The Sinfulness of Man vs. the Purity of God
I think my great failing as a Christian is that in my fictional work I have not presented the Gospel. Beginning with Harmony Book 3: A Country Among Countries, I am rectifying that.
The bible teaches us that all men have ‘sinned’ or have offended God, Who Himself is without sin.
- “[…]Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty …” —Revelation 4:8
- “Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.” —Psalm 119:137
- “[…] thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself …” —Psalm 50:21
In the verses above we see that God is separate, he’s not like you and me. You have to realize that we are estranged from God by a sinful nature. We have a proclivity to make things about ourselves, and not God.
- “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” —Romans 3:23
- “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” —Psalm 14:2-3
Below, the salvation the bible
speaks of through the Person of Jesus Christ, was not fulfilled because there was something ‘worthy’ in you. He didn’t see a spark or some hope or anything good about you. Instead, God looked down and says we’re all filthy, no one does good, not a single one of us meet the requirements of what God deems ‘good’.
- “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” —Romans 6:23
- “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” —John 3:16-19
- “For he [God] hath made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who [Jesus] knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him [Jesus].” –2nd Corinthians 5:21
The basis of forgiveness and salvation is the love of God. Not your personal worthiness, because you were not worth it. When we start talking about personal worth and value, a Christian’s worthiness is found in Christ. Only when I am in Christ do I have any personal value to God. (outside of Christ you are filthy, inside Christ you are righteous)
- “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” —1st Timothy 1:15
- “Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:” –2nd Timothy 2:8
- “But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” –Romans 4:24-25
The bible teaches that Jesus was delivered up and crucified— killed— for our transgressions against a perfect God. He was in the tomb for three nights and then rose again. The resurrection proves He was Who he said He was, the Son of God— John 5:39-47, Matthew 16:16. His death pays the price for our sins (redemption), and his resurrection secures our justification (acquittal, in a legal sense).
I will end my clumsy attempt with this:
- “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” —John 14:6
- “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” —Romans 10:9-10
- “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” —John 3:36
Jesus is worthy of your love. He willingly gave Himself up to wicked men that crucified Him in order to satisfy
the wrath of God against sinners.
If you have any questions about the scriptures or Jesus, please contact me at http://www.genericscifi.com/contact.php.
