Searching For God?

By Randy Seiver

INTRODUCTION

Apparently, you consider yourself to be a person who is searching for God. Otherwise, you would not have begun to read this booklet. The good news is if you are truly seeking God and are willing to know him as he has revealed himself, he has been seeking you. In fact, you would never have experienced a desire to know God, had he not begun to seek you first and given you that desire. As the Bible makes clear, it is not our nature to seek after God. In fact, left to ourselves, no one would ever seek God or desire to know him.

The Bible teaches that God intends for sinners who sincerely seek him to find him. The Apostle Paul, addressing a group of philosophers in Athens made the following statement:

. . .He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27“so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28“for in Him we live and move and have our being, . . .” (Acts 17:27-28).

God promised his people who had been estranged from him and taken captive by their pagan enemies “ . . . you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). Biblical writers make it clear that God is no less willing for sinners who have been estranged from him and taken captive by their sins to find him. In fact, the Apostle Paul describes him as “stretching out his hands to disobedient and contrary people” (see-Romans 10:21). In other words, if you want to know God, your search will not be in vain. I only ask that you be honest with yourself and honest with God’s revelation of himself.

WHO SAYS SO?

The Question of Authority

If you are truly and honestly seeking to know who God is and how to have a right relationship with him, the first and most logical question you need to consider concerns authority. Who has the right to say whether there is a right or wrong way to seek a proper relationship with God? Sometimes people like to accuse Christians of being judgmental because we insist there is only one God and only one way to have a right relationship with that God. Is this simply an arrogant claim made by those who feel superior to everyone who disagrees with them, or is this God’s revelation? On what authority do we make such a claim?

The basis of authority for everything I will write in these pages is God’s self-revelation in the sixty-six books of the Scriptures known as the Holy Bible. If any church or council or creed should contradict the plain teachings of the Sacred Scriptures, we must reject the teachings of these lesser authorities and follow the teachings of the Scriptures.

Still, you must be wondering how we know these Scriptures can be trusted. There are several ways in which we can demonstrate the trustworthiness to these writings. Although there is not space in this short booklet to expound these evidences in great detail, I want to mention just a few of them.

One such evidence concerns the unity of the Bible’s message. The sixty-six books of the Bible were written over a period that spans hundreds of years. They were penned by writers separated from one another geographically and chronologically. Many of them had no way to compare their writings with the message of other biblical writers. Yet, there is remarkable unity in their message and their vision concerning the coming of the Messiah.

Another indication the Bible is a supernatural book is the unfavorable light in which its writers often cast themselves. It is generally true that everyone is the hero of his own story. Though there are rare exceptions, in writing or talking about ourselves we usually emphasize those aspects of our character or our actions that will place us in the best light. Biblical writers, moved by the Holy Spirit, were uncommonly candid about their own faults, failures, and foibles. As with one voice, they presented themselves as sinners in desperate need of God’s grace.

Then, there is the archeological evidence that supports the biblical record. Though there is still much work to do in the area of archeological discovery relative to the biblical narrative, to date no evidence has been uncovered that would impugn the truthfulness of recorded biblical history.

Next, consider the fulfilment of prophecy. First, consider the prophesies of the Old Testament prophets that found their fulfilment during the Old Testament period. Often these men of God foretold events of which, apart from supernatural revelation, they could have had no knowledge. They also had no control or influence over the fulfilment of these prophesies. Still, these events occurred exactly as they had foretold and precisely when they said they would. Secondly, consider Old Testament prophesies regarding Christ’s first coming. The odds against all those prophesies being fulfilled in one person are mind-boggling. Yet, they all occurred just as the Old Testament prophets had foretold.

Finally, consider the biblical revelation in the light of what you know to be true about yourself. Do you not find as you read the Bible that what you know to be true about yourself and others around you is accurately mirrored in its texts. Do you not get the sense that someone has been “reading your mail?” No one but the manufacturer could know his product as he does. No one but God can know you as he does; he has told us all about ourselves in his book.

There have been many volumes written that present unmistakable evidence of the Bible’s reliability. If you still question whether the Bible can be trusted as our authoritative standard, I would strongly urge you to seek out and read one or more of these books. Please do not profess to reject the Bible’s message on intellectual grounds until you have thoroughly investigated and interacted with the material these books contain.

