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(four miles south of Alliance on Rt. 183)
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The Good News!

Dear friend, please let me share this good news with you…

The good news starts with what sounds like bad news. If you have heard some things recently that are making you think about your life and eternity and ask some questions, I'm glad — for you. The only way to get to the truth is to examine what God's Word (the Bible) has to say. Once we begin to look there we not only see the truth about ourselves, but also the truth about God.

First of all, and there is no way to sugarcoat this, all human beings are born with a sin nature and follow the leading of that nature into rebellion against God (the very One who created them).

• "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" (Romans 3:10)
• "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23)

The words of the Bible allow for no exceptions — NONE are righteous, ALL have sinned! That includes you and me both! God in His complete holiness has set an absolute moral standard for humans. His standard doesn't change with the passing of time because God doesn't change. He is telling us that we don't measure up — we miss the mark and fall short. An Old Testament prophet put it this way, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…" (Isaiah 53:6).

This gets worse before it gets better. You see — there is a price to pay for our sin.

• "For the wages of sin is death…" (Romans 6:23a)
• "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12).

God set the standard (sure He can do that, after all He created us) but we don't measure up. So the penalty is death. You should know that the death mentioned in Romans 6:23 is more than that moment when the heart and brain cease to function and the body dies. That death is part of the wages of our sin, but there is also spiritual death. What I mean by spiritual death is this — complete, final, and permanent separation from God — for all eternity. You hear people use the word "hell" — well it's a real place. God calls it a "lake of fire" and He made it for Satan and the fallen angels (demons) who do Satan's bidding. It is a place of awful and eternal torment from which there is no return. This is kind of scary for good news, isn't it? You could say that mankind is as bad off as it can possibly be since all men are sinners, separated from God. That is not to say that every man is as bad as he can be, but as bad off as he can be! Well, now that we know the truth about ourselves and what awaits us, it's time for the really good news.

GOD LOVES YOU! Yes, that's right. Despite our sinful nature and the sins we have committed (which God finds repulsive and disgusting), He still loves you and me and the whole world. God made a way to restore the relationship between man and Himself which He had originally created.

• "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
• "But God commendeth [shows] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8).
• "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God..." (1 Peter 3:18).
• "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10).

"How can I be sure that God loves me?" you may ask. The answer to that question is found in the verses above. God showed His love for you by providing a solution for your sin.

"While we were yet sinners" — that means God loved us and provided an answerfor the sin problem even though we were rebelling against Him. He doesn't expect us to fix ourselves or clean ourselves up to be acceptable to Him. He solved the problem while we were yet sinners!

What did God do to solve the sin problem?

• "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23).

The answer is in the work of Christ on the cross. Are you familiar with the story told every Easter? Jesus, the only human who has ever lived a completely sinless life, was crucified (hung on a cross until He died). He didn't deserve that, He never sinned, so He didn't need to pay the wages of sin and die like the rest of us. But He did die. He did that for us. That's the really good news — God loved the world and showed it by sending His only Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for sin. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the "wages" of our sin — not His own because He didn't have any sin! The price has been paid, and the solution is offered to us as a "gift."

How do we receive that gift?

• "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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9-10).

Accepting the gift of salvation involves two activities. One, "believe" — that is the word for faith or trust. Many people know about heaven, it's a delightful place, pure and good. Who wouldn't want to spend eternity in heaven? So they are trying their best to earn their way to heaven — doing good works, giving to charities, being kind to people, etc. Those are nice things to do but they haven't gotten rid of the sin that dooms them to an eternity separated from God. They are trusting in their good works to get them into heaven (like God would weigh our good against our bad and decide if we've done enough to get into heaven). Remember, there is none righteous, no not one. One sin is enough to keep us out of heaven for all eternity ("For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10), and we have ALL committed at least one sin (more likely a lot more). So, instead of trusting our good works, God says we need to put our faith (trust) in what Jesus did for us. This is not something you can do on your own, you are helpless against the wages of your sin. But Jesus isn't helpless, He is God, and He paid the penalty for your sin. Do you believe that? Are you willing to trust Jesus, instead of your own efforts?

The second thing is to "confess" — that means "to admit, or acknowledge." We don't like to think of ourselves as "bad" people, so it is hard to admit to God our sins and our sinfulness, but that is exactly what He wants us to do. When we come to the point where we are willing to humble ourselves before God and admit helplessness, then He saves us.

What happens when I trust in Jesus' work and confess my sins? It's such a simple thing we can hardly believe that's all there is to it. But John 5:24 spells it out: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

• "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:" (John 1:12).
• "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36).

What happens when you trust Jesus? Your sins are forgiven (God will never bring them up to you again) — there is no condemnation; the sentence of death is taken away and you are given eternal life (to spend with God in heaven). This is only possible because Jesus died on the cross for you. When we trust His work (rather than our own) He takes our sin and gives us His righteousness. Thus begins a whole new life, no more under the control of our sinful nature we have the freedom to resist sinful temptation and do the right thing.