Word hard your whole life and what do you get?

As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. (‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬ NLT)

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. (‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭10, 22‬ NLT)

According to the verses above, scripture is clear...we have all sinned. There is no one who walks the face of this earth that is without sin. Not one. I think it's interesting in both of these verses Paul refers the reader back to the Old Testament scripture. The verse he refers to here is Psalm 14:3 in which the psalmist tells us "there is no one who does good...not one."

There is nothing we can do to be good enough. We cannot follow the law good enough, or serve others good enough, or live a good and moral life that will ever be good enough to make us right with God. The only way this can happen Paul says in v.23 is through placing our faith in Jesus. Believing and trusting that the work he did on Calvary is good enough to cleanse us from every sin...past, present and future.

I'm sure you have heard someone say "Well, I haven't killed anyone, I obey traffic signals, and I don't cheat on my spouse...I live a good and moral life." While that may be true, if they haven't accepted Christ and put their trust in him, they are still considered unrighteous...not right with God.

God wants to be in relationship with us...we've seen this truth from the very beginning of time when Adam and Eve walked and talked with Him in the Garden of Eden. Yet in one moment of doubt, they gave up the paradise God made for them and believed the lie of the enemy. In that instant their eyes were open to this sin-stained world and they were cast into the midst of it as a direct result of their disobedience.

God never intended for us to face eternity without Him. He loves us and wants to give us life! He's not some cosmic kill-joy who wants to rule over us. If He did...He wouldn't have given us free-will (the ability to choose.) But with choice comes consequence. The consequence of sin...death. I like the way the Message paraphrases Romans 6:22 - 23:

" But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master."

Romans 6:23 echos what Jesus said in the Gospel of John (John 10:10 - NCV) "...I came to give life-life in all its fullness."

The word of God is clear...the wages or penalty of sin is death. We are headed for an eternity in hell if we don't put our faith in Jesus as our Savior.

Through this chapter (Romans 3) we can see Paul urging us to understand that Jesus is the only way to become right with God. It is only by His blood are we are washed clean and considered good enough to enter God's perfect heaven.

What are you "working" for?

Galatians 2: 19-21 (MSG) “What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.”

Do you believe you can buy your way into heaven by being good enough, being upright and moral, performing random acts of kindness, or by obeying the law perfectly? Paul clearly indicates this way of thinking would make Christ’s death on the cross unnecessary.

 

Christ’s death is so much more than that. Since the fall of man in the garden of Eden, man has had to "pay" a penalty for his disobedience (his sin). Adam and Eve had to give up the Garden of Eden and the tree of life. Today, if someone commits a crime, justice requires a payment for that crime (a fine, jail time, loss of privilege, etc.) The same was true with the Israelites. Before they could approach God, they had to pay for or "atone" for their sin. Their penalty (sacrifice) cost them something, something they had worked for or something they had grown on their own farm.

Once a year on the Day of Atonement, the Israelites would go to the Tent of Meeting and offer sacrifices (bulls, goats, doves, grain) for their sin. Blood of a perfect animal had to be shed so the person presenting their sacrifice could be cleanses from sin and have fellowship with God. Have you ever thought about this? How can the sacrifice of an animal make things right with God? Is the blood of an animal enough to pay for everything we've done?

Romans 6:23 (MSG) says that sin brings death. "Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master." The other part of that verse says that God has given us the gift of eternal life, through His son Jesus Christ.  God loves us so much, that He sent his son to pay the penalty for us once and for all (John 3:16). After Christ's death on Calvary it was no longer necessary to go to the Temple and offer sacrifices for sin. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice and its only through his shed blood that we can be free from sin's death grip so we can live with Him eternally. No longer do we have to keep each rule perfectly. There is no way we could do that anyway. God poured out his grace through Christ’s death on the cross and it is sufficient for all of us. When we accept him as our savior, Christ takes up residence and lives in each one of us.  It is only by His grace that the sins of our lives are forgiven and erased... not how many people we've helped or how moral a life we've lived. 

But wait just a minute…its important to consider a question. After giving our lives to Christ, did we surrender EVERYTNING to him? Think about that question for just a minute. EVERYTHING. What does that really mean? A quick look at my thesaurus tells me other words for EVERYTHING include: every part of; the entire; the complete; the whole. If there are things in our lives that we are trying to control, we need to LET GO and surrender them to Christ. When we become Christ followers, we can no longer call the shots in our own life. We belong to Christ.

By giving control of my life to the God of the universe – I have to realize that He knows what’s best. After all, He is God. He spoke the entire universe into existence. I think I should be able to trust Him with the details of my life... don't  you? His word assures me He has a plan for my life and it's perfect (Jeremiah 29:11).

