The most terrifying truth in the bible is that God is good!

You may say, what is the problem with that?

The problem is: what does a good and Holy God do with sinners like us? How can liars, thieves, fornicators have a place in heaven? 

If God is truly just then what does he do with us? If a just God simply pardons the wicked he is no longer just. If a holy God calls the wicked to himself to have fellowship with him, then He's not a holy God. So the great question of all the scripture is this: how does a just God pardon wicked men? How does a holy God call wicked men into fellowship with himself and still be holy?

The answer is found in Jesus Christ.

God is just, so he must condemn our sin. He can’t close His eyes and just forget about it all. The sin must be paid for. A good judge must keep the law. So in His will and by His loving grace, God made a way for sinful men to be forgiven. God becomes a man, Jesus Christ, and lived a perfect life as a man. On the cross, Jesus took on the sin of all those who will trust and believe in Him.

All the wrath of God that was stored up because our sin is thrown down upon the head of Christ - the exact measure that was required in order to fully satisfy the justice of God. All the righteousness of Jesus is put on to our account, so that before God we are now seen as righteous. This is what we call substitutionary atonement.

Romans 5:8 says, ‘but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’

After suffering, Christ said, ‘it is finished,’ meaning that penalty of sin had been paid in full. He died because the wages of sin is death. On the third day he rose again from the dead, showing that He has power over death itself and is able to grant eternal life to all that trust in Him.

In John 14:6, Jesus tells us that, ‘He is way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through him.’ There is one God and one mediator between God and man - Christ Jesus.

We cannot save ourselves by good works. We cannot get to heaven through charitable deeds. We cannot take sacraments to infuse holiness into us. To be saved we must submit ourselves completely to Jesus Christ and the grace of God. The biblical definition of grace is a favour that we do not deserve. God’s grace wasn’t given to us because we are nice, or clever or smart. God is gracious because He is love.

In order to be saved the Bible calls all men and women to repent of their sins and to trust in Jesus Christ. The means of salvation was made for us on the cross, through Jesus Christ. To repent means to change one's mind and to realize you lived your life without regard for God or His Word. To repent means to submit to God's truth about who He is, and about who you are, and about who Jesus is and what He's done for you.

When you do this, the sins you once loved, you will hate. The holiness that you once ignored, you will desire. The Christ that you had no part with, you will now esteem and He will be with you forever, in this life and the next!

If you have any questions about how you can be saved or about baptism, please speak to Pastor Joshua on any given Sunday.