Dear Friends,

Let me send out a call for Christ. No doubt many different types of people will read this. Some of you might be Christians, Disciples of Christ, who are submitted to the things of God with a love for Jesus that surpasses all. Some of you are maybe curious and clicked the link to see what this is about. I would ask that you bear with me and read on. Some of you may be professing non-Christians. To you I also would ask that you bear with me and read on. Some of you, finally, might be people who think they are Christians and have a form of holiness, but lack the substance. I ask that each of you, whoever you may be, will read on.  

Friends, I would like to speak to you about life and death. This is a serious issue. This is an issue that goes beyond physical life and spans eternity. Let me explain.. There are some things that, despite all our efforts remain empty because we lack a basic need in our life. An old Christian confession asks us “What is man’s Chief end?” Basically, it is asking us this question: “Why were you created?” It asks the one question that men have been seeking since the dawn of mankind. The answer is a simple one. We were created to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. God created man to bring glory to himself and also so that we might find joy in him. There’s just one problem though. We, you, me, the human race, all of us, since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden are spiritually aborted. We are still-born. We are born spiritually dead in our sins.

The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:1 “And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins”. In order for Christ to make one alive, we had to have been dead at one time. “Whoa! Stop! Don’t go any further! That’s pretty heavy stuff to hit me with” you might say. “I can do good things can’t I? I mean I cannot be that bad, I do all sorts of good things.” Well, there are social goods we can do, and they are good things in relation to our fellow man. God however has laid a different standard for us to measure ourselves by. In God’s eyes, we do not do good. God says all men are wicked and hate him. Look at What Paul says in Romans 3:10-12  as it is written: "There is none righteous, no not one;  (11)  there is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God."  (12)  "They are all gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable, there is none that does good, no, not one."

Friends, we are God-haters by our very nature. Sin has killed us, both original and actual sin. When Adam sinned, he sinned for all men. He was in a sense our representative, our spokesperson, in the Garden. None of us do good in the eyes of God. Apart from God, no one seeks after him, no one does good. Not one. Because of sin, we are born spiritually dead on the bottom of the deepest ocean of sin and nothing but the sovereign, majestic hand of God can reach down, pull us from the muck and mire and breathe life into our dead spiritual lungs. Paul uses an interesting word in Ephesians 2 when he describes us as “dead”. The original word you might know. Nekros. The word necromancy comes from it. It was a word commonly used for a corpse. It carries a deeper meaning than that though. It means a rotting corpse. Not only were we dead in our sins, but we were rotting as well.

Friends, allow me to issue to you a call for Christ. We cannot because of the paralyzing nature of sin, free ourselves from our sad and miserable state. “who cares?” some might say. Let me tell you friends.. God cares. God has promised us two things: 1) Christ came to save sinners, and 2) God judges all men. God’s final judgment is not one to be eagerly waiting for if you have not placed yourself in his hands though. For the sinner who is not trusting and obeying Christ (and trusting and obeying cannot be separated), the promise is horrible. It’s the worst imaginable thing times infinity. It is God’s wrath poured out on the unbeliever. It’s hell.  2nd Samuel 22 describes hell as a place of sorrows. Psalm 55 calls it a place for the wicked. Psalm 116 calls it a place of sorrow, trouble and pain. Matthew 5 describes it as a place of fire. Mark 9 describes it as an unquenchable fire. Hell, needless to say, will not be a pleasant place for man when he goes there. Without Christ, who is described as the way the truth and the life, all men will go there. Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked and he will not tolerate open rebellion against him for long. We are, because of sins rebels in the fight against God. Christ calls us to surrender. He calls us to lay down our sword and submit to him. He then calls us to take up the sword again and fight for his cause, the building of his church.  

I’ll tell you friends, God hates sin. He despises it, cannot tolerate it, will not stand for it. It is mercy that God allows us to continue in our sin. He allows us to continue so that we will repent and turn to Christ the Lord. Consider this: Ephesians 2:4-5  But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us  (5)  (even when we were dead in sins) has made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved),        God, in his infinite grace towards man, reaches down and saves. God saves. We were dead, but God saves. He makes us alive and willing to follow him. Can you hear the call of Christ? Repent! Trust in Me! Any who call on the name of the Lord will be saved!  This is God’s promise to man. That if you repent and trust in him you will not be left in despair or hopelessness. He will give you faith to believe.             

We are promised much more than this though. Look at what God promises us in Ephesians 2:6-9  (6)  and has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,  (7)  so that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.  (8)  For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.  

Don’t be fooled. A profession of faith on your part is not you taking part in your salvation. Paul reminds us of this truth. He has however told us that those who are relying on Christ alone are saved by grace. Grace provided by Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross. Jesus died for sinners. Grace isn’t cheap. It’s expensive. It cost Jesus his life. It cost God the Father His only Son. It’s gonna cost you too. Salvation is not offered freely. God does not wink his eye at sin and tell us to just love one another. It doesn't work that way. God hates sin. He punishes it. God wants something in return. He wants obedience. That means turning away from your sins. Leaving them behind, running far from your sins. A famous preacher recently claimed that it was OK to remain homosexual and claim to be a real Christian. What this man did was spit in God’s face. He ignored the claims of Scripture that there are penalties for sin (the wages of sin is death). True enough, the offer of salvation is a free offer to all that would accept it, but it is conditional upon receiving it. What I mean is this: God offers salvation to all, but for all who come to him, he requires obedience in return. Scripture does not tell us that God forgives everyone indiscriminately. God withholds forgiveness from the unrepentant. They show, by remaining in their unrepentant, habitually sinning state, that they do not love God; but that they hate him (Scripture tells us that if we love God, we will keep his commandments).

Friends, let’s not show God that we hate him through our disobedience or by cheapening the grace that God has shown towards us. Let’s instead endeavor to live for Christ, to find our great reward in Him. Let us glorify God and enjoy him. In doing this, we will find a thing that is so beautiful, so wonderful, so precious that everything else looks like garbage in comparison. Jesus is purer, shines brighter, and is more beautiful than anything you or I could ever imagine. All we are required to do is repent and believe the promises of God that we have been discussing. We’re not talking hypothetically. I am speaking practically. This is something we need to not only know about, but to experience as well. Trust Christ. Repent. These are the promises of eternal life with God. Call on Christ. Repent of your sins. Know salvation..

If you would like help in finding a church with to worship in and to grow in Christ, or prayer, please contact us and we will do our best to direct you to a good Christ-centered church in your area. Remember, Christianity is a life of growth in Christ, not just saying a prayer and going on your way. We were not meant to be separate, but to be with other brothers and sisters in Christ.