Growing up, my natural reasoning led me to believe that sin was the category for all of the bad things I did and good was the grouping for all of the decent things. My rationale was that I needed to keep the scale tipped in favor of the good side so that my worthy deeds outnumbered the evil ones. The more respectable things I did, the odds of my being in favor with God increased. I was deeply offended when I learned that all of my righteousness was like filthy rags. That reasoning totally destroyed my false presupposition. However, when I learned that Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead so that I didn’t have to keep up with that impossible deception, a great burden was lifted off from me and I was liberated when I believed the good news. Now I understand that my responsibility is to surrender my life to the Lord, every moment of every hour of every day. When I do that and walk in His light, I have incredible fellowship with Him and others who are doing likewise.
"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."
Isaiah 64:6
"When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."
Titus 3:4-7