Mark Vestal Proud of nothing of myself. Freed by Christ who did it all!

The difficulty in understanding the vast chasm that separates us from God is due to the truly incomprehensible vastness of that chasm itself.

The purpose of the Bible is to bring mankind back to God by showing us that we are simply not capable of being in His presence and His perfect nature due to the sinful nature that is of man at birth. Sin entered the world through Adam's transgression, and because of this ALL are born into that sinful nature. We ALL fell from God through Adam. We are therefore not made sinners because of our sins. We sin because of who we are at birth, sinners!

Rom 5:12
"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:"

Genesis 6:5
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Rom 3:10-19
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes."
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

We are not only incapable of being in the presence of a perfect and holy God due to all being guilty, we are also not capable of understanding the extent of His righteousness, His grace, or His love for us.

Rom 5:8
"""But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Rom 5:15
"But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."

Rom 5:20
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:"

Recognizing that we are sinners and in need of God's love and help is our realization that the 'vast chasm' even exists. Jesus Christ and His completed cross work for us is our 'bridge' over that chasm. God has reconciled the world unto Himself through Jesus Christ our Savior. Christ lived the perfect life that we are incapable of. He then died on the cross in our place to make the complete and final payment to God for our sins. He was buried, but defeated both sin and death FOR US in His resurrection on the third day (1 Cor 15:3-4).

God's grace is so great that because He knows we cannot live righteously enough for Him He offers us the free unmerited gift of salvation through having faith alone in the work that He alone completed on the cross on our behalf.

The payment that Jesus Christ made for all of humanity was done out of God's pure love. God asks for our love in return for salvation, and we acknowledge His love by placing our faith in Jesus Christ and the blood that He shed for us on the cross!

Gal 1:4
"Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:"

The power to remove sin from our lives and to live a more righteous life for Him now comes from The indwelling holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). Believers will begin living a life less of pleasing themselves and the satisfying of their fleshly desires in 'this present evil world', and more for God through The Spirit that now guides us from within (Rom 8:1-13, Eph 2:2)!

Eph 4:30
"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

November 09 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report