Vocalist: Elaine Guthals
Pianist: Chris Vieth
“Everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence” (Rom. 3: 23 GNT).
What some people don’t understand is we are not talking about the do’s and don’ts here. Yes, those do play into sin. But ultimately, we are talking about knowing God as our Lord and King.
We start out not knowing God. Adam and Eve committed the original sin, which destroyed our relationship with God. That makes us sinners. There is no way around that.
Everyone is a sinner. Luckily, it doesn’t have to stay that way.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6: 23 HCSB).
Most of us are familiar with wages. We put in our 40 hours a week on a full-time job, and when the time is right, we earn a paycheck.
We can’t earn eternal life. We may have a heart of gold, that doesn’t earn salvation. We may be kind, compassionate, loyal, conscientious— a seemingly perfect human being. That doesn’t get us eternal life. We may give our time and money to any one or all of the wonderful, needed Save the Kids, Save the Animals, Save the World groups. That won’t save us.
Because we are sinners, we earn death. The sin of not knowing God earns us death as the consequence. That is what we are going to be judged on at the end of time.
But God wants us to turn that death into eternal life. The way He does that is through the gift of His Son Jesus.
“But God has shown us how much he loves us -- it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!” (Rom. 5: 8 HCSB).
If this gift doesn’t prove to us that God loves us, nothing will! No, we don’t understand it. That is because God’s ways are not our ways (Is. 55: 8-9). It doesn’t matter if we champion Big Bang or creationism or a combination of the two. It matters that we believe it was God who did it. It matters that we believe God loves us so much, He wants to reestablish he relationship broken by sin. We don’t have to clean up first. We don’t have to read a lot of self-help books, go to the psychiatrist, or do a full-out cleansing program. Jesus Christ paid the price to redeem us from our sin when we didn’t deserve it. Our relationship with God can only be restored by believe in Him and asking Him to be our Lord and Savior.
“If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Rom. 10: 9-10 NIV).
We don’t believe with our minds. We have to put our understanding aside. It isn’t about us.
It is about God and what He did for us through His Son Jesus.
We believe with our hearts. We have to step out in faith even though we don’t have all the answers.
But we can’t keep this faith to ourselves.
“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Rom. 10: 13 ESV).
Joel 2:32 says, “And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said” (NKJV). This was written long before Jesus was sent to be born on this earth.
Notice it says everyone. Not just people with certain characteristics. Not people who have cleaned up their acts.
There is only one qualification. They have to call upon the name of the Lord. They have to use their own free will to freely choose to serve God.
Then the sin debt that was paid through Jesus’ death and resurrection will be extended to them.
If you feel the Holy Spirit nudging you to take that step, think about praying a prayer similar to this:
Loving Heavenly Father. I admit that I am a sinner. Up to now, I have followed the call of this world. I believe that You sent Your Son Jesus to live on this earth, die on the cross, and be raised to life again so that my spiritual death could be changed to everlasting life. I don’t understand how You did it all, but I don’t have to. I want a relationship with You. Fill me now with Your love and Your mercy. Equip me to live my life to be the person You would have me be. Help me find like-minded believers to learn more of You. Most of all, help me find You through Your Word and communication with You. Thank You, Lord, for saving me. Amen.
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