Posts Tagged ‘salvation’
Raising Lazarus – A Salvation Example
I have always felt that the raising of Lazarus from the dead by Jesus was more than just a miracle event. I could never get away from the thought that it had something to do with salvation.
Sometimes we read secondary verses were we just gloss right over them and not give them even a passing thought. There was one verse that I read several weeks ago, which I had read many times before, and I just could not get it out of my mind. Then it hit me, the verse explained what happened at the tomb of Lazarus. Before I give you that verse let us revisit the raising of Lazarus.
Here was Jesus standing outside the tomb of Lazarus in the cemetery. Others were standing around watching to see what Jesus would do and Jesus did not disappoint them.
The first thing we notice is that Jesus said loudly, “Lazarus, come forth.”
Now think of this. Lazarus was dead. He had been lying in the tomb for several days and there was no life in him, and when Jesus called out to him to “come forth” what was the first thing that had to be donebefore Lazarus could respond at all. Think about that for a moment while we look at the secondary versementioned above.
The verse is found in 2 Timothy 1: 9 carried over from verse 8. Here it is.
2Ti 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
So, what was the first thing that had to be done before Lazarus could respond? He had to be given life – saved. Otherwise, he would not have been able to respond to the call to “come forth”. Just like Lazarus we, too, can do nothing unless we are “first” given life – saved.
In verse nine we see the steps God takes to save anyone. He first saves us, gives us life, and then calls us with an holy calling. We, in our spirit, are like Lazarus in his body. We are dead spiritually in our sins,devoid of spiritual life, and in this state we can do nothing to respond to God. Just like Lazarus was devoid of life he, too, could do nothing to respond to the call of Jesus to “come forth”.
Take another break for a moment, think about what just has been said, and look at these verses that will help to clarify this.
Joh 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Have you seen it? These verses speak of how we, as Lazarus, are dead and before we can respond to the call of Jesus to “come forth” we first must be given the ability to respond, we first must be given life. In other words, we must be “born again”.
This explains what we read in 2 Timothy 1: 9. Salvation is given to us through the new birth – being born again – so that with this new life we can respond to the call of God, as He wills, to “come forth” as Jesus calls.
Now do you see it? 2 Timothy tells us God’s steps to our salvation. Just as Lazarus needed to be given life (saved) before he could respond we, too, are first given life (saved) – being born again by the will of God – and then He calls us and we respond as He wills. If you see it, you will also notice that God had planned this even before the world began.
God saves us and calls us, and we believe on Jesus all because it is done by God. Without first being born again (saved), if Jesus were to call anyone by name to “come forth” no one would respond. We would just stay dead in our spiritual tomb.
Salvation is “all” of God, from beginning to end. There is no way we can save ourselves. It is God who saves us and calls us, individually, to “come forth”, and when He does, we respond with a resounding “YES”!
The importance Of The Resurrection Of Jesus
Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.
For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
1 Corinthians 15: 22 – 19
But now, Christ is risen and has been seen by, not only the Apostles, but by as many as 500 followers as well.
He is risen … Jesus is risen in deed…
You Talk Too Much!
The month of March is very special to my wife and me. It is when we celebrate our wedding anniversary. This year we will celebrate fifty two (52) years of marriage and we are even more in love with each other than ever before.
I know my wife loves me for she will tell people that I have very few faults and none of them is bad, except for one. She tells me that I, “Talk too much” and never know when to shut up. I just keep going on and on and on. With this, I will agree. If she can say it and I canagree, that is love talking.
Every morning I usually get up a lot earlier than doesmy wife. I like spending this time washing up, getting breakfast, enjoying the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Then I will get paper, that I usually retrieve off of the front porch when I first come out of the bedroom, take it with me into the living room with my coffee and settle into my favorite seat and enjoy them; mostly the coffee these days, however.
During the washing and the making of breakfast and coffee, I like spending time with God. It is not a kneel down and pray kind of a meeting. It is just a time that I like talking with God and telling Him my thoughts, concerns and thanks intermingled with some praise and worship of Him. Sometimes, though, it seems I have a hard time saying anything and will just ramble on. Until, until just one particular morning.
