continued acceptance by the Lord from self-effort. It celebrates the cross, yet burdens believers with ladders to climb. It produces disciples who are saved but exhausted, forgiven but fearful, redeemed but restless. Souls who have not yet experienced His rest.

When faith becomes a scorecard, failure becomes identity; and self-condemnation becomes inevitable. The cure for self-condemnation is not trying harder, doing better, or proving ourselves worthy. The answer is a return to, and wholehearted reliance upon, the gospel of grace. Not the gospel as a doorway we walked through once, but the gospel as the atmosphere we breathe daily. Not grace as theological category or abstraction, but grace as the Father’s heart revealed in Messiah. Not grace only intellectually understood, but grace received and lived.

Paul’s words dismantle every illusion of spiritual merit: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8–9).

Grace is not a reward for the worthy. Grace is not a wage for the hardworking. Grace is not a medal for the spiritually elite. Grace is a gift: unearned, undeserved, and freely given.

Faith, then, is not the work that earns grace; it is the open hand that receives it. Still, the flesh resists. The natural man wants contribution, control, and compensation. It asks, “What must I do to deserve this?” Grace replies, “Nothing. It has already been done” (Jn. 19:30).

If salvation begins with grace, continues by grace, and will be completed by grace (Gal. 3:2–3; Phil. 1:6), then self-condemnation has no rightful place in the believer’s life. To condemn yourself is not humility, it is a refusal to agree with God’s verdict. Still, grace is not an excuse or permission to sin, as Paul exhorts us, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Ro. 6:1-2).

In Pauline theology, the apostle emphasizes that those in Christ were created for good works, not saved by them: “For we are His workmanship, created in Messiah Yeshua for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Here the Lord’s order is unmistakable: grace first, then good works, never the reverse.

Good works are not the price of admission into the Kingdom; they are the fruit of belonging to and resting in it (Jn. 15:5). They are not a ladder we climb to reach God, but moments of good He has already prepared for our involvement. The Father does not demand productivity to earn His pleasure; He invites participation because we already have it.

Therefore, grace does not oppose the works He has prepared for us; it opposes earning. Grace empowers obedience by rooting it in identity rather than insecurity. Again, Paul writes, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11–14).

Further, Paul’s declaration is absolute: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus” (Ro. 8:1). Not less condemnation. Not delayed condemnation. No condemnation! If God does not condemn you, why should you condemn yourself?

Self-condemnation is not repentance; it is unbelief in disguise. It elevates our failures above the Lord’s forgiveness. It places us in the judgment seat that belongs to God alone. It treats the cross as insufficient and assumes our sin is stronger than His salvation (Heb. 10:14).

However, the gospel says otherwise.

Here we encounter a sobering truth: the flesh cannot fully understand or appreciate grace. Grace dismantles every system of self-justification, so the natural mind is persistent in resisting it (1 Cor. 2:14). But dear faithful, “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16).

This resistance often reveals itself in unforgiveness, toward others or toward ourselves. Yeshua/Jesus taught that those who are forgiven much, love much (Lk. 7:47). When forgiveness is withheld, it often signals a heart that has not yet rested in the depth of His grace received.

So self-condemnation will frequently masquerade as repentance, but in reality it is often a refusal to accept forgiveness. It insists on paying a debt God has already canceled (Col. 2:13–14). The Body of Christ must remember that walking in forgiveness is not minimizing sin; it is magnifying the cross. As we forgive, we testify that grace truly reigns (Matt. 18:21–35). Only as we walk in forgiveness do we begin to experience the heart of freedom grace was meant to bring.

The heart of the Kingdom is not merit, but love; a love patient with weakness, steadfast in mercy, and powerful enough to cast out fear (1 Jn. 4:18). A love that does not keep a record of wrongs (1 Cor. 13:5). A love that began before we were born, and will endure eternally (Jer. 31:3).

Dear reader, the Father’s love is not fragile or fickle. It is anchored in His character. You are loved because He is love. And in an act of unfathomable mercy, the Judge bore the judgment we deserved, placing it upon His Son (Isa. 53:5–6; 2 Cor. 5:21). By His grace He sees you not as you see yourself, but as one hidden in Christ. Conclusion: Living in a Kingdom of Grace

The Kingdom of God is not a meritocracy. It is a family.

A family where the Father delights in His children. A family where grace is the foundation, not performance. A family where condemnation has been silenced by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 12:11). A family where love, not merit, defines identity.

To every disciple of Messiah weighed down by self-condemnation: You are saved by grace. You are kept by grace. You are loved by grace. You are transformed by grace. You will be glorified by grace (Rom. 8:28–30).

The Lord did not save you because you deserved it, earned it, or merited it. Neither is the gospel a ladder for us to climb to success. It is a gift we have received, from start to finish, beginning to end. And in that gift, there is rest for your soul (Matt. 11:28–30), not condemnation. Grace glorifies the Lord; self-condemnation, while in Christ, glorifies the sin that He died to forgive.

Maranatha. Shalom.
Bp. Justin D. Elwell