Main Idea: It is beyond our spiritual capacity to be good enough to be saved.
Illustration: Imagine a billionaire offered a prize of one million dollars for anyone who could swim from Los Angeles to the islands of Hawaii. At the starting line are many different kinds of people. Some are Olympic swimmers who have won a gold medal for swimming. Others are beginning swimmers who can barely stay afloat. The starting pistol is fired and everyone jumps into the ocean at the same time. What do you think will happen to all the people in the contest? They will all drown, regardless of how good they are at swimming. No human has the physical capacity to swim 2,500 miles to Hawaii. In the same way, it is beyond our spiritual capacity to be good enough to be saved. It is impossible for our good effort to get us into heaven. Jesus is like the boat captain who rescues the drowning swimmer and takes him to where his own efforts could not carry him.
