Man, inspite of all his education, sophistication, finery, civilization and technology, needs salvation. He was born in sin and cannot get communion or fellowship with God, nor go to Heaven when he dies. He has to gain salvation from the sin nature. Religion cannot save him from this sin. Organized religion is just a plethora of laws , rules and the sayings of prophets which have no power to save man from sin, for the very reason that no man can ever obey these rules and laws nor have these rules and laws made man a good person .“The imagination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth, (Genesis 8:21 instructs us . Man was born with the nature of sin in him and will only do evil perpetually. Yet this was not the case when God created man. According to the Bible, Adam , the first man, was created in the image of God ( Genesis 1 : 26). Since he was created in the image of God, he was imbued with true knowledge, righteousness and holiness ( Genesis 1: 31; Ecclesiates 7: 29; Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4: 24). By nature, Adam was good .The spiritual and ethical capacity was inside him to obey God. But Adam was told by God not to eat the forbidden fruit and if he did, he will surely die (Genesis 2 : 17). We all know the story. Adam disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit (Read the whole of Genesis 3 ).
The consequence of this disobedience was that the sin nature entered Adam and he fell from his position of righteousness and could no longer commune or fellowship with God . Adam ‘s nature from spirit to soul became defiled by sin. This sin nature was passed on to all men. According to Romans 5 :12, Sin entered the world through one man, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. And Romans 3: 23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The psalmist laments : “ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5). He also gives a graphic description of man in his fallen state :“The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born speaking lies” (Ps. 58:3).
Also, there is a penalty for sin and Romans 6 : 23 tells us that the wages of sin is death -Man who could have lived forever would now die and not only that he is also now spiritually dead and can no longer commune with God or enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Man has dabbled in all kinds of spiritual exercises to purge himself from sin. He has engaged in transcendental meditation and tried all kinds of religious rites and pilgrimages to become good, but the result has always been a disaster. Man cannot become good or rid himself of sin by his own will or religious rites and pilgrimages . The Bible says that “…. there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Eccl. 7:20). Man was lost and his only destiny was death and after that suffering in the Lake of Fire forever and ever.
But God is very good.His whole nature is goodness and he loves his creation. God loves man and is very merciful to him. Because of this, God found a way for man to gain salvation from Sin and his fallen nature and spiritual incapacity to commune with Him. 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 ( John 3: 16 ) . He sent Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross so that by his death man would be saved. John 1 : 29 describes Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. And Jesus Christ himself declares in John 14: 6 ” I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Yes , indeed, Jesus Christ is the only way provided by God for man to be saved from Sin, become the righteousness of God , be reconciled to God and enter the Kingdom of Heaven after death. People can argue and fight all they want but the Bible shows only one way for salvation and that is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Man has to be born again through Jesus Christ .
Jesus Christ himself tells us about man’s need for this new birth : “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:1-7).
THE PREACHER
Man is born again and saved by the grace of God. Man cannot buy salvation by money or a multiplicity of religious observances, rites and pilgrimages. Man is saved only by grace through Christ. Your own good works , your diligent and frenzied preoccupation with religious rites and education cannot save you and get you to Heaven. Only Jesus Christ can do it for you. Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches us that, “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.” This explains why it is so foolish for mortal man to boast about his own spirituality or godliness . There is no spirituality , goodness of man or godliness outside Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who saves us by the grace of God and infills us with the Holy Spirit through whom we can then obey God, commune with him and be fit to enter the Kingdom of God by faith.
Romans 10 : 9 instructs us about how to be saved : “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and believe in the redemptive work wrought on the Cross of Calvary . Pray and believe and the Holy Spirit shall come and reside in you and you will become the Child of God and will never be the same again.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU FOR LISTENING TO THE WORD OF GOD AND MAKING IT BECOME REAL IN YOUR LIFE.
Leave a Reply