Right in the middle of my rambling I suddenly became blank in my thoughts. I could not think of anything to say and it scared me. Then suddenly a verse came to me and I knew it was from God. Through His word, He was talking to me.
What I heard made me think that He must have been listening to my wife, for what I heard was this, “You talk too much… “”Be still and know that I am God… “” .”
One part from my wife and the important part from Psalm 46: 10
Of course, God was right. Every morning during our time together I was doing all of the talking. Many times, it was only words of repetition just to hear me thinking. I was never quiet. Never listening for Him and forgetting that God will only talk to me through His word.
It has taken me quite a while to be obedient in this respect for I do like talking. Just ask my wife. Yeah, once I get started I do talk too much. I never know when to quit and I just keep going on and on and on. However, with God’s nudging, I am learning to listen to my wife more and, more importantly, listen to God more.
It is amazing how many more wonderful qualities I am discovering about my wife since I have been listening more to her and have become less at going on so when I do talk. It is still on a learning curve, but getting better.
God’s presence in the morning has started to become more real to me as well. I find when I do talk less and just enjoy spending time with Him, while talking less,it has actually brought me closer to Jesus than ever before.
You know, as my wife has said, “You talk too much” and having God tell me, “Be still and know that I am God…” has been a wonderful learning experience for me. I have become closer and more in love with both of them than ever before.
You know, I do believe that God really does listen to His children. If it happened to me, it can happen to you. I was going to say, “I pray God does the same for you”, but He already knows that, for He knows my every thought. I am glad that He does for those moments when I am still, knowing that He is God.
How Will They Believe?
For more than ten years this Journal has been has been publishing monthly essays based on the premise that Jesus is God and that by Him, and Him alone, will anyone be forgiven for their sins and by Him be given entrance into Heaven, and there to spend eternity with God.
However, unless a person hears about Jesus how will they believe and be saved? For we read in Romans 10 this:
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
Believing that Jesus is Lord, and by calling upon Him to be Lord over you, and believing that He was raised from the dead is at the root of salvation for anyone. How, then, can anyone believe in something about which they have not heard?
To believe in anything is something about which you first must be told. If you do not know about it how will you be able to make an informed decision one way or another on whether or not it is something in which you will believe.
To believe in Jesus you first must hear about Him. Second, it is only by hearing about Jesus that you will receive the faith with which to believe in Him. In Romans 10 again we read these verses:
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Believing on anything comes only by gaining faith from what you have heard. In this case, faith about Jesus will only come by hearing from the word of God. That is why every essay posted in this journal is backed up by the Scriptures – God’s Word.
God’s Word must prove what is written or it is not presented in any of the essay’s you will find in this monthly journal.
This is the reason for this Journal. It is to present Jesus to the public through its writings in hopes that God, through the Scriptures that are presented here, will bring faith to someone. So that by this faith they will believe in Jesus, call upon Him and to proclaim Jesus to be Lord of their life, and by that to find out that they have are forgiven for their sins and are saved from the wrath to come upon all who reject Jesus.
Jesus is God, and to everyone who confesses Him to be Lord, to believe that He has been raised from the dead and will proclaim Him as such, has the proof in their heart already of their salvation. Only they who believe can openly make this confession about Jesus.
How about you, do you believe?
Accept Jesus or Confess Him Lord?
Actually, both words “accepting” and “confessing” each have different meanings and only one is biblically correct.
I am sure you have heard it said many times, “If you just accept Jesus as your Savior you will be saved.”Well, you will not find that phrase anywhere in the Bible. Only once in the New Testament is the word “accept” used and it is not in connection with Jesus at all.
However, confessing that Jesus is Lord is written and it is stated in connection with being saved. In Romans 10: 9 we read:
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
And in Philippians 2: 10, 11 we read this:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confessthat Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Accepting anyone for any reason does not mean that you are subject to them.
Jesus stated the following in giving a good example. In Luke 9: 12, 13, 14 we read these words by Jesus in a parable He was giving:
Luk 19:12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
Luk 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
Luk 19:14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
These servants “accepted” this man to be a nobleman, and King, but they hated him and stated as such and even said that they would not have him to reign oven them. They accepted him but they did not confess him to be their lord and master, and accepting Jesus as Savior does not automatically get you saved.