The Bible, then, is the basis of authority on which I will base everything I write in these pages. I have no authority of my own. I have no right to judge anyone or determine who is right with God and who is not, but there is a judge to whom we must all give an account. Not one of us will escape his judgment. We must all answer to him concerning our thoughts, words, and actions according to the standard of his revealed will. The Bible says,

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Heb 4:12-13).

ONLY ONE WAY?

Think About It

Does it really matter which path we take; don’t all roads lead to heaven? Can’t religious teachings that are completely contrary to each other both be right?

Logic teaches us statements that disagree with each other cannot both be true at the same time and in the same relationship. I may be both a father and a son, but I cannot be both a father and a son at the same time and in the same relationship. If different religions disagree with one another in their prescriptions for a proper relationship with God, they may all be wrong, but they cannot all be right. Jesus taught very clearly that he is the only way to the Father. The plainness of his statement leaves no question about his claim. He said,

I, myself, am the way, and no one else is; I, myself, am the truth, and no one else is; I, myself, am the life and no one else is, and no one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).

If other religions claim there is another way to the Father, both claims cannot be true. If one states we can attain a proper relationship with God [in part or wholly] by human merit and another states it must be by grace alone, on the merit of Christ alone, both cannot be right.

ONLY TWO RELIGIONS

Narrowing the Search

There are only two religions in the world. There is works religion, and there is grace religion. All those religions that fit into the “works” category teach that if people are to please the deity or deities of that religion, they must do so through their own efforts. If only they can do enough, obey enough, suffer enough, etc., they can earn the smile of the deity. Christianity is the only religion that teaches salvation by grace alone. Grace not only means unmerited favor; it also means ill-merited favor. Grace means we not only get something good we don’t deserve, but we get that blessing in the place of the curse we do deserve. Now, it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that both those religions can’t be going in the same direction. If peace with God comes through grace alone, it cannot come through works of merit at all. If peace with God comes through works of merit we have performed, then it can no longer be by grace [unmerited]. It cannot be merited and unmerited at the same time.

Now, this should greatly simplify your search. Only if you decide to choose one of the “do it yourself” plans [There are many plans for self-redemption], will you have more than two choices. Once you have come to understand that all religions other than Christianity are but variations on the theme of self-deliverance you will see you only have two alternatives. You must either choose works religion or grace religion.

If you should choose a works religion, you will need some objective criteria by which to choose which brand of works religion you should choose. Does it not make sense that the more perfect any religion, the more that religion will require? Only an imperfect God could require less than perfection in his subjects. The most reasonable solution, then, would be to choose the deity who demands the most perfect obedience to his or her laws. There are religions such as Judaism that present strict and rigid demands. The only problem is that such religions will only work for perfect people who can offer perfect works of obedience to the deity. Unless you are perfect in every way, you need to know that such a choice would be ill-advised. Still, if you should choose a works religion that requires less than perfect obedience, you need to know that religion is an inferior one, and not a good choice either.

Since you are not a perfect person and cannot produce perfect obedience to a perfect standard, the only logical choice you can make is to pursue a religion of grace. You must choose to worship a perfect God whose demands are strict and unbending, but who has determined to meet his own demands and grant his blessings by grace alone.

WHAT IS GOD LIKE?

Before you can begin a personal relationship with the God of the Bible, you will need to know something about what he is like. You cannot know him until you know about him. If you choose to love and worship God as you imagine him to be, you will ultimately love and worship a false god. If you are truly to love and worship him rightly, you need to do so in keeping with his self-disclosure in the pages of the Bible. The following is only a brief sketch of what the Bible says God is like.

God is the Creator of All Things

Early Christians addressed God in this way, “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, . . .” (Acts 4:24). Not only do the Scriptures teach us that God has made everything out of nothing (Genesis 1:1); they also teach us that he has made everything for his own pleasure. He has made all things for himself. You were created to bring God pleasure. You were made so that, through you, God might demonstrate what he is like.

God Is Spirit

God is a spirit being. He does not have a body like ours. We cannot see him with our physical eyes. He cannot be confined in a single location. He cannot be attacked with physical weapons. He can neither die nor decay. “God is Spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

God is Eternal

When the Word of God tells us God is eternal, we are not merely to understand that God will never cease to exist. We must also believe he never began to exist. This is not merely a deep truth; it is an unfathomable truth. Eternity cannot be measured in terms of time. Eternity is an entirely different dimension. God does not dwell in time nor is he limited by time. God inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15).

