My dearest brothers and sisters, if you have not already heard or read about this, this will be the greatest news you will ever hear in your life. Let me get to the point. All of us are going to Hell. Yes, you and I are going to be eternally shut away from heaven...if, we have not been saved the way the word of God says. You may be a Pastor, a Reverend, a Missionary or you may be a murderer, a prostitute, a drunkard or simply something in between these two categories; but unless you have been truly saved, you will not see eternal life with God. How, then does salvation come? It comes only in one way and I want to ask you (and I ask myself) have you been (have I been) saved this way? This is what the word of God says:
“But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law has been made known, to which the Law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” (Romans 3:21-22)
WOW!! A righteousness “from” God and most interestingly it says “apart from the law”.
If you have still not grasped the impact of this truth let me point out to you. “Righteousness” means “without sin”. This is exactly what we need in order to be with God. But it says that it comes “from” God. Now, this is something very new for me. I thought (and many people still do) that righteousness is “achieved” by keeping God’s Commandments; in short, by “not sinning”. But look at what the very next phrase is saying. It says “apart from the law”. “The law” here means the Ten Commandments and all other “dos” and “don’ts” that God has so far given us. Yes, my brothers and sisters, “apart” exactly means this, that this “righteousness” (complete righteousness) comes not by keeping the Commandments or any kind of law. How then does it come. It says “through faith in Jesus Christ”. Yes, it is through faith and faith alone (in the person of Jesus and what He has done for us on the cross) nothing more nothing less. If anyone thinks that this means something else or that we should not take it literally word by word, think again.
Now, you may think as (I and many others have thought) “Why can I not “achieve” this righteousness?” This brings us to the next verse for it says “There is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24) If anyone thinks that you are “ok” with God because you have kept the Commandment (which is impossible) or because you have done great things for God then you seriously need to reconsider. For, let us look at what Paul is saying in Romans 7:7 about our effort to keep the Commandments.
“What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except though the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said “Do not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the Commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life, actually bought death.” You see my dear brother, my dear sister. This is exactly why salvation is by faith alone. For we can never by our works reach God’s standard of righteousness. All of us have failed miserably. If you are still not convicted by this, let’s look further. Paul goes on to testify about one of the most personal and relevant truth about the inner struggle with sin which each and every one of us are going though.
“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do... I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing...” (Romans 7:14-20.)
Paul is talking not only about himself but about the universal human struggle that is in all of us. I can relate to him the most when he finally says “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 7:24-25. Isn’t this really “good”. Isn’t this what the “good news” is. The bad news is that in terms of the Law I have failed miserably. But the word of God says “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly... While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6). The truth is it will always remain this way; that you and I will always be sinners as far as our works and actions go and will always be in need of God’s unending love and grace.
What is even more wonderful is Galatians 3:10-14 says “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse...Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith... Christ redeemed us form the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us...He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
“What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.” (Gal 3:19)
“Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the Law” (Gal 3:23-25)
Hebrews 9:15 goes on to say “...Christ is the mediator or a new covenant, that is those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” And 8:11 says “By calling this covenant ‘new’, he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and ageing will soon disappear.”
My dear brothers, this is when the beauty of Jesus Christ and the wonder of what He has done on the Cross begin to make sense to me. I realize this is why Jesus says that the greatest Commandment is to Love the Lord your God with all our heart, mind and soul and to love our neighbours as ourselves; because we have been saved by faith through grace and this is all rooted in the love God has for us. Therefore, the most important thing to do and in fact the only thing left to do is “LOVE” and to love unconditionally. This is why Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 13 that after doing everything else, if I we do not have love, we have nothing. He ends by saying “And now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of this is love” (1 Cor 13).
Therefore let me point out to you what the most important purpose of our existence is. It is to have a relationship, a loving relationship, with God. This is the very purpose that we have been created for. And it is for this very reason that God has designed things in such a way that we cannot be saved by an impersonal way of attaining salvation by keeping the Commandments but in the most personal way – a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ based on love, faith and forgiveness.