However, when you “confess” that someone is Lord you are also saying that you are subject to him, will obey him and will follow him no matter what.Confessing Him to be your Lord is proof that you are saved. As it is written in Romans 10: 8 – 13:
Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Rom 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
So, which would you do, which have you done – accept Jesus as Savior or confess Him to be your Lord?
How Is Your Salvation Working Out?
How long has it been since God forgave you for your sins and you were born again into the family of God? So, how has your salvation been working out? Everything going OK, or are you having problems doing the things that you were told you should do now that you are saved?
You know, maybe just maybe you have been going about it all wrong.
Many churches will tell newborn Christians, “this is what is expected of you, and you should now follow this or that in order to keep your salvation.” After all, you do not want to lose what God gave you, do you?
Some churches might say this to you what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians:
Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Sounds scary, does it not? After having lived in sin for many years, doing what you wanted, you are now expected to be perfect and do what the church tells you to do. Yeah, I know, it made me worry also when I was first saved.
However, God had mercy on me and, by His grace, He put me into a position to read the read the rest of the verses that followed. Here they are.
Php 2:13 For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God…
Look at verse 13 and read, read and read it over several times until it sinks in. It is God which works in you both to will and to do of HIS good pleasure. I kept reading this verse over and over and over until suddenly in the thick skull of mine I realized what it was that God was telling me. He is working in me both to will and to do what HE wants me to do, because it pleases Him.
You see, I did not make a bunch of changes right away, but I did begin to notice how my actions were starting to be different. Here is but one example, I was really good in being quite selfish. Hardly a day would go by without insisting, “has to be this way,” without considering what my family wanted, and I was married with two kids. Good example, huh?
Then it started. One day, after proclaiming loudly on doing it my way, I saw a look in the eyes of my two kids that I had never before noticed. It bothered me to no end. Over a period of a week, I started feeling the same way with anything that I wanted, without asking what others would like. Then it dawned on me. God was working in me to change my very selfish attitude.
At first that sacred me as I realized that I was being so selfish, not taking into consideration what others of my family would like, and doing so in the presence of God. The thought of that un-nerved me to no end. Then I realized that God, in His mercy, was working His will in me to start thinking of the needs and wants of my family, in putting them first before me.
God just opened my eyes for me to see my selfish attitude, and how it was hurting other members of my family. In His way, He was letting me know that this needed to stop. God was giving me the will and desire to do as He wants. God changed me because it pleased Him.
Since then, in every part of my life, I have seen God work in me to see those things that needs to be changed, working in me to show me those wrongs and to give me the will and desire to stop; to do those things He wants of me.
When God saves someone, He does not let them go on their own to become a good Christian by themselves. God knows what we need, what He wants us to do, and He works in us His will to become willing, not only to change, but also to actually make the change as He wants.
As we work out our salvation on a daily basis, living each day doing our normal activities, God will show us those things in our life that He wants to change. We may go for days or weeks before God steps in and, in some way, puts the breaks on our activity, and then the change begins. We will never know when that will happen, but it will happen.
After God’s Grace has saved us, He does not leave us by ourselves to grow on our own, to change on our own. For by His Holy Spirit God works in each and every one of us, for whom Jesus died to secure our salvation, to show us our sins, to see how bad they really are and then to work in us His will to change us so that we become willing and do those things that He wants.
Yes, as disciples, God works in us – some like me more than others – through our whole time here on earth both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Soon the fear and trembling that we experience will become a sign to us that God is working in us once again because it pleases Him. Even discipline can be involved, as I have discovered, and we will praise Him for what He is doing.
So, as you walk with Jesus on a daily basis, if someone asks the question, “How is your salvation working out?” You can joyfully answer, “Wonderful! Just wonderful!”
Can Salvation Be Lost?
Is it true that once saved you can still lose your salvation and go to hell? Some people will say that this true, and it depends on the one given salvation.
However, numerous Scripture verses teach otherwise, and we are going to look at just a few of them; especially ones that Jesus stated. Read them for yourself and then decide if Jesus is right or if man’s religion is right. Then we will finish with a quote by Charles H. Spurgeon from his book, “All of Grace.”
