by Charles R. Swindoll
Romans 3:10-18
It doesn't take a Ph.D. in English Literature to observe that God
offers us a gift in salvation. The gift is eternal life, which is
directly connected to His Son.
Now let's be clear and cautious. Becoming a member of a church is not
the way to salvation---just believing in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Neither does God require a long list of heavy-duty accomplishments.
Nor
vast sums of money. God is coming to the rescue of those who are lost
by offering the free gift of eternal life to those who will simply
believe. Those who do may know they have been rescued.
"But it seems too easy," you say. "Something as vital as eternal
salvation seems far more valuable than that." Don't misunderstand. It
is valuable . . . the most priceless possession one can have. But
because we don't have to work for it or pay for it does not mean it's
cheap or that nobody paid a handsome price. Someone did. His name?
Jesus. Perhaps you already forgot that this gift of salvation is
directly connected to God's Son, Christ Himself. Because He paid the
full price, because He opened the way for us, we are able to take it
as
a gift.
It's funny, but most of us are suspicious of free gifts. "There ain't
no such thing as a free lunch" is more than a line out of a comedian's
script. We have too much skepticism (or pride) to believe we can get
something for nothing. So it's understandable that we'd be reluctant
to
accept a gift as important as eternal salvation if it has the
appearance of a "free lunch," right?
In all honesty, to say that God's rescue offer costs nobody anything
is
misleading. It costs us nothing today, but it cost His Son's life.
That's the part we forget about.
When sin first reared its ugly head on earth, the holy God of heaven
could no longer enjoy a close relationship with the human race. And
the
longer mankind practiced his or her wicked ways, the wider the gap
grew
between man and God. This sin disease, contracted at birth and
inescapably contagious, spread like wildfire from one generation to
the
next. With sin came death, as this verse of Scripture declares:
When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread
death throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and
die, for all sinned. (Romans 5:12 TLB)
Yes, everything. In fact, this universal sin disease impacted every
part of our being. Hard as it may be to read these words, please do
so:
As the Scriptures say, 'No one is good---no one in all the world is
innocent.' No one has ever really followed God's paths, or even truly
wanted to. Every one has turned away; all have gone wrong. No one
anywhere has kept on doing what is right; not one. (Romans 3:10-18
TLB).
That's the way we are in God's sight. Being lost, we are in such a
miserable spiritual condition that we have no hope of finding our way
to Him on our own. Sin separates us from our Creator. His rightful
requirement is that sin must be punished. Someone who is qualified
must
rescue mankind by satisfying God's wrath against sin. Someone must pay
the awful price, dying as our substitute, taking our place and bearing
our sin before God.
Jesus Christ did just that.
Don't simply believe my words . . . believe the words from the Bible:
For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in
exchange, he poured God's goodness into us! (2 Corinthians 5:21 TLB)
We aren't saved from sin's grasp by knowing the commandments of God,
because we can't and don't keep them, but God put into effect a
different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like
ours---except that ours are sinful---and destroyed sin's control over
us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. (Romans 8:3 TLB)
For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that
anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life . .
.
. And all who trust him---God's Son---to save them have eternal life;
those who don't believe and obey him shall never see heaven, but the
wrath of God remains upon them. (John 3:16, 36 TLB)
Christ also suffered. He died once for the sins of all us guilty
sinners, although he himself was innocent of any sin at any time, that
he might bring us safely home to God. (1 Peter 3:18 TLB)
Yes, it certainly cost somebody something. I repeat, it cost Jesus
Christ His life. But because He paid the price in full on our behalf,
we are able to accept God's offer free and clear of any cost to us.
The
payment has been made. The ransom has been provided in full.
The only issue that remains is this: Will you accept the gift God
offers you today? Now that the remedy for sin has been provided, all
that remains is receiving it.
Excerpted from Stress Fractures, copyright © 1990 by Charles
R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
