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Friend,
The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” Rom 3:23a
But what is sin? Sin, the bible says, is the “transgression of the law.” “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 Jn 3:4
But what law? Well the Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Romans that he had not known lust was sin except the law had declared it unto him. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Rom 7:7 So the LAW, then, as Paul reveals it unto us, is the Ten Commandments; and the bible is clear that there are none that have not violated it. “For there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Ecc 7:20
When we die, the bible tells us that, we must all stand before God and be judged according to this law. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened [the law]: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Rev 20:12
So, if you were to die to today and God judged you according to His law, how do you think you would stand? Test yourself and see.
1. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exo 20:3 Have you always loved God above all and always put Him first in your life? Money, sports, sex–whatever you love most is the “god” of your life; and that includes yourself.
2. “Thou shalt no make unto thee any graven image [idol].” Exo 20:4 Do you worship a false god (an idol) other than the God of the bible? If you believe in a god who will allow sin (even if it’s a white lie), the god you worship is a false god (an idol); for the God of the bible is a “consuming fire” Deu 4:24, who “will not at all aquit tithe wicked.” Nahum 1:3
3. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Exo 20:7 Have you ever used God’s name when cursing, or just casually, such as “Oh my God”? When we use God’s name irreverently – like a four-letter filth word – we dishonour Him, and God says He “will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
4. “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.” Exo 20:8 Now, although in the New Testament we are no longer required to keep the sabbath day, we are commanded “to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” Heb 10:25 You see, as with the sabbath day, God realized that man needed one day a week to rest from his labours and to use that day for nothing else but His worship. Have you always honoured the Lord’s day? Or do you use that day for things like shopping, going out to eat, running errands, or fishing etc.? If you do, you are guilty of profaning the Lord’s day.
5. “Honour thy father and thy mother” Exo 20:12 Have you always obeyed authority, and only done those things that your parents would be pleased by? If not, you are guilty.
6. “Thou shalt not kill.” Exo 20:13 Murder, the bible says, begins in the heart. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Mk 7:21-23 Jesus said, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:” Mat 5:21-22, and the bible says in 1 Jn 3:15 that, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” If you have ever hated someone, had wrongful anger, or lost you temper, you are guilty.
7. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Exo 20:14 God forbids sex outside of marriage. And Jesus said, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”Mat 5:27-28 Have you ever had a lustful thought? If so, you are guilty.
8. “Thou shalt not steal.” Exo 20:15 Have you ever stolen something, however small? God sees illegal music and software downloading as theft. Ever steal a grade or a test answer? If so, you are guilty.
9. “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” Exo 20:16 Have you ever lied even once, including taking this test? No matter how small or insignificant it may seem, or even the intent behind the lie (“white” lies), God will not excuse lying. Jesus said to those self-righteous Pharisees, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Jn 8:44
10. Thou shalt not covet.” Exo 20:17 Have you ever wanted something that wasn’t yours, or been jealous of something someone else has? If so. Then you’re guilty.
So how did you do? Be honest with yourself. When you stand before the judge of all the earth, who sees hate as murder and lust as adultery, would He find you guilty?
God is good, and because He is, He must punish sin; “for the wages of sin is death.” Rom 6:23a However, the death that God is here referring to to is not just a physical death, it’s also a spiritual one. This “second death” is, as the bible describes it, a place of eternal torment; its a place that “burneth with fire and brimstone.” “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night,” Rev 14:11a “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” Rev 20:14
Now, here is the good news: God never intended the law to be the means by which man would enter heaven, but rather was God’s way of showing man it was impossible for his own goodness to merit it.
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Rom 3:20
God commanded those self-righteous Pharisees to “repent ye, and believe the gospel,” Mark 1:15, and Paul declares in Acts 20:21 that he preached “repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Repentance, is nothing more than coming into agreement with God about who and what you are in His sight –a sinner who, because you are guilty of violating His law, is deserving of that place called hell.
And this is why the Lord Jesus came and died. He fulfilled the law and did what man could not, so you and I could be reconciled back to Him.
“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Cor 5:18-21
Thanks be to God that through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, God has made provision for us to be reconciled back to Him and enter heaven, and to keep us from that place of eternal fire and torment.
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” 1 Cor 15:1-4
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Rom 1:16
“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.” Jn 5:24
“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; 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.” Rom 10:8-10
Friend, the gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s free gift to this lost and dying world: “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom 6:23b
Salvation is not in church membership, nor is it in baptism, nor sacraments, nor good works, nor is it in any prayer.
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Rom 3:24-26