It's All I Know

Romans 5:17 - For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

One man, Adam, sinned once for all and one Man, Jesus, and His grace (unmerited favor) took the sin away, once for all. A free gift. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (1Corinthians 15:45) 

Before I get going here, yes, Adam sinned. He was called the first Adam; Jesus was called the second Adam. One sinned, one paid the price to redeem that sin.

Thank you, Pastor Terry, for a word that will stick with me.

At Bible study one night I listened to him speak on the roles men and women play (or not) in the church. There is a hierarchy which can be found in various places in the Word. It is God, Jesus, Holy Spirit on the spiritual end and Man, woman, children on the earthly end, man reporting to God first, and women and children doing the same.

Anyway, Pastor Terry said something that so struck me: preach or teach what you know best. A couple weeks before that he said Paul only preached Jesus crucified. It was the one thing he could relate to most.

So if my blogs sound repetitive, you now know why. It's all about Jesus and what He did for us.

There's not much more to add to that. He lived, He died and He rose again from the dead...for us...or to be more precise, for those who call Him their Lord and Savior. He did it for all but ultimately only for those who receive Him.

We are all born into sin. No way to escape that. We are sin filled all our lives. Can't escape that either.

Only HIS righteousness, His sacrificial act of being the perfect Lamb of God could cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Yes, cleansed...be made clean, without having to do anything to gain it. It's a difficult concept if you don't come as a little child and believe after you've heard. We so want to make it about ourselves and what we can do or earn to receive God's love and forgiveness.  No wonder the road is narrow...

We may look at ourselves as better than someone else because we haven't murdered, as far as the secular definition of murder is, but we all have murdered from our hearts if we have hated someone.

If our work, hobby, money, things, even children are more important than God, we have placed an idol before Him.

We may think because we have not cheated on our spouse that we have not committed adultery. But the truth is if we have so much as ogled another person, lusted in our heart, or looked at pornography, we've committed adultery.

White lies are full blown lies to God, as difficult as that may seem.

I'm sure many of us have sassed our parents or done the opposite of what our parents knew to be right. We've dishonored them.

Taking anything that doesn't belong to you no matter how you might justify it, is wrong. Or using something, for that matter, for personal gain believing "it won't hurt; no one needs to know" can be up there with stealing.

And there's the dreaded envy...of anything. A reason to get a cooler car or bigger boat or go on a more expensive vacation, have bigger and more expensive jewelry or clothing, or belong to the fancier club.

I could go on through the commandments and show that each one of us has missed the mark. We are all sinners in need of God's grace. We cannot slip past that one.

That grace comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is a very hard truth. It's one people will turn away from at this point in this blog. And the truth will be lost on them.

What I know and what I harp on is the truth. It's not about a religion. It's not about how good we think we are (compared to the next person) or what we can do to earn God's approval. It's not about telling Him that we will do better in the future if He forgives us now. We will never be able to buy Him off before we die.

Jesus died for all of us, all our sins. He came to earth to do this. He knew it would cost His life. He did it willingly. He also knew many would not receive Him.

All He wants from us us that relationship. One on one with Him. Just you and Him. And He is found in His Word and if you seek Him you will find Him. He will remove the scales from eyes so you one see and the walls from hearts so people can receive. He will restore deaf ears to hear His truth.

Those things that were so dang important will not be. We will know what is important and if we're smart we will cling to that.

There are so many examples throughout the Word that show us how and why He did this. That's why we need to read it.

It's not about any religion but about a relationship with one single Man, Jesus Christ. This is what I know and I'm sticking with this story...this truth. Forget all the man-made doctrines of the churches. Look to the Word of God for the answers. Seek Jesus and when you do you will know Who the truth is and He will set you free.

It's all about Him and what HE did for us. Not what we try to do to earn His love. Sometimes in life we have to buy people's love. But that isn't necessary with Jesus. It is His FINISHED WORK. We cannot add to what He has done. He proclaimed on the cross: "It is finished."

What I know is this: We are all sinners. We all need salvation. That only...ONLY...comes through Jesus Christ. No one else. And it IS mandatory to receive eternal life. Believe (and obey) on Him. Believe that only He has fulfilled this already. Go to the Source directly and if a church leader tries to tell you you must go through him, abandon that lie. All he should be doing is pointing you to Christ.

Put your ideas of good works, the "right" church, doctrinal lies aside and listen to what He has to tell us. It's why He wrote a book...for our instruction.

We may struggle with some of the truth of His Word because we have believed the lies, justifications and deception the majority of the world has fallen into. Just because the majority believes pretty much the same (many ways to God, you don't need God, He's a loving God but not judgmental) doesn't mean it's right.

This is all I know. It's my story and I'm sticking with it.

One God, One Man, one life = eternal life for ALL who receive.

Romans 4:5 - But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness...