The
beautiful truth is God offers this salvation to everyone alive
today. But just as I went so long blinded to my sinfulness, too
many make the same error of thinking they are good enough to enter
Heaven or that God treats sin as lightly as we do. But that's not
what God says. To give us an idea of how good someone has to be to
get to Heaven, God gave us His law, particularly the Ten
Commandments. Let's take a look at some of them:
“Thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord
will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
(Exodus 20:7)
Have
you ever used the name of God or Jesus in a careless way or to
express shock? God said He will not hold anyone guiltless for using
His holy name that manner.
“Honour
thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
(Exodus 20:12)
Regardless
of what kind of parents you had, God commands us to honor them. To
dishonor them – even once – is rebellion, which God puts on the
shelf with witchcraft. (1 Samuel 15:23)
“Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment...” (Matthew 5:21-22)
“Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his
ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.” (Exodus
20:17)
This
commandment is addressing when we secretly desire what someone else
has. Coveting is a slap in the face of God, as it shows we are not
thankful for what He has given us. It also shows we value our
happiness over our neighbor, which breaks Jesus' command to love our
neighbor as ourselves. The New Testament further defines coveting as
idolatry, which breaks the first commandment of having no other gods.
(Colossians 3:5 and Exodus 20:3)
If
you answered yes to all the above then you are a rebellious,
coveting, blaspheming idolater in heart. And this is just six of
the Ten Commandments! Since you have pleaded guilty to breaking
God's law on multiple accounts God can only do what any good and just
judge would do. He is going to sentence you to the penalty these
crimes deserve which is death and eternity in Hell. (Psalm 9:17,
Psalm 55:15, Luke 16, Romans 5:12-21, Romans 6:23, Romans 7, James
1:15, 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).
But
instead of giving us our due, the divine Judge did an unthinkable
legal move to save us from ourselves. He sent His only begotten Son,
Jesus Christ, to become a man. Born to a Jewish woman, Jesus
would have been wholly acquainted with the Mosaic Law and what God
required of a man before He could be counted righteous. And He did
it! Jesus was the first human to live up to each of the Ten
Commandments and fulfilled them perfectly giving Him a spotless legal
record. But instead of using this innocence for Himself, Jesus
entered God's courtroom and asked to take our place on death row. He
traded His clean record for our criminal one. Jesus then bore our
death sentence by dying on the cross. God then proved His
satisfaction with Jesus' payment for our sin by raising Him from the
dead and crowning Him with victory over sin, death and Satan. Every
sin you and I have ever committed is able to be sealed in heaven's
court records as paid in full by the blood of Christ. But only if
we believe it. Just as a pardoned felon is not truly free until
he believes it enough to walk out of the courthouse a free man, so
Christ's payment for us doesn't free until we believe it enough to
walk out of sin's prison into God's arms. It's not accomplished
through any prayer we pray, or some religious ritual we preform, but
by calling on the name of the Lord.
“That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:15-18)
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:6-10)
God then gives us the assurance of our salvation by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts and guide and keep us in the way of the Lord.
For as many are lead by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” (Romans 8:14-16)
God is a perfect and holy God whose mercy is as sure as His justice. To those who refuse to believe on Christ, a real Hell awaits them for their rebellion against God. But to those who believe on the Son a new heart is given and they are changed from the sons of Satan to the sons of God. To walk with Christ is not a guarantee that trouble will never come. In fact, Jesus promised that how the world treated Him is how it will treat His followers. But to be free, oh, to be free from the angry and defilement that once stained my soul is worth anything I may have to suffer for Jesus. To know my sin has is gone and forgiven forever in the sight of God is the most wonderful thing in the world and I pray it is a world you will know as well!
Isn't it amazing how the walls that separate us from the love of Christ and eternal life are those of "our own making"? Thanks so much for sharing this? there is nothing life "God's amazing grace"!
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