New Habits

We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.  A saved soul needs to develop new habits.  The Bible tells the Christian to put off the old man, and to put on the new man.  That means that we should put off the old habits and propensities of the flesh (old sinful human nature).  It also means that we must put on new habits of the new divine nature that is given to us when we are born again.  Here are some new habits you should exercise in your daily routine that will bring glory to God and joy to your life:

Thankfulness, humbleness, trustfulness, godliness, meekness, nothingness, forgiveness, prayerfulness, joyfulness, thoughtfulness, kindness, hopefulness, earnestness, and watchfulness. Always be patient, make things better in your home and church and at work, remember Jesus, always be yielding and submitting, become someone's friend, be slow to wrath, stay calm under pressure, develop trust, encourage the fallen and discouraged, follow Jesus in your thoughts and deeds, grow in grace, give others sound scriptural advice, be gracious and useful, make someone smile, show up on time, seek the LORD-His help-His strength.

Stay in fellowship and in communication with the LORD, magnify Jesus with your actions, keep it simple, don't take yourself so serious, don't hold grudges, trust  and obey, do your part, manage a crisis, minimize chaos, moral clarity, personal purity, spiritual maturity, simplify your life, please the LORD first and foremost, help others secretly, help the helpless, strive for purity of heart and thought, overcome obstacles, make a difference, remain dependent on Jesus.  Be thoughtful of God, and thankful to Him throughout your day.

Look to the Cross - look for His coming, be consistent and diligent, quickly forgive, get up and try again, plan ahead, be content, recognize others' accomplishments, don't overeat, be grateful to God, love unconditionally, value time together, stay close to the Cross, keep a tender conscience, hide the words of God in your heart, thank God for His blessings, be mindful of God's presence and provision, encourage others, practice gratitude, don't make excuses for your sins, worship and adore Jesus, expect God to work in the circumstance of your life, learn from your mistakes, protect others zealously, be kind in word.

Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him.  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.  And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.

Food for Thought 3

The matter of your soul's Salvation needs all your thought and care and your utmost attention and concern.  You are personally accountable to your Creator God for all your thoughts, words, and deeds in this life.  You have done wrong in the eye sight of God, and all those sins must be punished.  Divine justice shall be meted out to moral evil in the world to come. God in human flesh, Christ Jesus, made a full Atonement for my sins, He made Atonement for my sins in particular, and put them away by His mercy and blood.

The atheist cannot enjoy God, because he sees God as bound by the justice of His holy nature to punish him for his sins. The atheist loves to think about sin, but not God. An atheist does not like hear the name of God, for they are filled with dread and dismay at the very thought of God.  Almighty God apart from Jesus Christ and His Atonement for human sin is the object of dread to the guilty.  For the unconverted atheist, there can be nothing comforting about God, until the atheist sees God revealing Himself as the Great Atoning Sacrifice of Calvary.

The atheist is raw human nature looking you in the face, and human nature does not want true holiness, it wants selfishness, lust, lewdness, excess, vice, that is, everything opposite of Christ.  The atheist chooses sin every day and naturally neglects Christ.  The atheist avoids Christ as the wanted criminal avoids the police.  When everyone else in the room is cursing and cracking dirty jokes, the saved soul is sighing and uncomfortable all the time.

What is the cross of Christ?  It is the very center of Christianity.  The Son of God did actually and literally die, nailed to a Roman Cross as a criminal, numbered with the transgressors.  He did this because He of His own voluntary will took our sins upon Him, and atoned for those sins by His own sinless bloody death.  He laid down His life, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God.  Accept His Atonement, repose your entire confidence upon His Atoning Blood.  Adoring gratitude makes me obedient to God's will.  Jesus laid down His life to deliver me from the wrath to come on human sin.  *II Corinthians 5:19-21; Acts 16:31; John 3:16; Matthew 11:28; Isaiah 1:18*

The Gospel is a divine promise from the Lord Jesus Christ of free, instantaneous, perfect, irreversible, everlasting Pardon to all who simply believe on His atoning blood.  The Christ of God made Atonement for human sins with His bloody sweat, pierced hands, feet, and side.  I am washed in His blood, clothed in His Righteousness, adopted into God's family, freely given a new nature within by Regeneration of the Holy Ghost.

All my sins were punished on Christ, my sins were forever put away, and nothing shall ever tbe laid to my charge, because Jesus took my place and saved me by His grace.  Christ Jesus Himself meets all my needs - from sins to Atonement, bondage to Redemption, death to Resurrection, weakness to Strength, wickedness to Righteousness, evil nature to Sanctification, guilty to Forgiveness. My sins were laid on Christ, and Christ's Righteousness was laid on me.  The ransom price for sin is paid, the Atonement of Christ was presented and accepted by God.  Who gave Himself for our sins.  The Blood mark must be placed upon your soul by the Holy Ghost.

Come to Jesus' Blood now for a complete Reconciliation to God, between you the offending sinner and the offended God.  God is always Love, but He is also Just, and unable to deal with guilty sinners except in absolute justice. There is Eternal Justice, a Judgment to come, there will be a punishment for human sin.  Justice demands that the sinning soul shall die.  But Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and now God without violation of His holiness. God is now able to deal in mercy with sinful men.

God can now be Just and the Justifier of Him which believeth in Jesus.  Jesus Christ came and bore our sins and their punishment.  I am forgiven and saved by Precious Blood.  Salvation by human works is a devilish falsehood.  Salvation by the sprinkled blood of the Lamb of God.  He that is flat on his face need fear no fall.  Only cast yourself upon Christ by a simple faith and be saved at once.  Fully trust your soul with Christ.  Be more afraid of your own self-righteousness, than your unrighteousness.

