Taking the credit.

Growing up as a kid, I was very into the anime Dragon Ball Z. I would pretend that I was a Z Fighter and fight evil people to save the earth with my brother, sister, cousins, or whoever. We imagined that we could fly, shoot kamehameha waves, use instant transmission, and all that good stuff. As much as I loved the anime there was one character in Dragon Ball Z that totally would just annoy me like crazy. That character was Hercule Satan, aka Mr. Satan... the reason why I didn't like him wasn't because his last name was Satan though haha . But every time there was a Hercule scene, I remember getting irritated by him haha. Especially during the Cell Games, I remember him boasting in himself and hyping himself up, but when it actually came down to fighting he didn't do anything but hide behind a rock and such. Then once Gohan finally defeated Cell, Hercule took the credit for the defeat of Cell. Messed up, right?

Whenever any of us think we do anything worthy of God's forgiveness and justification from God, we, in a sense become a Hercule ourselves. The idea of thinking that our own works are able to save us from God's wrath is the idea of legalism. When a person believes that by going to church every Sunday, to bible study every Friday, serving in a church, and prays every night, will get them to Heaven after they die is totally incorrect. That kind of thinking totally throws away the truth about Jesus Christ's work on the cross. C.J. Mahaney says his book Living the Cross Centered Life, "The implications are staggering, because legalism claims in essence that the death of Jesus on the cross was either unnecessary or insufficient."

If our actions and works were able to grant us salvation, then what would be the purpose of the work of Christ on the cross? That's the thing, our actions and works CAN'T save us, why? Because we are all sinners, and due to the fact that we're all sinners we're already condemned to God's wrath. So what makes you think that anything we do, would get us out of it? The only One who could save us would be someone who was perfect and committed no sin. And guess what? This perfect One did indeed save us by dying on the cross for the sins of those whom God predestined.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

When we think that we can save ourselves from God's wrath and get ourselves into Heaven, we put ourselves up there with Christ or even higher. What would make you think that you can even compare yourselves to Jesus Christ! who, though He (Jesus Christ) was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. - Philippians 2:6-9
How can any man be considered equal or even higher than God. We haven't done or will do anything greater than the work of Jesus Christ!

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9

Scripture makes it clear that we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, not works!
God's plan of salvation by the sacrifice of Christ alone saved us. So He alone deserves the glory. When people think that their own works saves them from eternal damnation they are giving the glory to themselves rather than to God, who in Christ defeated sin, just like Hercule in Dragon Ball Z who took the glory from Gohan who defeated Cell. Man, I don't know about you guys but ich bin nicht eine Hercule!

My prayer for you, my dear reader is that you can come to believe the truth, that God in Christ did something you, nor I, nor anybody else could ever do, He paid the price for our sin. And have faith in His Son Jesus Chirst and repent of your sins!