Romans 6:20-21, 23 “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the
obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you
used to do, things that end in eternal doom. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Continuing
Pastor Obie’s sermon: To understand salvation, you have to understand two
things. (1) Holiness means to be set apart, perfect and pure, by a loving God,
for God’s purposes. (2) Sin means disobedience to God’s law. All sin is the
missing of the target of the high calling of God. Creator God gave us “free
choice” because “true” love is freely chosen, not coerced or forced. So, we
have a choice to trust, love and obey God or not. When we sin, we miss God’s
Mark, we hit something else and there’s hell to pay because we chose to miss
God’s pure target intentionally and that is sin. King David said in Psalm
51:4, “Against you, and you
alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be
proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.” Being
not the same (pure and righteous) as God, we cannot be with Him. We were
created to fellowship with God, but sin separates us from that fellowship.
We
were all born with original sin, but we all stepped in it by ourselves, too
many times to count, in our life. On our own, in broken fellowship, we unholy
and not fit for Heaven. Three things to remember about sin are (1) sin hurts
us, (2) sin hurts others, and (3) sin hurts God. Sin is a violation of God’s
law and we cannot make it “right” because Hebrews
9:22 tells us that “Indeed, under the
law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness of sins.” In the past, Israelites symbolically put
their sin onto an innocent lamb without blemish and sacrificed it unto the
Lord, but that was not a permanent solution. Yet, an innocent life atoned for
their sinful life … temporarily.
Hebrews
10:8-10 “When he said above,
“You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and
burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then
he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the
first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all.”
We
owe a debt for our sins and Jesus paid for it with His life. Jesus is the Lamb
of God; our atoning sacrifice. Christ paid the price we had to pay, and died
the death we had to die. Jesus’ righteousness becomes our imputed righteousness
by His blood. That is what is meant where John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave
his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have
eternal life.” The miracle of salvation is obtained by putting our trust in
Jesus and repenting from sin. Repent means to change your life course and follow
Jesus. Be sorry for your sins. Not in the laws of man, but the laws of God upon
your heart. Not upon Capitol Hill, but Calvary’s Hill. Have faith, surrender
you will to God, trust in Jesus, put Him in the position of authority and
leadership in your life and walk in the Spirit.
Matthew
9:12 “Those who are well
have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”
You
do not need to clean up your life before coming to the Lord. You have to get
well before going to the doctor. It is the sick that need healing. The main issue
is a “heart” issue. Self-control won’t stop sin acted out, because the old
heart remains. Hand the scalpel to the Great Physician and let him work the
miracle of salvation in your life. We all have an eternal destination after our
appointment with death. Where will you spend eternity?
Psalm
51:10-13 “Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not
away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore
to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then
I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.”
From
my edited notes of Pastor Obie’s Sunday Sermon message.
In
Christ, Brian
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