My dear brothers and sisters, are you saved in this way, or are you still trying to attain Salvation by trying to keep the Law and in the process finding yourself failing over and over again. For no matter what you do if you do not know Jesus in person you are not saved. “Know Jesus personally?”
“But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law has been made known, to which the Law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” (Romans 3:21-22)
WOW!! A righteousness “from” God and most interestingly it says “apart from the law”.
If you have still not grasped the impact of this truth let me point out to you. “Righteousness” means “without sin”. This is exactly what we need in order to be with God. But it says that it comes “from” God. Now, this is something very new for me. I thought (and many people still do) that righteousness is “achieved” by keeping God’s Commandments; in short, by “not sinning”. But look at what the very next phrase is saying. It says “apart from the law”. “The law” here means the Ten Commandments and all other “dos” and “don’ts” that God has so far given us. Yes, my brothers and sisters, “apart” exactly means this, that this “righteousness” (complete righteousness) comes not by keeping the Commandments or any kind of law. How then does it come. It says “through faith in Jesus Christ”. Yes, it is through faith and faith alone (in the person of Jesus and what He has done for us on the cross) nothing more nothing less. If anyone thinks that this means something else or that we should not take it literally word by word, think again.
Now, you may think as (I and many others have thought) “Why can I not “achieve” this righteousness?” This brings us to the next verse for it says “There is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24) If anyone thinks that you are “ok” with God because you have kept the Commandment (which is impossible) or because you have done great things for God then you seriously need to reconsider. For, let us look at what Paul is saying in Romans 7:7 about our effort to keep the Commandments.
“What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except though the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said “Do not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the Commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life, actually bought death.” You see my dear brother, my dear sister. This is exactly why salvation is by faith alone. For we can never by our works reach God’s standard of righteousness. All of us have failed miserably. If you are still not convicted by this, let’s look further. Paul goes on to testify about one of the most personal and relevant truth about the inner struggle with sin which each and every one of us are going though.
“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do... I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing...” (Romans 7:14-20.)
Paul is talking not only about himself but about the universal human struggle that is in all of us. I can relate to him the most when he finally says “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 7:24-25. Isn’t this really “good”. Isn’t this what the “good news” is. The bad news is that in terms of the Law I have failed miserably. But the word of God says “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly... While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6). The truth is it will always remain this way; that you and I will always be sinners as far as our works and actions go and will always be in need of God’s unending love and grace.
What is even more wonderful is Galatians 3:10-14 says “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse...Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith... Christ redeemed us form the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us...He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
“What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.” (Gal 3:19)
“Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the Law” (Gal 3:23-25)
Hebrews 9:15 goes on to say “...Christ is the mediator or a new covenant, that is those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” And 8:11 says “By calling this covenant ‘new’, he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and ageing will soon disappear.”
My dear brothers, this is when the beauty of Jesus Christ and the wonder of what He has done on the Cross begin to make sense to me. I realize this is why Jesus says that the greatest Commandment is to Love the Lord your God with all our heart, mind and soul and to love our neighbours as ourselves; because we have been saved by faith through grace and this is all rooted in the love God has for us. Therefore, the most important thing to do and in fact the only thing left to do is “LOVE” and to love unconditionally. This is why Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 13 that after doing everything else, if I we do not have love, we have nothing. He ends by saying “And now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of this is love” (1 Cor 13).
Therefore let me point out to you what the most important purpose of our existence is. It is to have a relationship, a loving relationship, with God. This is the very purpose that we have been created for. And it is for this very reason that God has designed things in such a way that we cannot be saved by an impersonal way of attaining salvation by keeping the Commandments but in the most personal way – a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ based on love, faith and forgiveness.
My dear brothers and sisters, are you saved in this way, or are you still trying to attain Salvation by trying to keep the Law and in the process finding yourself failing over and over again. For no matter what you do if you do not know Jesus in person you are not saved. “Know Jesus personally?”
