The Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death. Each day you sin you are going to be paid back for your lifestyle that is contrary to what God intends. When you go to work you expect to be paid, because it is something you have earned. It is the same way when you sin- you will be paid for the activity, your lifestyle that is contrary to God and image of God he made man in - it will end in death. Not just physical death but a spiritual death that results in being separated from God and his goodness for eternity.

So how does one escape the payment of their sin? You are unable to pay for the penalty. You have a choice, you will one day die because of your own sins which no one can rescue you from its penalty or you can depend on another who already died for your sins.

There is only one who could die for mankind’s sins- the sinless one. A man cannot die for your sins because he cannot die for his personal sins. So we are in need of a sinless man to be our mediator.

1 Timothy 1:15: “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”

Romans 5:8: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The penalty was removed while we were at odds with God, while we were an enemy of his and it was done because the Father loves us and does not want to see anyone of us perish. But we must respond.

Anyone that claims to die for our sins would have to resurrect to prove that sin did not claim him as well, for death is the penalty for sin. He (Jesus) was resurrected to prove that the penalty was paid by him and that he was sinless.

The law demanded justice for law breakers, those who sin. Just as the law of the land demands that one be punished for breaking it. If judges go by the letter of the law there is a judgment for a crime unless there is mercy. When God gives us grace and mercy we understand it as personal. Grace is giving something we do not deserve, mercy is not giving us what we do deserve. Both grace and mercy bring peace.

We see this written to the saints that have experienced this in Titus 1:4; I Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim 1:2 Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 John 1:3: “Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.”

1 John 3:4-5: “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.”

No man was able to NOT sin. Sin is not just an action but begins in the heart and mind, so even if one did not respond physically they still could sin inside. This why the Bible says “All have fallen short- all have sinned.”

Our being good is not good enough to get us salvation. We are to match his holy life as the standard, with that in view we can all see how we all fall short of this standard. No matter how morally obedient or good one may try to be they are still going to not be obedient all the time and they will fail to keep the law. So being as good as you can will not help one iota.

Paul writes the church in Galatians 2:21-3:1: “if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

Romans 8:3: “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin”

Only a perfect man could keep the law and all its requirement, the reason is because Jesus was not just man but God who became man. This is why he is perfectly righteous, he was always obedient.

Romans 3:21-22: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.”

All that is written points to Jesus, prophesied for thousands of years by the prophets of Israel and testified as the one by obeying the law perfectly. So one does not have to do works to be accepted by God by only place their trust in the one who did the work.

Paul who was an expert on the law said this about keeping the law:

Acts 13:38-40: “through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

God did not send many but only one- the only begotten Son of God to pay for this debt of mankind.

Hebrews 9:25-28: “not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another-- He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.”

As the Lord gave Israel the sacrificial system it was a shadow of the real substance that would come. It would be for all people and it would completely wipe out the debt of sin against us. We would have our guilt erased and no longer be judged for our crime of sin again. The Bible says it this way, we have passed form death unto life.

Romans 4:3-5: “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness”

To have the faith of Abraham is to believe in Jesus as the one who is our righteousness – who was sacrificed for our sins.

Romans 10:4-5: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

The gospel message is the power of God to salvation- once understood it becomes a motivation to exercise ones will to call upon the lord to save them from their sin.

It is also a motivating factor for us as believers while we are still here living life. That we look for any opportunity whether it is an open door to share or initiate a conversation to begin to open a door.

If we all discipled 1 person a year the whole world would have the potential of being saved in 20 years (those who are called by God). Consider the math. If there are 100 million Christians who disciple1 person each year this turns to 200 million in the first tear- then to to 4 hundred million the second- to 8 hundred million in a three years. Then on the 4^th year from 1 and half billion to three billion on the fifth year to 6 billion in the 6^th year. And that is if we disciple only 1 person a year. Of course not everyone will believe and even less will witness. Its obvious we have a problem with timidity. We are told that the Lord has not given us a spirit of fear but power (a sign of being filled with the spirit) love (a care for those unsaved) and a sound mind (one who is able to think through the arguments to refute them biblically). We should have confidence that the message that has worked his grace and mercy in our lives will do the same TO OTHERS.

 

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