Friday, December 19, 2008

Just Jesus!

I bet you think this is going to be another pontification about Christmas being about Christ. Though it is, I have something else in mind; I read a news article today that showed America's apostasy. That is, when it comes to heaven, salvation, and those kinds of things, too many professing Christians have bought the tolerance lies that Satan has spewed out since the Garden of Eden. They believe that salvation is about your sincerity of belief. Okay, maybe they did not use those precise words. But they did affirm multiple ways to heaven.

A majority of professing Christians have moved from respecting one's right to choose their form of worship, to actually believing that there are multiple ways to heaven. In fact, that figure reaches to an alarming 65 percent. This includes all professing Christias. Fifty-one percent of evangelicals believe that there are multiple ways to heaven. That figure was higher six years ago, so someone woke up and smelled the burnt coffee. Thank the Lord for a little good news in the midst of the bad.

Still, too many people think that salvation can be about Buddha, or Allah, or some other person. It's not, folks. Salvation is through Jesus. Period. Not Jesus, plus your works. Just Jesus. Not Mohammed as God's prophet. Just Jesus. Not the Noble Path. Just Jesus.

The good news is that God provides a full pardon for our sins. He paid the debt himself by sending Jesus to die for you. God proved he was satisfied with Jesus' sin payment by raising Jesus from the dead. And God said, as it were, "You want salvation? You want eternity in paradise? It's paid for, but you have to accept my payment as good enough. And my payment was Jesus' death on the cross. And to prove I was satisfied, I raised him from the dead after 3 days."

The good news cannot be good without bad news alongside it. The bad news is that, no matter how sincere you may be, if you do not turn to Jesus and place your faith in him and him alone, there is no salvation. There is only that terrible place called hell. Not annihilation. Hell. Not purgatory. Hell. The bad news gets worse: "He that does not believe [in Jesus] is already condemned." Read about it in John chapter 3. So if you do not believe in my Jesus, dear friend, you have already been condemned and are only awaiting the execution of the death sentence. You are on death row. That is what makes the good news good. Someone else was executed in your place, if you are willing to accept his payment. If not, you stay on death row.

Don't place your hope in your ability to earn your way to heaven. Don't trust your religion. Just trust Jesus.

Pray for America. Perhaps God will spare America a few more years so that we can turn to him.

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