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The Choice

When I left us last time, we were under a load of guilt and shame. We were covered with sin and under judgement. We saw that Jesus was the propitiation for our sin, the satisfaction that God accepts for the removal of our sin. The only satisfaction God accepts. So, now what? Now we are faced with a choice.

Either we accept that Jesus is enough and accept his work on the cross and find salvation. Or we reject his work and face eternal separation from God. These are our only two options. Jesus is the only way to remove our sin. In John 14: 6 Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father but by me.” This world will tell you that there are many paths to salvation and the world lies. There is only one. That path is through Jesus alone.

I do not want to alienate you at all, my friends, but I will not lie to you and risk losing you to an eternity separated from God. This world is cruel and violent. Of course you will hear there are many ways to salvation. Why would it tell you different? We are living when people are saying right is wrong and wrong is right. When people are killed for no reason. When people are filled with hate and call it justified. We will look to this world for answers and salvation? It doesn’t make sense, does it? Instead, we have a God who loves us so much that he sent his son into the world to die for our sins, to die in our place, so we can spend eternity with him. All we must do is accept it.

The choice is yours and mine. We each must decide what we will do considering this great salvation. We don’t have to wait until we are free from our addictions. We don’t have to wait until we have our family situations sorted. Let me tell you he already knows about them. There is nothing in your past or present that can prevent him from loving you. He is waiting to forgive and cleanse.

David was a man after God’s own heart. Yet, David was also a man filled with sin. In Psalm32:5 he writes:

I acknowledged my sin to You, And I did not hide my guilt; I said, “I will confess my wrongdoings to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.

David recognized the need to confess his sin and need of God. Confession is the act of admitting that we have sinned, of recognizing our sin. It is the first step toward repentance and forgiveness. We make our confession directly to God.

When we confess our sin and agree that we cannot pay the debt that is owed and accept that Jesus’s death on the cross was enough to pay our debt, something wonderful happens. We find it in 1 John 1:9:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

He has done all he can do. He will not violate your free will. Jesus paid the price. The debt is paid. The gift is yours. He made a way for you to be reconciled with him. It is not his desire for you to be separated from him.

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

Will you come to him today? What is your choice?

If you made the choice to accept Jesus and his gift of salvation, I would love to hear from you. Leave me a comment letting me know of your decision.

Angela

Posted on by Angela

The Price

September has always been a time of reflection for me. I look at September and reassess my year, what have I accomplished, what do I hope to accomplish in the coming year. I don’t exactly know why. I guess it was when school started and all the school supplies were out, it had the feeling of a new beginning. I don’t always accomplish my goals for the upcoming year, but I think it is good to evaluate and examine and think forward. I do the same thing in January, the actual start of the year. Yet my big review is September.

What does this have to do with anything you ask? Well, when I wrote the post on sin. It was a getting back to basics. Understanding sin is foundational to our lives. We need to know we have all sinned and we are all sinners. Now see this causes a problem, because once we realize the fact we must do something with it. People have tried many things throughout history to do something with their sin. Many tried by themselves through good deeds thinking that good deeds will outweigh the stain of sin. Others tried penance. The act of confessing to a priest, self-punishment, prayer, fasting, or other means. While these may have merit on their own, though I can’t see much value in self-punishment, they are not enough to cleanse from sin. Even the Jews had to have a day of atonement each year to remove their sin.

So, what is to be done with this debt of sin?  We cannot get rid of it on our own. The blood of animals cannot cover it. Our own efforts are not enough to wash it away. Well, it happens that God had a plan to wash away our sin from the start. God being righteous and holy cannot look on sin and do nothing. There must be a judgement. There must be a price paid. Paul wrote in Romans that the price for our sin is death (Rom 6:23).  Death not just physically, but eternally. It is a price we cannot pay. We cannot wipe away our debt with a confession to a priest. We cannot wipe it away with a few good deeds. God must judge sin, but there is hope.  

Psalm 103:10

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our guilty deeds.

God in his grace and mercy provided salvation for our debt. Paul finishes his statement in Romans 6:23 with, “but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Were it not for God’s grace none of us could be forgiven. It is only by his grace and mercy we can be set free in Jesus Christ.  God did not just create us and leave us to our own devices to figure things out. No, he loves us and wants to be involved in our lives. In other words, he wants a relationship with us. Our sin gets in the way of that relationship. Jesus stepped in as our sacrifice and carried our punishment so that the relationship between God and man could be restored.

2 Corinthians 5:21

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The writer of Hebrews also attests that,

“without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)

When Jesus died on the cross, he satisfied the debt of our sin. The judgment and wrath that was due was paid in full by the shedding of his blood. 1 John says it like this:

1 John 2:2

and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 4:10

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

There’s a word in there we don’t use often. The word propitiation. It refers to satisfaction or appeasement. In other words, Jesus is the satisfaction for our sins. He alone is the appeasement for our judgment. He alone can turn away God’s wrath for our debt of sin which deserves death. Because Jesus took our place we can be restored to a right relationship with God. The relationship He had always intended. The choice is now ours.

