- Mankind has only one real problem – sin. Sin is our rebellion against God’s rightful authority (Luke 19:14), our refusal to give Him the glory and thanks that He deserves (Romans 1:21), and our disobedience to His good commands (1 John 3:4). Sin is the cause of all the misery and suffering in the world (Romans 8:19-21), especially death (Romans 6:23).
- The reason we sin is because our very hearts and natures are sinful from birth (Mark 7:21-23, Psalm 51:5, Genesis 6:5, Ephesians 2:1-3). Even our very best deeds are utterly defiled (Isaiah 64:6). Our sin is like a massive debt that we owe to God (Matthew 18:23-25). Sin arouses God’s holy anger. Sin makes us guilty criminals who will one day face His terrifying judgment (Romans 2:5, 3:19). This judgment is eternal damnation in hell (Revelation 20:14-15).
- But God is full of incomprehensible love, even for sinners who have hated Him without a cause (Ephesians 2:4, Romans 5:8). Before the first sin was even committed He devised a plan to save us – a plan so glorious that only God could have imagined it (1 Timothy 1:11). Rather than condemn us all, He sent His only, beloved Son to save us. His Son is fully and equally God, but He became fully human so that He could be our representative (John 1:14, Hebrews 2:17). After living a glorious and perfect life, He laid it down as a sacrifice, paying the full penalty for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24). God declared Him righteous by raising Him from the dead (Romans 1:4) and exalting Him to His right hand (Hebrews 1:3).
- God freely offers salvation to all people through this perfect Savior (Ephesians 2:8-9): His righteous life, His atoning death, and His mighty resurrection – they are all counted as ours if we are joined to Him (Romans 4:25, 6:5)! God’s terms of salvation are very gracious – repent and believe in His appointed Savior! (Mark 1:15). To repent is to change your mind, to humble yourself and agree with God, and to turn to Him with all your heart. To believe is to trust Him with all your heart to save you and to commit yourself into His hands. Whoever responds to the gospel by repentance and faith receives full forgiveness from all sin, is declared perfectly right with God, and given eternal life.
- There are many people who agree in their minds with every word written above, and yet are no more Christian than the devil (James 2:19). A Christian is not someone who has decided to believe and do certain things. A Christian is someone who has become an entirely new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), been born again (John 3:3-8), raised from spiritual death (Ephesians 2:4-7, John 5:25), given spiritual sight (2 Corinthians 4:4-6). Christians have God’s law written on their very hearts (Hebrews 8:10), His love poured into their hearts (Romans 5:5), His inexpressible and glorious joy in their hearts (1 Peter 1:8), and especially God Himself dwelling in their hearts in the person of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:21, 1 Corinthians 3:16). Christians are the true worshipers who “worship God in spirit and truth” (John 4:23) and the true circumcision “who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). They are the people to whom God’s kingdom has been given and who produce the fruit of the kingdom (Matthew 21:43). A church is an assembly of such people in Jesus’ name with the promise that His presence will be with them (Matthew 18:20, Exodus 33:16, John 17:22-23).
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