For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (and) the wages of sin is death… But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord… God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (so) whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved… If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 3:23, 6:23a, 6:23b, 5:8, 10:13, 10:9-10
Satan’s Job
The job of satan (at least in part) is to keep us so in-the-dark that we do not know we are lost and frankly, as we look around the world today, he is doing a pretty good job of it. Currently in these United States practically ‘anything’ goes; a person can essentially find an accepting coalition for any behavior or action he or she can dream up and what was once rightfully considered sinful fifty years ago is now conventional and very often encouraged. Somewhere, somehow, we have falsely established an authority over God determining [for ourselves] a measure of sin suitable to our lifestyle and the fact that we witness similar conduct in our churches today is the abominational icing on the cake.
You Are a Sinner
You are a sinner, I am a sinner, your sweet old granny is a sinner, and yes, even Mother Teresa was a sinner. There is no need to get all bent out of shape about it; it’s just the way it is. The problem with sin is that God hates it, so much so that if you lived to be one hundred years old and only committed one stinking little sin, that minor imperfection would keep you forever separated from God.
God Demands Perfection
God demands perfection, and odd as it may seem, so do we.
We might not think we are perfectionists, but isn’t it true that we demand excellence from the folks we deal with? Would any of us fly an airline that advertised, “We Get You There…Most of the Time, ” or a doctor who asks, “I am not big on cleanliness; is that a problem for you?” Why then do we get all flustered when we learn that the God who created us also demands excellence, after all, we are made in His image.
There is Only One Solution
By that I mean there is only one solution for our separation-problem: the sin which separates us from God and denies us entrance into Heaven. And honestly, if God provided two ways, we would ask for three; if He provided ten ways, we would ask for eleven, one thousand ways, one thousand and one. Let’s be forever grateful that God kept it extremely simple and gave us one way only: Jesus Christ. If you are involved in a religion that has laid all sorts of required ritual burdens on you, then you are doing a whole bunch of extra stuff that the Lord never asked you to do. The Lord’s deal is a done deal; all you need do is accept it as the gift it was always meant to be. Jesus said…
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:30
We Receive With Open Hands
Like I said, your salvation (once received) is a done deal; there is nothing else you ever have to do accept take procession of it—that is in fact the Good News. If you choose to keep this Good News to yourself, it is your prerogative and your salvation will not be in jeopardy, but it’s GOOD NEWS MAN, how can you keep it to yourself? Tell someone! You are saved; you have discovered the cure for death—go give it away!
He Dwells -- The B'log in My Eye 