Nurturing Christ's Church with the Truth of God's Word

Rescued By Grace Through Faith

Beloved friend, you have been given a special promise. And it comes from God Himself, the One Who cannot lie.

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD,
THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON,
THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM
SHALL NOT PERISH,
BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.
(JOHN 3:16)

We would do well to carefully consider – and cherish – each line of this promise of deliverance from eternal death to eternal life.

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD

According to the Bible, God loves the entire world: every race, every nation, every people-group, every tribe ... every person. But notice the kind of world He loves:

GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE TOWARD US ... 
WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS ... WHILE WE WERE (HIS) ENEMIES
(ROMANS 5:8, 10)

The world that God loves is not a world of His friends. Rather, it is a world of His enemies: those who are indifferent toward Him ... those who hold Him in utter contempt ... who rebel against Him ... who are hostile toward Him ... who shake their fist at Him ... who curse His Name. This is the kind of world God loves.

Let us also consider this. The kind of world God loves reveals the kind of love He has. God does not seek to destroy sinners. Rather, He seeks to turn them from their sin. His love is patient ... one that is not easily provoked ... one that endures much. It is a love that does not seek to get even but, instead, is eager to forgive and to restore. This is the kind of love God has.

How did He demonstrate such wondrous love?

HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON

According to the Bible, you and I have a serious problem. We are all moral failures. We have all broken the righteous laws of a holy God.

FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.
(ROMANS 3:23)

The sins we have committed against God are not minor offenses. In His sight they are capital crimes deserving capital punishment. We deserve eternal death, and God has every intention of executing that sentence. His justice demands it. Of all the problems we will ever face, this one is the most dangerous:

... THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH.
(ROMANS 6:23)

But because of His great love for the world, God sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die for us, the condemned. He placed our crimes on His innocent Son and, in doing so, Jesus became guilty for us. The sinless One Who did not deserve the death penalty died for all of us who did.

... AND HE HIMSELF BORE OUR SINS IN HIS BODY ON THE CROSS.
(1ST PETER 2:24)

Jesus Christ was born to be your Substitute in death.

He was sent by God to be executed in your place.

He died so you would not have to.

GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE TOWARD US,
IN THAT WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.
(ROMANS 5:8)

To whom will God give so great a salvation?

WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM

God offers His salvation to everyone. No exceptions. His mercy toward you is higher than the heavens; and His grace is greater than all your sins combined ... past, present, and future. All of them. Not one of your sins is too great to exclude you from His promise:

 WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.
(ROMANS 10:13)

You are invited to receive this salvation by trusting in His Son’s Death to serve as payment for your crimes against God. He wants you to be restored to Him.

"COME TO ME, ALL WHO ARE WEARY AND HEAVY-LADEN ...
AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” 
(MATTHEW 11:28-29)

The one who depends on Christ’s Death to serve as the payment for his sins ...

SHALL NOT PERISH

Why will you not perish? Because all your sins will be washed away. Every single one of them. And all your guilt will be fully pardoned. In the sight of God, you will be completely cleansed, and you will be forever forgiven.

TO HIM WHO LOVES US AND RELEASED US FROM OUR SINS BY HIS BLOOD ...
TO HIM BE THE GLORY AND THE DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER.
(REVELATION 1:5-6)

This is God’s promise to you:

If you depend upon Christ’s Death ...

to serve as the punishment for your sins,

you will be fully and forever pardoned ...

from God’s sentence of eternal death.

THEREFORE, THERE IS NOW NO CONDEMNATION (THERE IS NO PUNISHMENT)
FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS.
(ROMANS 8:1, PARENTHESIS ADDED)

No good deed is good enough for you to earn this deliverance.

No sin is too great to exclude you from it.

And there is still more good news found in this verse!

 HE SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE

Three days after Jesus was punished for our sins, God raised Him from the dead. Likewise, those who trust in Him for salvation have been given that same assurance. They, too, will one day be raised from the dead. And they will never die again.

“I (JESUS) AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE;
HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME ... WILL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE,
AND I MYSELF WILL RAISE HIM UP ON THE LAST DAY.”
(JOHN 11:25, 6:40)

No religious leader who decomposed in his grave can give someone else eternal life. (How can a person who is still in the grave raise someone else from the dead?) The only One Who can give others life after death is the One Who walked out of His tomb.

And that is what the Lord Jesus Christ is offering you! Everlasting life! This, too, is the glorious promise of God.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?  HAVE YOU SETTLED THIS ISSUE WITH GOD?

Dear friend, I must warn you. You are in a dangerous situation. Your sins are an offense to a holy God. In His sight they are capital crimes; and capital crimes deserve the death penalty.

... THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH.
(ROMANS 6:23)

Are you able to hear this? You are under the death sentence of God. Someone must be executed for your sins. The justice of God demands it. You can either pay this debt of death yourself, or you can accept Christ’s death to serve as your own. But one of you is going to make this payment.

The only way you can escape this penalty of eternal death
is to depend upon the execution of Jesus Christ
to serve as the punishment for your sins against God. 

This is what it means to “believe in Him.”

Jesus Christ is your only hope. He has told us:

“I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE;
NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT THROUGH ME.” 
(JOHN 14:6) 

THERE IS SALVATION IN NO ONE ELSE;
FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN  AMONG MEN
BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED.
(ACTS 4:12) 

Have you done this?

Have you trusted God to pardon you from His sentence of eternal death and to give you eternal life through the Death and Resurrection of His Son?

PERHAPS YOU HAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS

If you have further questions, visit

www.gotquestions.org

If you would like to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, visit

www.chataboutjesus.com

If you would like to download a free Bible for your phone, visit

www.mardel.com/bible

If you would like to download free discipleship materials, visit

www.stewardoftruth.com