All of the following verses are taken from the Gospel of John.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John 1:12, 13 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
We see in these verses that they lay out God’s plan for salvation and why once someone is forgiven for their sins, because of the sacrifice of Jesus on their behalf, they can never die spiritually and be sent to hell.
Jesus tells us that one must be born again not only to be able to see Heaven but also to enter into Heaven. This act of being born again, as seen in John 1:13 is not done by being born into a Christian family (not of blood), nor of being born by our good works (of the will of the flesh) or of our own free will (of the will of man), but of God.
The act of being “born again”, which provides our salvation, is “All” of God and man adds nothing to his salvation.
As for whom will receive this gift of salvation it is explained quite clearly by Jesus in saying that “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:” Not only does God draws whom He wills but Jesus also said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me”.
In addition, all whom the Father draws to Jesus not only will come and be saved but, be kept saved as Jesus says, “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”
As we have seen, God saves whom He wills, draws whom He wills to Jesus, makes them alive in their spirit and guarantees their salvation will never be lost and will keep them unto the end. Not because of anything that man has done or deserves, but because of what Jesus has done for them on their behalf.
The great British Preacher, C. H. Spurgeon, says this about salvation in his book, “All of Grace”…
“If you will have Jesus, He has you already, If you believe on Him, I tell you that you cannot go to hell, for that would make the sacrifice of Christ of none effect. It cannot be that a sacrifice would be accepted and yet the soul should die for whom that sacrifice has been received. If the believing soul could be condemned, then why a sacrifice? If Jesus died in my stead, why should I die also? Every believer can claim that the sacrifice was actually made for him. The Lord would not receive this offering on our behalf and then condemn us to die.”
Many other scripture verses will back up this statement that once a person is given salvation by Jesus Himself he is saved for all eternity. The true “born again” disciple of Jesus will never lose their salvation.
Salvation is provided by God, given by God as He wills, and saves for all eternity everyone for whom Jesus was sacrificed. Salvation, true God given salvation, can never be lost.
I pray that God will open your heart and your spiritual eyes to see this marvelous promise of God and receive it as your own, and have true peace in the security of your salvation. For it truly is all of God.
The Christian’s Day Of Independence!
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Thus begins the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America starting on their fight to obtain freedom from tyranny. Eventually they did become a free and independent nation.
I am a citizen of a bigger and better nation that is not of this world. That nation is the Kingdom of God.
At one time I, like everyone else – like you – was a servant to my sin nature, and that sin nature was taking me down the road to face God’s wrath on Judgement day. On that day if I were to be found guilty of my sins, I would be sentenced to spend all eternity in the Lake of Fire with Satan and all of the fallen angels that followed him.
However, God intervened on my behalf and according to His will, and for His glory – being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will: that we should be to the praise of His glory, by grace God set me free from my sins and set me on a path of righteousness.
From Romans 6 we read these verses:
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, you have become servants to God,
God has a Declaration of Independence day for all of His people whom He has chosen from before the foundation of the world. On the day that He has set for each of us, He brings freedom to us by setting us free from being a servant to our sin nature and that we may be to the praise of His glory.
Now, having been set free from sin, we have become servants of God, to serve Him and Him alone. All of His chosen people are truly created equal, that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, according to God’s will.
The result is we have been forgiven of our sins, and made alive in our spirit, all because of what Jesus, our great God and Savior, has done for us, and we have been adopted into the family of God.
The children of God have a true and an everlasting Declaration of Independence day. One not given by man, but by God Himself to set us free to serve Him and to know His love, unto the praise of His glory.
To our great God and Savior.
Have You Heard The Shepherds Voice?
The 23rd Psalm begins with “The Lord is my shepherd”. Pretty much everyone knows that but have you ever heard the Shepherd’s voice?
I am sure that if you believe you are a Christian you will most likely say that you answered a call to accept Jesus and be saved. So, now that you have “accepted” Jesus as savior, you are now saved; right?
What if I told you that unless you have heard the Shepherd call you by name the chances are that you might not be saved! Scary thought is it not.
