Why does it have to be free?

Why can’t we earn it by our good behavior?

You failed to earn righteousness the first time you sinned. If you had never sinned, you cold have earned it. You failed to earn it, and so did every one of the Adam’s offspring.

THE BIBLE makes it very clear that God regards all individuals as sinners who are totally incapable of earning eternal life.

MAN IS A SINNER

Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone.”(Mark 10:18)

There is no righteous, not even one. (Rom 3:10)

All have turned away…. There is no one who does good, not even one. (Rom 3:12)

Their tongues practice deceit. Their mouth are full of cursing and bitterness.(Rom 3:12)

We all, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…( Isaiah 53:6)

MAN CANNOT SAVEHIMSELF

Man may think he can appease God with righteous acts mixed with his sin but this lead to death. "There is no way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."(Pro 14.12) Man may think he’ll stop sinning on his own cure himself of the disease of sin, but the bible shows this self effort of man to be futile.

Can a leopard change it s spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.(Jeremiah 13:23)

THE CLEF AND THE KING

Suppose a chef made a special dish, using 70% fresh food and 30% rancid and maggot-infested leftovers to serve to a great King. Would it be acceptable because of the 70% good? In the same way – no man can serve up his to God with a measure of sin mixed in and expect to be accepted by a Holy God.

THE BIBLE says, “ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.”(Rom 3:23)

We try to approach God through our best efforts – but we all fall short of perfection. “ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT”- Some shorter than others, but all falling the test. Remember Jesus’ words, “No one is good except God alone.” (Mark 10:18)

Man’s predicament is especially serious because of the nature of the one who will judge us –GOD

The following scripture reveal God’s nature.

I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3)

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.(1 John 4:8)

The lord is full of compassion and mercy.(James 5:11)

Even the hairs of your head are numbered.( Matt 10:30)

You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.(Jonah 4:2)

You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.(Micah 7:18)

But God is full of justice and must punish sin.

Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished : he punishes….(Exodus 34:7)

Knowing therefore the terror of the lord, we persuade men. (2 Cor 5:11 KJV)

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord. (Heb 10:31)

Then I will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. (Psalm 89:32)

The judge and his son

Suppose there was a RIGTEOUS judge with a great reputation for justice and his own son was brought before him on a misdemeanor. His heart would go out to his son but if evidence and guilty – he’d have to pronounce his own son guilty and sentence him.

How could the judge satisfy both his love and his justice?

Perhaps the judge could fine the boy $1,000 and then give him the $1000 to pay the fine with. Our heavenly father, the one who is the judge of all the earth (Gen 18:25) faced a worse problem. We – the objects of his love, his most special creation – sinned. The evidence abounds to convict us, and the PENALTY IS DEATH. Death has two stages: the death of the body and the second death which is eternity in the lake of fire.

THE SOUL THAT SINS, IT SHALL DIE (Ezek 18:4)

HOW GOD SATISFIES BOTH HIS LOVE AND HIS JUSTICE?

-JESUS CHRIST

God the Father sentenced us to death. Then God the Son, the Son of God took upon himself the form of man by being conceived in the womb of a virgin girl by the power of the Holy Spirit to begin his earthly ministry. He went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38) and lived a totally sinless life.

Then he died in our place. As the scripture says, “He tasted death for every man. (Heb 2:9) He rose from the dead on the third day and showed himself alive by many infallible proofs for 40 days. Then he ascended back into Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. He will remain there until God the Father gives the word and then he will come back. He will bring with him those who died and went to heaven and resurrect our bodies at the same time – totally triumphing over death! (1 Thes. 4:13-18)

Jesus said, “I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:2-3)

His second coming will also be a time on the wicked

He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thes 1:6-8)

Then he will rule the earth for 1000 years of peace after that the Bible says there will be a new heaven and a new earth – But Jesus kingdom will never end. By his death and resurrection, Jesus purchased us for himself.

You are not your own, you are bought with a price. (1 Cor 6:19,20)

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from our forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE THIS GOOD NEWS AND ACT UPON IT. BY RECEIVING THIS ETERNAL LIFE IS A FREE GIFT.

