Post #9: We are made NEW! Sin, Judgment, Eternal Life

One of the most asked questions is what will happen when I die?  Will I stand before the thrown of God and give an account of all I have done in life, in hopes it will be good enough to get into heaven? This can be very disconcerting and a stressful mentality from which to base your world view. I don’t believe this is what the Bible teaches. But rather, we have someone who is advocating for us. And when we align our lives with Him, we can rest in peace and assurance of what is to come.

First let’s go through some background in scripture about how we find ourselves in the predicament of needing a Savior.

The Bible says in Romans 3:23-24. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory…

And in Romans 6:23. For the wages of sin is death…

Think about the word reconcile for a minute.  It means to bring back into harmony and peaceful coexistence. You see, our sin and wrong-doing separated us from God. All of us are less than perfect. 

In other words, what we deserve, what we have earned, and what has been deposited into the account of our souls, is death and separation from God. We need to be reconciled back to God.

Get used to the fact that you cannot affect your own rescue here. There’s not enough ‘I’m sorries,’ or good deeds to wipe it all away.

So how can we be reconciled back into a right-standing with God?

Here’s the good news. Our hope, our Gospel. And this is truly the best news the world has ever known.

God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)!

Here are the rest of the versus that I cut short with “…”  above.  

Romans 3:23-24.  All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, and are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:23. For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You see, God provided a way, a gift that cannot be bought. It is a free gift. John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. That whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 1:12 Yet to all who receive Him, to those who believed in HIs name, He gave the right to become children of God

1 John 1:8-9  If we claim we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

John 3:3. I tell you the truth, no one can see God unless he is born again.

John 3:36. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.

Acts 17:30-31.  In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people, everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead.

Romans 5:9. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

2 Corinthians 5:17-21. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 8:1. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

John 5:24. I tell your the truth [Jesus said], whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

1 John 2:1-2.  I write this that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have One who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but for the sins of the whole world.

 (NIV says: My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.) 

I hope these verses are encouraging to you. If you have given your life to Jesus, He has taken care of all your wrongs.  He is our advocate, Savior, and friend. And because of what He did for us, taking our place in death, we have been made new (re-born). It’s Jesus’ righteousness that gets us in, not our own. And therefore I know I will be welcomed in to eternal life with God, if I chose to accept this free gift of grace and forgiveness. I pray you choose to accept this gift too. Don’t wait.