The Bible teaches that God is an infinite being. By this, the writers intended to convey the idea that God is without bounds or limits. In terms of space, the infinity [limitlessness] of his being translates into immensity. Jehovah, speaking through the prophet, Jeremiah, asked, “Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?" says the LORD; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the LORD”(Jer 23:24).Consider again Solomon’s words during the dedication of the temple. He said, “But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built”(2 Chr 6:18)! In terms of the duration of God’s existence, infinity translates into eternity. God is without beginning and without end. Not only is God, as an inhabitant of eternity, present at the beginning of time and at the end of time; he is present at the beginning and end simultaneously. “He has already lived all our tomorrows as He has lived all our yesterdays.”

God is Self-Existent

All other beings in the universe owe their existence to God, but he owes his existence to no one. God is self-existent, self-sufficient and self-satisfied. He does not need anyone to sustain his existence or to add to his happiness. “He does not dwell in temples made with hands; Neither is [he] worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;” (Acts 17:24-25). We are totally dependant on him but he does not depend on us at all.

God is the Ruler Over All Creation

God is not the helpless, old man upstairs many imagine him to be. He is the almighty sovereign who rules heaven and earth. He is the only being in the entire universe who has the absolute right to do as he pleases. No one has the authority to call him into question for anything he has done. The Psalmist wrote concerning him in contrast to heathen idols, “ . . .our God is in heaven; he does whatever he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). After the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, had been humbled before the Most High God, he spoke these words,

34And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation. 35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, “What have You done?” (Daniel 4: 34-35).

God Is Unchangeable

God does not change. He is the same today as he has always been and will continue to be the same forever. His nature does not change; his character does not change; his demands do not change; his promises do not change. He cannot change for the better since he is already perfect; He cannot change for the worse since then he would cease to be perfect.

Everything else around us is subject to change, but God remains the same. The psalmist wrote,

Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end (Psalms 102:25-27).

He is not like pagan gods who are capricious in their decisions. His eternal plan needs no alteration. No change can surprise him, prompt him to alter his course, or cause him to abandon the blueprint he has chosen for his everlasting government.

Nothing is impossible for God

God is able to do all his holy will. Nothing is too difficult for him to accomplish. Through the mouth of his prophet, Isaiah, God asked, “To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?" says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number; he calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing” (Isa 40:25-26).

God is Everywhere

There is nowhere in the universe where God is not present. It is not simply that some of God’s essence is everywhere; it is that all of God’s essence is everywhere at once. Concerning God’s omnipresence, the psalmist wrote,

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me (Ps 139:7-10).

God Knows Everything

We can hide nothing from God. In the Psalm cited in the immediately preceding paragraph, the psalmist wrote,

For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me," even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You (Psalms 139: 4, 11-12).

God knows every word we speak. He knows all our thoughts. Not one of our actions, however cleverly concealed from human observation, escapes his notice. Someone has rightly observed that secret sin on earth is open scandal in heaven.

God is Holy

When, in the Scriptures, God makes himself known as “the holy one,” he intends us to understand that he is absolutely separate from sin. God is infinitely pure. “As God’s power is the opposite of the native weakness of the creature, as his wisdom is in complete contrast from the least defect of understanding or folly, so his holiness is the very antithesis of all moral blemish or defilement.”

God cannot sin. He cannot tempt his creatures to sin. He cannot overlook sin or smile with favor on it. God is loving and gracious, forgiving a multitude of sins, but he cannot forgive sin at the expense of his holiness. Above everything else that God is, God is holy. He makes himself known as the “holy one.”

All God’s other attributes are affected by his holiness and retain the character they possess only because conditioned by it. “Without it, his patience would be an indulgence to sin, his mercy a fondness, his wrath a madness, his power a tyranny, his wisdom an unworthy subtlety.”

Holiness is the brightest jewel in his crown. Above everything else that God is, God is Holy. “Power is God’s hand or arm, omniscience His eye, mercy his bowels, eternity His duration, but holiness is His beauty.”

God is Just

The Scriptures reveal that God is righteous and will always do what is right. By this, they do not mean God conforms himself to a standard of equity imposed on him from outside. It is never right to conclude that God is unfair [unrighteous] because he did not act in a way that meets our standard of right and wrong. God is the standard of right and wrong and has pledged himself always to act like himself.