There was a moment when Jesus was talking with some Pharisees. At one point He made this statement found in John 10:
Joh 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
Joh 10:2 But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Joh 10:3 To him the porter opens; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
Joh 10:4 And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Read carefully what Jesus is saying, especially in verse 3. He says that being the Shepherd, His sheep will hear His voice and He calls His own sheep by name. Did you get that? Jesus states that He knows all His sheep and He calls them by name.
In verse 4, Jesus tells us that He will go before His sheep and as He calls them by their name, they will follow Him: for they know His voice. Only Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will they follow.
Later on, the Pharisees ask Jesus this question in John 10: 24.
Joh 10:24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long do you make us to doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us plainly.
Here is the response that Jesus gave:
Joh 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
Joh 10:26 But you believe not, because you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Jesus tells them plainly that the reason they do not believe is that they are not of His sheep. The only way they would believe on Jesus would be if they were of His sheep and He has called them by name to follow Him.
If they are not one of His sheep, He will not call them to follow Him and they will not believe on Him no matter what He says because they are not of His sheepfold.
You see, we are to “believe” on the Lord Jesus as we hear Him call our name to follow Him, and as we hear Jesus call our name, we will believe on Him as our Lord, our Shepherd, and we will follow Him willingly.
At this point you might be wondering whom it is who gave us to Jesus to be our Shepherd and us His sheep, to follow Him. In John 10: 29, 30 we read:
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one. (Jesus is God)
Jesus Came To Reveal The Sin In Us
After reading the title you might say, “Did not Jesus come to seek and save they who are lost?” Why, then, do you say that He came to reveal the sin in us?
Good Question and here is the short answer. If we do not know that we are lost there would be no reason for us wanting to be saved. Think of this. Go and read again the Sermon on the Mount, and ask yourself if you have kept all those sayings that Jesus gave us. I am sure you would say, “No.” Why? Because we all have a sin nature and we want to do only according to our nature. We want to do things “our” way.
You see, none of us can say that we are without sin. In fact that is just what Jesus came to teach us. In His teachings and in the activities and miracles that He did He would mention sin.
In the story about the man who was lying on a mat by the pool of Bethesda Jesus healed him and later when He encountered the man again, we read this:
John_5:14 (KJV) Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
What about the woman caught in the very act of adultery, “the very act” they said? All these righteousmen said that in their law a person doing this was to be stoned. What was Jesus going to do about this? Well, let us see what Jesus said and what was their response:
John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
John 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last:
You see, these perfect, these righteous men saw in themselves their own sin and realized that they, too, were sinful people.
However, Jesus did not stop there. He now turned to the women and said this:
John 8:10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
John 8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Even to the woman whom He just kept from being stoned He revealed to her the sin that was in her life.These are just a few examples of Jesus revealing sin us.
Here are a few more verses that Jesus said about sin:
John_8:34 (KJV) Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sinis the servant of sin.
John_9:41 (KJV) Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.
John_15:22 (KJV) If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
Jesus knew that man thought of himself to be a good person, a righteous person, one who will go to Heaven because of their basic (sometimes) obedience to God. Just as I thought of myself – when I die God will weigh all of my good deeds against all of my bad deeds, the good will outweigh the bad, and for that reason God will welcome me into heaven. I sure am glad I found out how wrong I was, when Jesus revealed my own sin to me.
Did you, or do you now, believe the same thing? Remember what the Apostle John said:
I John_1:8 (KJV) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
The problem is that we “all” have sin in us, and unless we see our sinfulness in all of its ugliness and filth, and how we need to be saved from facing the wrath of God because of our sinfulness, we will never want to be saved. We are a sinful people and for that reason, we need to be saved from our own sinfulness, and its consequences.
Yes, Jesus came to seek and save the lost, but until man sees that he is lost he will never see the need to be saved. We need to see our sinfulness and confess it so. Only then, once our sin is revealed to us and we see it for what it is will we cry out to be saved.
For woe is us that we are such a sinful people. We need to have our sin taken away in order to be saved, and only Jesus can do that. As John the Baptist said:
John_1:29 (KJV) The next day John sees Jesus coming unto him, and says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Has your sinfulness been revealed to you? Do you now see that you are lost and need to be saved? Jesus has sought you, He has revealed your sinfulness to you and He has done so in order to save you; because He loves you.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Riff's Christian Journal 