THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION!

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A SINFUL MAN AND HIS PAST

A man once lived a very sinful life, even by a sinner’s estimation.  His name is not important.

He had done things that I care not to say or attempt to describe.  Oddly enough, as he got to what he felt was close to the end of his earthly life, he began to recognize the error of his ways.  He began to feel remorse and didn’t know how to make these things “right” and he struggled to deal with his past.

His life began to haunt him.  He was ashamed of many things he’d done—how he lived his life and the people it affected.  It caused him great anxiety, thus making him terribly depressed and emotional.

This man had said, “I’m afraid to die.  I believe there’s a God and I don’t want to go to hell when I die.  I know, somehow, that I will be judged for my sinful life.  I am so sorry.  I don’t know how to make it right.  I don’t know what to do.  How can I be forgiven?  How can I ensure I go to heaven?  I’m scared.  How can I know for sure?  What must I do to be saved?!”


THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION

After such a heartfelt, emotional plea, his last question reminded me of Acts 16, when the jailor was about to kill himself but was stopped by Silas and Paul, (you’ll need to read the details of the account on your own).

The jailor asked, “What must I do to be SAVED?  And they said, BELIEVE on the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and THOU SHALT BE SAVED...”

Well, I have no reason not to believe that this man truly understood he was and is a sinner.  The fact that he didn’t know what to do about it was eating him alive.

But what does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved?


ALL HAVE SINNED (EXCEPT ONE)

The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 “For ALL HAVE SINNED, and come short of the glory of God;” All means all.  There wasn’t a man that lived on the earth that wasn’t sinless…EXCEPT the Lord Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ was and is equal to God.  He is God (John 1:1).  He is God manifest in the likeness of sinful flesh but was WITHOUT SIN (Romans 8:3).

God came to this earth, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18), in the person of Jesus Christ, His SINNLESS Son (2 Corinthians 5:21).  He led a perfect sinless life, obeying the Father’s will, and fulfilling numerous prophecies (John 5:30).

Only God can forgive sins (Mark 2).  The Bible says there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22).  And there needed to be a perfect sacrifice to satisfy God’s Holy and righteous justice (Romans 3:25, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:10).

God needed to come to this earth in the likeness of sinful flesh, where mankind dwelt.  He needed to be in the body of a man to shed His blood—to die a death in the physical so He could be raised up for our justification (Romans 4:25).

Now, this man may not have understood the intricate details of God becoming man, but he was resting his faith in the fact that God came to this earth in the form of His Son by a virgin, conceived of the Holy Ghost.


WHAT ELSE?

For by the GRACE of God we are SAVED through FAITH (Ephesians 2:8-9) in Jesus Christ’s work at Calvary on our behalf.

Before we were born, even before we were a thought in our parent’s mind, God had a plan in place from the foundation of the world that His Son would die in our stead, on our behalf, as a satisfying "once-and-for-all" payment for our sins.


WHY?

Because GOD SO LOVED the world; that is, He loved HUMANITY so much that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him shall have eternal life (John 3:16).


BELIEVE ON HIM HOW?

A person needs to have the righteousness of Christ to enter heaven.  He must have holy righteousness and he can only get this through Christ.

The man must believe that Jesus the Christ, that He died for our sins according to the scriptures.  And was buried and rose again on the third day according to the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Once he believes, he receives Christ's righteousness; the righteousness of God imputed to his account (Romans 3:22).  He is now made just and has the forgiveness of sins.

Ephesians 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his (Christ’s) blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”

Colossians 1:14 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”


NOW WHAT?

This man placed his faith in what God had done for Him through Jesus Christ as was just explained.  He has placed his trust and is believing this all to be true and there’s nothing he can do in and of himself to earn his salvation apart from simply believing in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

This man now has HIS SINS FORGIVEN and IS NOW SAVED!

I hope this has been a blessing to you.  I hope you too have placed your faith in the Gospel.

Please let me know how you came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and please share this with someone you care about. 

Be blessed!

Brother Michael

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