He cannot deem his creatures righteous unless we conform to the standard of righteousness he has revealed. This standard is strict and unbending; every deviation from it, however slight, must incur God’s displeasure. He will not overlook one sin or fail to punish even one act of transgression of his revealed will. The Bible describes him this way, “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; you hate all workers of iniquity” (Ps 5:4-5).

To the church at Rome, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, . . .” (Romans 1:18). When we think of God’s wrath, we should avoid the idea that God flares out of control in a fit of rage. Instead, we need to understand that God’s wrath is his settled indignation against all that fails to conform to his righteous standard.

God is Good

Once again, when the Bible tells us God is good, it does not mean he conforms to a subjective standard someone has imposed on him. In other words, goodness is not what we imagine it to be; instead it is all that conforms to God’s perfection. We know what good is by knowing what God is. God is good.

God’s goodness includes such virtues as love, mercy, graciousness. God acts for the benefit of his entire creation. We sometimes refer to this as the common grace or mercy of God. Such acts of kindness should tend to bring sinners to abandon their sinful ways and return to God. The Apostle Paul asks sinners a pointed question, “ Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance” (Rom 2:4)?

Due to the defiance that characterizes the human condition, common grace is not sufficient to bring sinners to a saving knowledge of God. It requires a special display of God’s goodness to break sin’s tyrannical reign and introduce sinners to Christ’s kingdom.

God is Faithful

The question you must be wondering about is whether this God can be trusted to keep his promises. After all, committing one’s entire life to God is a serious matter. Suppose you commit yourself to him and find yourself disappointed in the end. This is a very important question since faith in God is nothing more and nothing less than a heartfelt conviction that God is faithful to his promises.

This is what the Bible tells us about God. "Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;” (Deut. 7:9). Time after time the biblical writers reaffirm this truth to their readers. We can trust God to do all he has promised. He will always be true to his Word.

WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT FROM US?

God has revealed quite plainly what he requires from us as his creatures. As we read the Bible, it becomes clear to us that our duty to God is to love and obey him. In fact, the obedience God has commanded flows naturally from the hearts of all who love him. If we loved God as we ought, we would have no difficulty obeying him as we should. Yet, as we shall see, the love we owe God is a perfect and all consuming love. Accordingly, the obedience he demands must be unswerving. The Bible presents three characteristics of the obedience we owe to God.

Our Obedience Must Be Perfect

The obedience we owe to God must be perfect. The Apostle Paul, citing a verse in Deuteronomy, reminds the churches of Galatia that no one will ever be justified by keeping the law since the law demands perfect obedience. He writes,

10For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”(Gal 3:10).

It is not sufficient to obey most of God’s commandments, with near perfection. Our record must be one hundred percent perfect. The Bible says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).

Our Obedience Must Be Perpetual

Not only must our obedience be perfect; it must also be perpetual. We must continue in all those things that are written in God’s book. It will not suffice for us to obey most of the time. We must have a spotless record from the womb to the tomb.

Our Obedience Must Be Profound

It is not enough to obey God outwardly; God looks for obedience where no one else can see. Although you may be able to restrain yourself from committing outward acts of sin, you cannot control your sinful thoughts and desires. We see only the outward acts people perform, but God sees our thoughts and desires. Our obedience needs to be profound in the sense it goes beyond what is superficial or obvious. The “righteousness” practiced by the Pharisees of Jesus’ day was both superficial and obvious. Jesus said to them,

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26“Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28“Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.(Matt 23:25-28).

Jesus taught his disciples if a man looks on a woman to desire her sexually, he is already guilty of adultery (see Matt. 5:27-28). By this he did not mean the internal desire is as serious and damaging as the outward act. Instead, he wants us to understand the inward desire is as damning in God’s sight as the outward action.

No wonder he said to them, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven”(Matt 5:20).

WHAT ARE WE BEFORE GOD?

There is an obvious question we need to ask once we have discovered something about God’s character and nature and what he requires from us. That question concerns our condition in the presence of that God. Is it possible for us in our natural state to please God? Are we basically good people who only need a little tweaking to make us fit to stand in his holy presence, or is the problem more serious?

