Salvation is a Free Gift!
Salvation is a free gift of God, but we must receive it His way and not our way. It was by the sin of Adam and Eve that death entered into the world and whereby we all became sinners. We do not see sin in the same light that God does, for He sees the horrible suffering and death that it has caused; He sees the reality of what sin is and what it does. For a moment let’s reflect on the consequences of Sin.
Go to a graveyard and there is the result of sin! Sin produces wages. We can compare sin to a forty hour work week. For putting in these forty hours we receive wages which we use to pay our bills, and to have some extra for the frills of life. Just the same we receive wages for sin. Not just the sins which we commit, but the imputation of sin (Our old sinful nature) from our original parents, Adam and Eve.
Romans 6:23a; “For the wages of sin is death” and scripture tells us in Romans 3:23; “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” If we look at our lives we can easily see that we are sinful creatures. Daily we all struggle with anger, pride, hate, evil thoughts, jealousy, honesty or some other qualities that are not proper. Sin actually means missing the mark. We miss the mark of the righteousness of God and we can do nothing in ourselves to have that righteous, whether it be from not having a desire to be as righteous as God or the simple fact that we cannot on our own gain that righteous.
Physical death is not the only wages of sin. Drug addiction, murders, lying, hatred, rebellion, broken marriages and all the heartache which sin brings into the world are not the worst of these wages. The most horrifying is the one which we cannot see, spiritual death. It is separation from the Creator God, from Jesus Christ who created us and all the planets and stars. He holds everything together by His limitless power. But the worst wages of sin beyond all others is that we will be eternally separated from God and cast into the Lake of Fire where we spend all of eternity.
The Lake of Fire was made for satan and his angels. Man was never meant to enter into the Lake of Fire. But sin came into the world and we are all sinners, all enemies to God. Since no sin or unrighteousness can stand in the presence of God and God cannot abide sin, those who have not attained the righteousness of God when they physically die will have only one place in which to spend eternity; “The Lake of Fire”.
But there is a way to escape and what better time than this Easter season to do this. Romans 5:8; But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. Sin came into the world by one man Adam; Romans 5:17; “Therefore as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation…”. Sin came into the world by one man, but righteousness comes by Jesus Christ to all who place their faith in Him. John 1:29; “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world”.
How did Christ take away the sins of the world; Romans 5:10; “For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son”, and Romans 8:32; “God spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all….”. Christ shed His perfect Holy, Righteous blood on the cross of Calvary, and in so doing paid the sin debt for all of humanity. His blood paid the price for us all; Hebrews 10:4, 14; “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins…14.For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” and in II Corinthians 5:21; “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him”. Romans 5:17b; “even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life”.
Christ shed His blood on the Cross of Calvary and paid for the sins of the world, so you and I would not have to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire, separated from our Lord. Christ died for us and paid our sin debt, paid the penalty we owed, but how do we obtain this righteousness. John 3:16; 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” and in I John 2:2; “And He is the propitiation (Atonement or payment) for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world”.
How do we come by this salvation? Acts 4:12;”Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” and John 14:6; “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”
There is only one way to salvation, and that is by placing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who paid our sin debt. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9; “if thou shalt confess with thou mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead thou shalt be saved.”
How can we know that He will raise us from the dead? John 24:4b, 5, 6; “Two men (angels)stood by them in shining garments: 5b “they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how He spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7 saying the Son of man must be delivered unto the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”
Christ was raised from the dead and now sets on the right hand of God the Father, promising all those who place their faith in Him He will save and will raise again. For Scripture tells us that “absent from the body present with the Lord.” This is His promise, place your faith in Him and He will save you and take you to where He is. This is a promise from God and He cannot lie.
So if you have never taken Christ as your savior do so now because the truth is we are always only one heartbeat from eternity, for now is the day of salvation. Praise God for He only is worthy!