GOOD NEWS FOR EVERYONE!
Because of Adam's original sin (eating the forbidden fruit)....
You are a sinner. I am a sinner. Everyone is a sinner.
We all sin many, many times each day, quite often without even knowing it.
I sin a lot.
Just what is sin?
As one example, sin is any time that you do anything that is not lawful under the 10 Commandments.
That includes even lusting after a woman (or man) in your heart, and it also includes thinking bad or mean thoughts against someone else.
Sin also includes all of the times when you should have done something, but you did not.
According to God's absolute perfect Justice, the punishment for just one sin is DEATH and ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD.
So, each and every human being on Earth is under a Death Sentence from God Himself.
This doesn't sound like "good news", does it?
So, are we doomed?
NO!
Now, here comes the GOOD NEWS!
Jesus Christ, God Almighty Himself, who created all of us, willingly decided to come to Earth and Sacrifice His own Life to make a "Once-For-All-Time" Atonement to God the Father!
When Jesus Christ died a humiliating, painful death on the Cross, God the Father transferred ALL of the sins of every human who has ever existed and ever will exist (who puts their faith in Jesus) onto Jesus Christ.
Jesus had ALL of your sins placed on Him (even the sins that you have not yet committed), and Jesus willingly received your punishment of death that you deserved!
If YOU were the ONLY person on Earth that needed to be saved, Jesus loves YOU so much, that He would have come to Earth to die for YOU ALONE!
Then, after 3 days, Jesus rose from the dead and went to Heaven to be with the Father!
Now, if someone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ sins, God the Father immediately applies the Blood of Christ to your sin and blots that sin out (if you are repentant) and declares you righteous, because 2,000 years ago, that sin was already paid for by Jesus Christ on the Cross!
Does that mean that all people are saved?
NO!
The Bible makes it clear that ONLY those who believe in and put all their trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord, and Son of God, and His Sacrifice, will be saved!
Who is Good?
Romans 3:10: according as it has been written, "There is not a righteous one, not even one!"
Who has Sinned?
Romans 3:23: for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God
Where did Sin came from?
Romans 5:12: Because of this, even as sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, so also death passed to all men, inasmuch as all sinned.
God's Punishment for Sin
Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death...
Who Paid The Price and Who Suffered the Punishment instead of us?
Romans 5:8: but God commends His love to us in this, that we being yet sinners, Christ died for us.
The Only Way Out of Receiving the Punishment of Death and Eternal Separation from God:
Romans 10:9: Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:10: For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.
Romans 10:13: For everyone, "whoever may call on the Name of the Lord will be saved."
You can take God at His Word and claim His promise for your Salvation -- If you truly, sincerely, absolutely believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, Pray to God and Repent of your sins, ask God for forgiveness, and tell Jesus Christ that you believe in Him and His Sacrifice, and ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart and to be the Lord of your life!
Edited by - UnDisfellowshipped on 15 February 2003 3:26:44