Two Basic Problems

The answer is we have two basic problems in reference to our relationship with God. The prophet, Isaiah, wrote, “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isa 64:6). This verse teaches us two truths about our condition before God. The first concerns our legal standing in his presence; the other concerns the perversity of our nature.

Our Guilt Before God

The verse we have cited in Isaiah 64, does not tell us our sins are like filthy rags; it tells us all the righteousness we can muster is detestable in God’s eyes. The Bible teaches that we are sinners whose best efforts fall short meeting the unbending requirements God’s righteous law. A person may sin either by doing what God forbids or by failing to do what God requires. Since you, like every other sinner, are self-centered, you have broken God’s greatest commandment. Jesus said, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment”(Matt 22:37-38). Does it not make sense that breaking God’s greatest commandment is the greatest sin a person could commit? Because we have dethroned God in our minds and become self-centered in our thoughts, we have chosen our own sinful ways in conflict with God’s way. Even our feeble attempts to please God by the works of our hands are acts of sinful rebellion against him. In Romans 10:1, the Apostle Paul, expresses his sincere desire that the nation of Israel might be saved. He then cites their sincere and zealous efforts to establish a righteousness of their own as the reason they were not right with God. He writes,

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God (Rom 10:1-3).

When the Apostle uses the phrase “righteousness of God” in this letter, he refers to God’s method of putting sinners right with himself. Refusing to submit one’s self to the righteousness of God is to reject God’s plan of salvation and to pursue a plan we have devised.
The Perversity of Our Nature

The second problem concerns what we are at heart. Not only do we not deserve God’s smile of approval; by nature we do not desire to seek his approval in his way. We are controlled by a nature that is hostile toward God. Just as falling leaves are carried where ever the wind wishes to take them, so our fallen sinful nature determines all we do.“We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Our sinful nature controls all our thoughts; it controls all our feelings; it controls all our decisions. The Apostle Paul tells us the fleshly mind [the mind that operates merely in the human realm, apart from God] is hostile toward God; it is not subject to God’s law and, indeed it cannot be (see--Romans 8:7). This echoes his teaching in a more extended passage earlier in this letter where he writes,

10As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
13 “Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.(Rom 3:10-20).


From such passages, it should be clear if you have a sincere desire to seek after God and be pleasing to him, God must have given you that desire. Such a desire could never have sprung from your sinful nature.

Under a Sentence of Death

The Bible describes sinners in a state of natural depravity as dead in trespasses and sins. Though, by nature, we are alive to sin, we are dead toward God in the sense that we are separated from him and the life he gives. We are unable of ourselves to remedy our condition and we are insensible to the dangers we face and the delights we are missing. We love what we should hate and hate what we should love.

Additionally, since sin has entered the world, we are all destined to die physically. Physical death occurs when the body, the outer person, is separated from the soul, the inner person that animates the body.

Finally, we are under a sentence of eternal death. This means sinners who die in their guilt and sin are destined to an eternity of separation from God and all that is good. The Bible says, “The wages of Sin is death. . . . (Romans 6:23). Death is what we have earned by our sins. Since our sins have offended an infinite God, we deserve an infinite penalty and an infinite separation from God.

A Summary of the Bad News

This, then, is the bad news about you. You are a sinful rebel who stands condemned before that holy judge who rules the universe. Viewed in terms of loyalty to God’s kingdom, you are guilty of treason, without hope of pardon. Viewed in terms of your ability to please God, you are bankrupt without hope of payment. Viewed in terms of your legal standing before God, you are a condemned criminal who has no hope of acquittal.

Do you feel your guilt? Do you sense your helplessness to please God? Do you tremble at the thought of standing before this holy one in judgment? If not, you ought to! Unless this bad news grips your soul, God’s good news will have little meaning to you. Before going on, pause and think about the the condition of your life and the condition of your soul before God.

God’s Good News

How can anyone ever meet God’s righteous demands? For a person to meet those demands, he would have to be a perfect person in all his thoughts, words and deeds. Additionally, he would have to maintain that perfect behavior from his conception in the womb until his dying breath. Such obedience is beyond the reach of the best sinner who ever lived. Clearly, that is not good news at all, but there is good news.

God is merciful and compassionate toward sinners. Although God cannot simply overlook sin, he, in his boundless wisdom, had devised a plan whereby he can fully express his love and mercy and at the same time satisfy his holy justice.