So, what about you? Are you just following rules trying to get into God's perfect heaven, or are you allowing the ever cleansing stream of God's grace and mercy to prepare you for entry?

Related scripture: Romans 3:19-24; Ephesians 1:3-14

Changing the hardest of hearts

I believe with all of my heart that God specializes in changing lives. I can see His mastery all over my life beginning from the moment I opened my heart and gave Him full control. I can even see Him patiently working in the lives of people I would have considered “unchangeable.” Do you know someone like that? Perhaps it’s someone you know personally or someone in the public eye. You see their hard heart and you know for a fact “there is no changing that person.”

“There is no changing that person!” Sadly I have said these exact same words a time for two. I chose to believe the lie of the enemy instead of the truth of a loving and compassionate God. Satan would like nothing better than for us to give up and stop praying for the unbelievers in our lives (our spouse, children, family members, neighbors, community leaders, national leaders, etc.). But the truth is, God wants no one to perish…not one…not even the hard-hearted.

In John 3:1-21 we see an encounter Jesus had with Nicodemus, a Pharisee. The Pharisees were religious teachers of the law during the time of Jesus. This group was jealous of Jesus because he undermined their authority and challenged their views. They were always trying to trick Jesus by asking him questions regarding the law. They were also the very group that was instrumental in the plot to have Jesus crucified.

Of all people, surely a Pharisee couldn’t be changed right? One night, Nicodemus approached Jesus truly seeking answers, and boy did he ever find them. It appears Nicodemus did recognize Jesus as a teacher sent from God (v. 2). Jesus’ next statement would start a conversation that would change the way Nicodemus looked at eternity (the Kingdom of God). As a teacher of the Law, Nicodemus believed that the Kingdom would be ruled by God, it would be restored on earth, and it would incorporate God’s people. That night Jesus told Nicodemus that he wouldn’t even be a part of the Kingdom of God unless he was born again…born of water and Spirit (v. 5).

Can you just imagine the wheels of his mind turning? What do you think he was thinking? The Bible really doesn’t tell us much about Nicodemus other than what we read in John 3:1-21. I do believe he left the encounter with Jesus a changed man. How could he not?

The two other places we see Nicodemus in scripture reveals the heart change taking place:

1.          During a meeting of the Jewish council. The council was discussing ways to eliminate Jesus. Nicodemus raise a question regarding justice. The fact that he raised a question was a glimpse of his mindset changing. (John 7:50 – 52)

2.          At the burial of Jesus. In a bold move, Nicodemus joined Joseph of Arimathea in asking for Jesus’ body so it could be buried.

Oh yes! God does specialize in changed lives. He is perfectly able to change the people we might consider unreachable. Never give up praying for those who haven’t accepted Christ as Savior. God is always at work.

God’s promise from Jeremiah 29:13 (MSG)

“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” 

Join me on a life-giving journey

Proverbs 9:6 (MSG) Leave your impoverished confusion and live! Walk up the street to a life with meaning.

 The book of Proverbs, written by King Solomon son of David, was given to us to: gain wisdom and instruction, give us an understanding of wise words, teach us how to be wise and self-controlled, and teach us to do what is honest, fair and right. (Proverbs 1:1–6)

When we grow in the wisdom and knowledge of God, we learn to fear him. This fear isn’t like being afraid for your safety…its reverential fear. Reverential fear is an understanding of a holy God, his character, his ways, how to live according to his word.

While reading Proverbs 9, I was reminded of why it’s important to leave the “worldly” and walk in the way of insight and meaning. This world has us believe that worldly “fun” is the only way to live life to the fullest. Not true. Fun in this world leads to sin and sin leads to death…eternal death. Eternal death – is no really something I’m interested in…what about you?

 

What I want to do is live an abundant life based on what God has for me. Every promise in God’s word is available to me and leads to true happiness and eternal life. But how will I truly know what those promises are if I don’t search for wisdom and truth like an adventurer on a treasure hunt? My journey through the Proverbs has taught me how to grow in wisdom and see the consequences for those who don’t.

I encourage you to take a walk through the book of Proverbs and see for yourself. The book is comprised of 31 chapters. I challenge you to read a chapter a day for the next 3 or 4 months. I know some months have 30 days and February has 28 or 29 depending on leap year – but dig in to this book and really listen to what God is saying to you. Each time I read it, I’m amazed at how much I still need to grow in knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Sometimes, I even see where I am still walking according to the world’s ways. I’m so thankful for that insight because it is only through this revelation I can turn away from those ways and walk more closely with Christ and everything he has for me.

What do you say? Will you join me on a journey through the book of Proverbs?