Believing that Jesus Christ is God the son in human form is an absolute necessity to receiving salvation

Receiving eternal life means if you die physically, your spirit will go right to heaven. Jesus will even resurrect our mortal bodies and change them into glorified bodies at the end of the age-the last day! (1 Cor. 15)

Repeating – Jesus said, “If you don’t believe I’m the one I claim to be you’ll indeed die in your sins.” SO BELIEVING DOESN’T MEAN ACKNOWLEDGING JESUS EXISTED, WAS A TEACHER, A GOODMAN, OR EVEN A MIRACLES WORKER. IT MEANS BELIEVING HE IS THE SON OF GOD.

WHO JESUS CHRIST IS

GOD THE SON IN HUMAN FORM.

Jesus pre-existed as God the son before his birth on earth. The following Scripture show that Jesus existed as the eternal Son of God before he came to earth as the baby born of a virgin.

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times. (Micah 5:2)

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “ before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58)

WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT HIMSELF

“I AM THE FATHER ARE ONE,” (John10:30)

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF JESUS RECEIVING WORSHIP

Then the man said, “ Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped him. (John 9:38)

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said unto him, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:27,28)

That is who Jesus is. Now this is what he did!

The Books that Prove Man’s Guilt

THE BIBLE says, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the Throne, and the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judge according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judge according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fireis the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Rev 20:11-15)

The Book of life contains only names. It is roll book. It contains all the names those who “believed” and “acted” upon God’s promise and received eternal life.

The other books are record books of sin and failure kept on each person, one book for each person. If you are judge from the record book kept on you – you’ll be cast into the lake of fire.

Note these verses

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way: and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us. (Isaiah 53:6)

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2Cor 5:21)

All the iniquity contained in all the books was laid upon Jesus. He paid the penalty for it.

This is the way God satisfied both his love and his justice. God, the judge of the whole world, found us guilty and sentenced us to death. This satisfied his justice. Then to satisfy his love, God the Son came down and took the death penalty for us..…Dying for our sins although He Himself had none!

He earned the gift you could never earn. And everyone who receives this gift of eternal life will never be judge from a record book of sin. Their names will be in God’s roll book, THE BOOK OF LIFE.

Mentally, I could never grasp why in the mind of God one man could die in the place of millions and call that fair. Why didn’t he have to die over and over and over – one time for each of us?

One night in prayer I asked God to explain it to me so I could explain it to others. Here is the illustration he gave me.

Picture a scale of justice

On one side of this scale of justice is a heap of all sins committed by the millions who live, have lived, and who will live on planet earth. Lust, lies, greed, cursing, murders, cruelty, apathy, laziness, gluttony, etc. – all heaped on one side.

God wanted to balance this evil with good. So on the other side God places the goodness of only one man, Jesus! Because Jesus is God in human form, his goodness is infinite! The truth, beauty, love, loyalty, self-control, purity, etc. that fill Christ is without limit! It not only balances the scale – but totally outweighs the evil!

When Jesus died for the sins of the world, infinite goodness died in the place of limited sin! As great as our sins are, God can count them all up and number them. But there is no way God could calculate the goodness in His own son.

It is paid in full

That is why when Jesus died on the cross He cried out, “It is finished!” The Greek word used in the original text is tetelestai. It was a commercial word that meant, “Paid in full.

$1,000,000.00 For a $5.00 Debt

Suppose I came to you and said, “Please give me $5.00. I borrowed $5.00 from a man. It’s due him, and I’m afraid of him. Suppose you smiled and said,” Here’s a million dollars – go pay your debt with this…. AND KEEP THE CHANGE!”

That is what happened when Christ paid the debt of your sin and the rest of the world’s debt of sin.

SO MUCH GOODNESS WAS LEFT OVER THAT GOD WAS JUSTIFIED IN RAISING JESUS FROM THE DEAD.

SO MUCH GOODNESS WAS LEFT OVER AFTER RAISING JESUS FROM THE DEAD THAT GOD PURCHASED FOR US …

Mansion in Heaven. (John 14:2)

Healing for our bodies. (1Peter 2:24)

ALL THINGS: How shall he not freely give us all things (Rom 8:32)?

The Holy Spirit Baptism. (Acts 2:4)

He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Rom 8:32)

So great was the sacrifice of Christ that it will take all of eternity for God to gives us all that the blood of Jesus bought for us!

WHAT CHRIST DID

He gave himself as a ransom for all men! (1 Tim.2;6)

He purchased men for God with his own blood! (Rev. 5:9-10)

He provided purification for our sins. (Hebrews 1:3)

He redeemed from all wickedness and purified for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:14)

He justified us by his blood and saved us from God’s wrath. (Rom5:6-8,9)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Gal 3:13-14)