In the person of Jesus Christ, his uniquely begotten Son, God has paid the infinite penalty for every sinner who will repent and trust God’s promise to save him. Having obeyed the law we could never obey, he paid the infinite penalty for sin we could never pay. The law demanded perfect obedience; he obeyed perfectly. The law demanded perpetual obedience; he was able to say, “. . .He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him” (John 8:29). The law demanded profound obedience; he obeyed from the heart. All this he did in the place of those who are helpless to provide a righteousness of their own. He provides a perfect legal standing for those who embrace him in penitent faith.

God’s law not only demands a perfect, perpetual and profound obedience; it also pronounces an infinite [eternal] death penalty on all who have failed to meet its righteous demands. Since God’s law has been broken, he requires a payment of infinite suffering. Jesus, the perfect law-keeper, suffered and satisfied the penalty of the law we never could have satisfied. His death is infinitely valuable since he is not only fully man but also fully God. He offered himself as an infinite sacrifice and fully satisfied God’s righteous demands for all who will trust in him. By this one act of obedience to his Father, he has eternally exhausted the penalty his people should have suffered. God’s Word says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, . . .”(1 Pet 3:18).

Death could not hold its prey. Jesus rose from the grave on the third day just as the Scriptures said he would, proving all his claims are valid. Additionally, his resurrection demonstrated that God the Father has been fully satisfied by his work of obedience.

If you will trust God to keep his promise to declare righteous, in his sight, all who call on his name, he will credit your account with the perfect obedience and righteousness of Christ. He will account Jesus’ death for sin to have been your death. He will forgive all your sins and accept you as righteous in his sight. What’s more, he will break the power of reigning sin and turn your rebellion against him into loving obedience. He will free you from those sinful habits you have been unable to break.

Do you want to be free from sin’s power? Do you want to know God has forgiven all your sins? Would you like to spend the rest of your days on earth living a life that honors God? If so, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31).

God’s Word leaves no doubt that knowing God and being forgiven is a matter of grace alone, through faith alone, by the merit of Jesus Christ alone, and that God alone should receive the praise and glory for it.

The Apostle Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus made this clear when he wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph 2:8-9).

The merit of Jesus Christ is all the merit we need to enjoy God’s smile. The merit of mere human beings, however godly we may perceive them to have been, can never be accepted in God’s presence. Even the mother of our Lord, however blessed she was to have been the vessel through whom God brought his Anointed One into the world, still needed a Savior. Listen to her words as she blessed and magnified the Lord for his gracious gift. “And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior”(Luke 1:46-47). Even she acknowledged that blessed though she was, she still needed a Savior to deliver her from her sins.

WHAT MUST YOU DO?

After learning what you have read in these pages, you cannot remain neutral any longer. Surely, C. S. Lewis was right when in his book, Mere Christianity, he set forth the idea that a person only has so many options concerning his view of Jesus Christ. Any person claiming to be God in the flesh must be either a lunatic, a liar, or Lord. You cannot merely regard him as a great moral teacher if he is not who he claimed to be. Unless he was absolutely deluded and suffering from a major messianic complex, he could not have been moral at all if he made false claims to deity. In fact, if he is not all he claimed to be, he and his disciples pulled off the most elaborate hoax ever perpetrated. If he is all he claimed, you have no other option but to bow before him in repentance, faith and humble adoration.

Today, God commands you to turn from all you have been and all you have believed and trust him to keep all his promises. If you account him trustworthy, he will deliver you from yourself. He will forgive all your sins and break the power of sin’s tyranny over you. Isn’t it time you stopped trying to live life your way and began to live life God’s way? My prayer for you is that God will give you grace to come to Jesus Christ in humble faith and acknowledge his sole right to govern your life.

WHAT NOW?

What will it be like if God gives you new life? Will all your troubles immediately vanish? Will you begin to prosper financially? Will you be cured of all your physical ailments? Will your social life improve? Some have made foolish promises to those who were entering a new relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The problem is, God has not made any promise of financial, physical, or social well-being to those who follow him. The truth is, your problems may increase as you seek to be faithful to Jesus Christ. You may lose many you thought were your close friends. Some of your family members may even turn against you. You may have even greater financial struggles because you refuse to involve yourself in shady business practices as you have in the past. It will cost you nothing to become a Christian, but it may cost you everything you are and have to be a Christian. For this reason Jesus cautioned some who had expressed a desire to become his disciples to count the cost before they decided to follow him. This is what he said,

26“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29“lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30“saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31“Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32“Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33“So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple (Luke 14.26-33).