Think and ponder on the things on which we have looked. Have you tried on your own to make things right with God? Do you plow through good deeds but still carry guilt? Are you in church every Sunday but Monday through Saturday there is no difference? Think on these things and ask yourself if you need a Savior.  What choice are you willing to make? We will talk about it next time.

Angela

Posted on by Angela

Third Verse Devotion: The Haven of Rest

This is one of my favorite hymns. I could not find the background for the song only the name and life of the author. As always, you can learn about the author, H. L. Gilmour, as well as the full text of the hymn at www.hymnary.org. Here is the third verse as found in the 1975 Baptist Hymnal.

The song of my soul, since the Lord made me whole,
Has been the old story so blessed,
Of Jesus who’ll save whosoever will have
A home in the haven of rest.

In what way has the Lord made you whole? Has there been a habit you have stopped? An addition you have been set free from? Has your language been cleaned up? Have your relationships changed? See, when he makes us whole, things change. He delivers us from the muck and mire of our sin and shame and gives us a safe place to stand. When we find we are safe and whole the old temptations may be there but now we are not alone

Maybe you need to be made whole.  Your life is a mess, and you can see no way to fix it. You have done things you are not proud of. You may be cut off from friends and family and you don’t know how to restore the relationships. Maybe you are in a bad relationship and don’t know how to get out. Maybe you are in the grip of drugs or alcohol, and you have tried on your own to break free and it doesn’t work. Whatever the situation, He stands ready to make us all whole in large and small ways.

I can’t help thinking of Peter. Jesus wanted to be alone to pray and he sent the disciples ahead across the sea of Galilee. A storm came on them suddenly so that the boat was taking on water. In the middle of this they saw someone walking on the water. They all thought it was a ghost. It was actually Jesus walking on the water to them. He calls to them to not be afraid. Peter called out “If it is really you, tell me to come to you.” Jesus tells him to come. Peter stepped into the water with the storm raging with wind and waves and he walks to Jesus. Soon though the storm catches his attention, and he looks around and realizes he is walking on the water and begins to sink. He calls out to Jesus to save him, and Jesus is right there to save him. Jesus is ready to save you and me just like he did Peter.  He is not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. Take a moment and really read those words. Jesus is ready to save. All you have to do is call to him. You can have that haven of rest today. Come and anchor your soul in him today.

Angela

Posted on by Angela

Third Verse Devotion: Battle Hymn of the Republic

The words of this patriotic song were written by Julia Howe at the start of the Civil War in November 1861.  This patriotic song can be found in many hymnals. There are five stanzas to the song and all of them are full of meaning, for the sake of time I will only focus on one.

Here is the third verse from the 1991 Baptist Hymnal. You can find the full song at www.hymnary.org.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never sound retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
O be swift, my soul, to answer Him; be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on. [Chorus]

Judgement is not something any of us like to think about. We choose to believe the characteristic of God as love, and He is love. Yet He is also judge. He cannot look on sin. He must judge sin. He is a righteous God and there is no unrighteousness in Him. So, the sin you and I carry must be judged.

There are two types of judgment mentioned in the New Testament. The first is found in Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10. This is a judgement for believers. Every person who has placed faith in Christ Jesus will stand before Him one day and give an account of the things they have done. Did you accept the gift of salvation that Jesus offers? What did you do with the gifts you have been given? How did you live your life? Did you share your faith with others? Did other people know you were a Christian? Did they know you believed in Jesus? What did you do good or bad after you became a follower of Jesus? This is what this judgement seat is all about. The second judgement is mentioned in Revelation and is called “the Great White Throne Judgement”. It is found in Revelation 20: 11-15 and is for all non-believers throughout history. Every individual who had the opportunity to accept God and refused will stand before Him and give an account of his deeds. All deeds were listed and then their name is checked against the book of Life. If their name was not listed there, they were thrown into the lake of fire.

Please hear me, if you think living a good life and performing good deeds will be enough to get you into heaven, Friend, you are wrong. You want your name in that book of Life. The only way to escape the Great White Throne Judgement is Jesus. You want to be at that first judgment.  The next line of the song is “…be swift, my soul, to answer Him…”. Let that be your response as well. When you know God is calling you to follow him, do not hesitate. Respond then. Ephesians 2: 8-9 reminds us:

For by grace you have been saved through faith;

and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 

not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (NASB)

You can never perform enough good works or be a good enough person to make your way to heaven and escape the second judgement. Good works will not get your name in the book of life. Only accepting the grace of Jesus will accomplish salvation and ensure judgment at Christ’s judgement seat.

Be assured God loves you. He does not want any at the second judgment. It is a fact that many will be there. Those who choose to reject Him. You don’t have to be among their number. If you are reading these words, you still have a choice. Make that choice today. Be swift to answer Him.  Since everyone one day will be judged, where will your judgement take place, at the foot of Jesus or at the Great White Throne of God. I hope to see you at the feet of Jesus.

Angela