| April
22, 2006
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The history of Christianity begins just after
the Lord Jesus went back to heaven and the apostles began
to preach the gospel. It’s remarkable that over this
period of nearly 2000 years, there have always been efforts
to obstruct the preaching of the Bible message of salvation
as a free gift, received without human effort.
It seems strange to me that this should be the case. In
a world where people are always looking for a bargain or
a “freebee,” it is puzzling to note the resistance
to receiving a place in heaven without any cost. Yet, that
is the case. Worse than that, the history of most of the
martyrdoms throughout the years has been a record of attempts
to stamp out any knowledge of the free gift of eternal life
and the elimination of those who preached it. For some perverse
reason, the idea of a salvation without works enrages some
people to the point that they cannot tolerate it. They insist
that God’s wrath must be satisfied and the only way
to do it is by human effort.
It is true that God’s wrath must be satisfied, but
this has been already accomplished by the death of Christ.
Prophesying of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, the Psalmist
wrote, “Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and Thou hast
afflicted me with all Thy waves.” Psalm 88:7. Furthermore,
the apostle Peter wrote: “Christ also suffered for
sins once, the righteous One for the unrighteous ones, that
He might bring us to God.” 1Peter 3: 18.
I’m sure that most folk don’t realize that to
try to save themselves is to insinuate that the crucifixion
of the Lord Jesus was not enough to pay for their sins.
They would protest that this is not what they mean. But
if His suffering is enough, why would anyone want to do
more?
The old hymn says it so well:
“There was none other good enough to pay the price
for sin.
He only could unlock the door to heaven to let us in!”
To resist the gospel and refuse the free gift is to shut
the door to heaven on our own face. Salvation is a free
gift and the only way to get it is to reach out an empty
hand and receive it.
Russ Nesbit
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