What Jesus was saying is that nothing and no one has the right to claim your allegiance in competition with him. You must forsake your sins, however precious and enjoyable they may have been to you. You must abandon your sense of your own goodness, however much you may have prided yourself in it. Your morality and self-righteousness cannot stand in competition with the righteousness of Christ. If you are asked to choose between your allegiance to Jesus Christ and your loyalty to your closest human relationship, you must choose to follow Jesus. One of the old hymn-writers expressed well what should be in your heart when you come to Jesus. He wrote,

The dearest idol I have known,
Whate’er that idol be
Help me to tear it from thy throne
And worship only Thee.

William Cowper

What you can expect is an overwhelming sense of peace when you think about standing before God in judgment, since you know he has forever canceled your debt and accepted you as righteous in his holy sight. You will have a deep sense of well-being inside because God has promised that he is causing all things to work together for your eternal good and his glory. Since you will understand more and more that God is the center of the universe, you will understand more and more that you aren’t. What a relief that is. It is not all about you; it is all about God. You were made for his pleasure, and it will now bring you pleasure that you are bringing him pleasure.

You are going to need to grow in your spiritual life. At your every opportunity you need to study the Bible to learn more about God’s plan for his people. As you read, ask yourself how you can put what you learn into practice. Find a competent Bible teacher who can explain the Bible’s message in a simple and practical way.

Beware! There are many who claim to believe the Bible who pervert its message. Compare everything you hear with the Bible’s message. If you can’t find it in the Bible, don’t believe it. Remember, all the texts of the Bible were written in a context. For that reason, it is best to find a teacher who explains texts of Scripture in the contexts in which the biblical writers wrote them.

You are going to need support and encouragement. Find a group of believers who meet regularly to share their problems and to rejoice together in the blessings of being a child of the great King. You need to confess your faith in Jesus Christ openly. The biblically prescribed way of making a public profession of faith is to be baptized. Baptism involves being placed under water and then being brought back out of the water. This is a symbol of what God has done to you spiritually. If you are truly a child of God, you have died with Jesus to your old life. Because you have died, your old life needs to be buried and left behind forever. But, not only have you died with Jesus; the Bible says you have been raised with him to a new life. This is what your being brought out of the water symbolizes. You have been raised to live differently than you did before.

Begin to share what you have experienced with others. Don’t become discouraged if they initially reject what you tell them. It is not your responsibility to convince them of the truth. God will take care of that part.

Daily show your dependence on God by bringing your needs, you thoughts, your desires, your doubts, etc. to him. Spend time thinking back over what you have learned about who he is and what he is like. You faith will be strengthened as you attribute back to him what he has revealed about himself.

You are going to be confronted with temptations. You don’t have to yield to them anymore. For the first time in your life, God has given you the ability to say no to your sinful desires. On occasions you will fail and fall into sin. You aren’t perfect yet; no one on earth is. When you fail, you need to remember God’s promise to bring you back into fellowship with himself. This is his promise. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” To “confess” our sins means that we take sides with God against ourselves and acknowledge that what we have done has offended him. When we confess our sins in this way he can be trusted to restore our fellowship with him based on Jesus’ righteous satisfaction of his wrath toward us. Additionally, he promises to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We can again enjoy communion with him with all the confidence and joy we experienced before we broke fellowship with him by our sin.

This is only the beginning. There are many trials you will face. There are many hurdles you must overcome, but God has already provided you more than enough help and strength to overcome them all. He has given you his Holy Spirit to lead you, teach you, and enable you in your new life.

Let me leave you with one final thought. Remember that all your guilt before God has been cancelled by Jesus’ death on the cross. False religion is motivated by guilt, fear, and superstition. True Christians are motivated by our understanding of God’s great love for us. If we understand the gospel properly, we know all our guilt is gone. We do not obey because we fear God’s frown, but because we never need to fear seeing that frown again. It is gratitude for God’s love and grace, not guilt or fear that motivates us to obey God. For this reason, you need to focus your attention on God’s great grace and Jesus’ dying love for you. The song writer expressed this thought well when she wrote,

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in his wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace.

Helen H. Lemmel