We are born sinners.  Adam was the beginning of all humanity.  “By one man,” the Scripture tells us, “Sin entered into the world and death by sin” (Romans 5:12).  But then, the good news comes.  “So therefore, by one man, Jesus, through His obedience, through His sacrifice…by one man, righteousness now was available to all who believe in Him”, amen?  In John 16, the Holy Spirit is reproving the world of sin.  Second Corinthians, Chapter 5 tells us Jesus was made sin with your sin and mine.  He didn’t die on that cross for anything He did.  He lived a perfect, sinless life.  He was a willing sacrifice to have put on Him the sins of all the world, and He was made sin with your sin that you might be made righteous with His righteousness.

So much of humanity today believes that in the last days we’re going to be judged by our works, whether we did good, and our good outweighs our evil.  But the question has to be answered: “How much good is enough?  How much do we have to do to be assured?  Do we know that by our works we can appease God?”  The Bible says, no, you can’t know, because it’s impossible.  “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).  You see, if works do it, then we’re putting our own righteousness up as being able to pay the debt.  “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10), the Scripture says.  The Bible says the best that a man can be is filthiness in the eyes of God.  We have one hope of being reconciled back to God.  There’s only one way.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).  “There’s only one name under heaven whereby men can be saved” (Acts 4:12), the Bible says.  Not sins; “of sin because they believed not on Me.”  What’s going to bring the judgement and wrath of God is if we refuse His provision.  There’s only one provision.  It’s not good works.  It’s no other god.  It’s the Lord Jesus Christ and His sinless death.  Having paid the debt for you and me.  “And by His death,” the Scripture says, “He destroyed death and then was raised to eternal victory and is at the right hand of God”.

I’d like to encourage every person that has not made Jesus your personal Lord and Savior—not your fireman—there’s no way that we can be reconciled back to God but to surrender our lives fully to His oversight, to His lordship.  Our independence has to now be placed aside.  “It’s no longer I that live,” the apostle said, “but Christ that liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20).

You need to make the decision.  I didn’t make that decision as an 8-year-old, but my life was changed forever at that lady’s house.  And I had, now, the knowledge of God, but I didn’t do anything with it.  But God, in His mercy and grace, visited me again and gave me the opportunity again.  And I took Him up on it, and I bowed my knee.  And I’ve failed Him many times, but He’s never failed me.  He’ll never leave us, nor forsake us.  Of those that come to Him, He turns none away.  There’s not anything that you’ve done in your life that is so horrible that this love of God, this grace of God, this gift of God cannot blot it out.  The blood of Jesus blots out all of the accusations made against us by our own sins.  There’s no longer a record—of those of us who’ve confessed and turned our lives over to Him—of anything that we’ve done in our past life.  If you haven’t already, make the decision.