How could I ever be lost?

I caught a phrase on an Internet radio broadcast this morning that caused me to pause and reflect. The gist of the comment was this - "If I focus on myself, I wonder how I could ever be saved; if I focus on Jesus, I wonder how I could ever be lost." (I missed the attribution, but I think they referenced Luther.)

In any event, it's an interesting contrast. If I look at myself, I can't help but wonder how I could ever be saved. Vile, wicked, sinner deserving of the full eternal wrath of God.

Contrast that thought with the fact that Jesus Christ took upon Himself the full wrath of God in my place when He suffered the forsaking of God upon the Cross. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" was His cry from the Cross when the Father turned His back upon the Son as He bore all the sin of the world. He rose again from the dead three days later proving that the propitiation (satisfactory payment) had occurred. He settled once for all the debt of our sin when he was separated from the Father in our place. Paul wrote in the sixth chapter of Romans, "For the wages (debt payment) of sin (separation from God) is death, but the free gift of God is Eternal Life." No wonder then that when I look upon the work of Jesus, I must wonder how I could ever be lost.

I am saved by Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone and I am kept safe by the same Grace.

The Home Run - An Illustration of Grace

An excellent story and illustration of grace and character...



Not Biblical, but worth sharing.

Ressurrection Sunday 2009!

Happy Resurrection Day!

 

I call it as I see it and being a salesman by vocation I like to present things as they are and let you make an educated decision to buy. (or not) Much like God leaves the decision of whether or not you will receive Jesus Christ as your personal savior up to you. The difference is that according to the Bible, you don't actually "buy" your way in to Heaven because Salvation is offered to you as a free gift!  You only need to make the decision to believe and receive the offer, or not. 

 

I made the decision to receive Christ as my Savior some 30 years ago on April 19, 1979. That Thursday night I placed my eternal destiny in the hands of Jesus Christ and gave up trying to "buy" my way to Heaven through the concept of somehow having something to offer God. The reality is that we are all sinners and cannot offer God anything. Heaven is a perfect place and God is a perfect being. Although we are fashioned in His image, yet through the fall of Adam, we bear all the inherent faults of this sin cursed world that have marred that perfect image. If He were to allow us in to Heaven with our sin upon us we would have the same mess there as we have here on this earth.

 

You see, it is our sin that separates us from a holy God. We can't get rid of that sin by "buying" God off through our good works. The Bible tells us that our best deeds are filthy rags in comparison to God's righteousness and holiness. His perfection and righteousness and holiness and justice demand that our sins be paid for before we can have fellowship with Him. He cannot/will not allow sin to dwell in His presence. So what are we to do if we can't "buy" our way into Heaven?

 

The answer is astonishingly simple. We can't do anything. Nor is there a need to do anything because God has provided the way through the shed blood of His son, Jesus Christ. He has bought us with His precious blood as a substitutionary payment for the penalty of our sins. The Judge became the Judgment. And the proof that the payment was satisfactory is the Resurrection! The resurrection is the big red stamp of God's "PAID IN FULL" on my account. Since Jesus paid for my sin, I don't have to. I only have to accept that fact that He did it. You only have to accept the fact that He paid for your sins in order to receive Eternal Life with God forever in Heaven. 

 

You may know the scripture found in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world (that's you and me, not the dirt) that He gave His only begotten Son (Jesus Christ) that whosoever believeth (trusts in, relies upon) in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."  Paul wrote the following in Ephesians 2:8, 9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." You see, I know I'm going to heaven because God has given it to me as a gift, not because of any good thing in me. If we were able to "buy" our way in through our good works, you know we would boast about it. We boast about every other purchase in our lives: the house, the car, the boat, the deal we cut on such and such; but when it is outright given to us free and clear, we have nothing to boast about!

 

I have nothing to boast about within myself; BUT I can boast of the glory of God in His provision of the free gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of His Son on that cross in my place. "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."  2 Corinthians 5:21  

 

He took my sin and gave me His righteousness. If I have the righteousness of God through Christ, my eternal destiny and fellowship with God is restored. As we saw from John, we can have that eternal life by simply placing our faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. Will you right now take a moment and tell God of your decision to receive His free gift? Or not.

 

How to be sure of going to Heaven.

This is the direct link if the video won't launch from here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q89MVinazDQ

You can learn more at the Victory in Grace website:

www.victoryingrace.org

Excellent Bible teaching resources!

Remiss Blogger

I've been *VERY* remiss in updating this blog site. Almost 18 months since my last post. Time to dust off the blog and start a new routine. Maybe make it a personal renewal in light of the Resurrection season. Jesus was crucified today (Thursday) some 1,965 +/- years ago. Sobering to think about it. I hope we all do think about it over the next three days. I love Ressurection Sunday. My favorite day of the year. God Bless and I'll be checking in more frequently this year. Already have compared to last year!