Empty your pockets spiritually, make yourself poor.  Stop trusting in your own efforts. Get down to spiritual beggary, destitution, penury, and want, for that is the only way you can obtain the unsearchable riches of Christ.  If a beggar came to your door, and said, "Sir, I am not very bad off, I have a nice little income, but still, I want some relief."  How much help would he get from you?  But another beggar comes to your door, He is in rags, his feet are bare, his face is dirty and unshaven, his body is sickly, he hasn't had food in days, He sleeps on the street at night - the worse his story is, the more he will prevail with getting something from you.

Begging is very degrading.  People look down on and pity beggars.  Reveal your poverty and wretchedness to the rich and gracious Savior.  If you are a slave to your sins and unable to free yourself from their evil bondage, turn to God now and savingly trust to the Sin-Bearing Substitute of Calvary.  God will mete out His vengeance upon the Christ rejecter. Be wise, go directly to the Cross and take to begging. Trustfully lay hold on the Lamb of God.  You can only be born again, born from above, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, as a result yielding to and trusting to Jesus and His Atoning Blood and Perfect Righteousness.  Prove the sincerity of your love.  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. *II Corinthians 8:8-9*

A Forgotten Bible Word

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

The LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.  Thus saith the LORD, To Me belongeth vengeance and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.  The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.  The LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in His eye sight.  Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. Turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent Me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.

Then hear Thou from heaven, and do, and judge Thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.  Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.  They that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.  A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him.  Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.  Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.  Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.  Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.  They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto Me, saith the LORD.  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.  He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord.    Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.

He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity. Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings.  Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.  The LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.

Precious Gospel Words

* Adoption - God taking us into His family, favor and protection simply because of what Jesus did for us (John 1:12; Romans 8:15,23; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5)

* Election - the sinner chooses Christ the Elect One (Isaiah 42:1), and then God chooses the sinner, and puts him into the Elect One, Christ Jesus Himself. The sinner is not elect until he is in Christ. (I Thessalonians 1:4; Titus 1:1; I Peter 2:6; II Peter 1:10)

* Imputation - The divine operation where God charges all our sins to Christ's account, and then charges all of Christ's Righteousness to our account. God takes the life of Jesus Christ and credits it to me, and then God takes my wickedness and credits it to Jesus Christ. Imputation is when God takes my sins and marks them down on His Son's record, and then God takes His Son's Righteousness and marks it down on my record, and I am found absolutely innocent in God's sight for Christ's sake (Romans 4:6,8,11,22-24; 5:13; II Corinthians 5:19-21). Imputation means that God no longer counts your sins against you for Christ's sake. God can only do this because Christ has taken your sins upon Himself, along with all the blame, curse, and wrath due to your sins. Jesus took your place, so you can now take His place. God eternally imputes Christ's Righteousness to a guilty sinner's account when that sinner places His faith in the Blood and Merits of Jesus Christ alone. Works can never have a part in any sinner's salvation, for no sinner has any merit to present to God.

* Incarnation - God became a Jewish man in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, so that He could die for sinful men and save them from their sins (I Timothy 3:16; Matthew 1:23).

* Justification - To be legally discharged, acquitted, and cleared from all our sins by the grace and blood of God. To be declared absolutely just in God's sight because of Christ's sinless obedience and bloody death. Free Justification through the atoning Sacrifice of God manifest in the flesh on Calvary's Cross (Romans 3:24,26; 4:5,25; 5:1,9,16,18; Acts 13:38-39; Galatians 2:16; 3:24; Titus 3:7).

* Propitiation - The satisfying of God's divine justice by Christ's Atonement for human sin; the appeasing of God's wrath and being made acceptable in His sight through faith in the Blood of Jesus Christ; the atoning sacrifice offered to God by Jesus Christ to appease the wrath due to our sins, thereby making God pleased with us for Christ's sake. Every sin committed by every man was paid for with God's Blood on the Cross. God's wrath fell on Jesus Christ when He became Sin on Calvary's Cross. If you want to be Safe, go to Calvary; you want to be damned, go and try to work for your salvation. Safety from the wrath of God is only found where the wrath of God has already fallen - The Lamb of God (Romans 3:25; I John 2:2; 4:10)

* Reconciliation - To be brought back into a state of favor with God through simple faith in Christ's atoning Blood (Romans 5:10; II Corinthians 5:18-20; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 1:20-21; Hebrews 2:17)

* Redemption - The payment to buy back something that was lost; the deliverance from the captivity to sin, Satan, the Law, present evil world, and our own daily tendencies and propensities to sin (Romans 3:24; 8:23; I Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:7,14; 4:30; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:12,15).

* Regeneration - The washing away of guilt and sin, and the inward renewing by the word, grace, Spirit, and Blood of God (Titus 3:5).

* Salvation - Preservation from bondage of sin and liability to eternal death (Romans 1:16; 10:10; II Corinthians 6:2; 7:10; Ephesians 1:13; 6:17; Philippians 2:12; I Thessalonians 5:9; II Timothy 2:10; 3:15; Titus 2:11; Hebrews 2:3; I Peter 1:9; Jude 1:3).

* Sanctification - Being made perfect by the imputing of Christ's holiness to our soul, and being set apart from sin daily and eternally (Penalty, Power, Presence) (I Corinthians 1:30; I Thessalonians 4:3-4; II Thessalonians 2:13; I Peter 1:2).

* Substitution - Christ Jesus bled and died; He paid for my sins in my place, so I could be free from the Judgment of God on my sin. Christ for me, Christ in my place, Christ instead of me, None but Christ, Christ is All.

* Translation - Being caught up by God (spirit, soul and body) from the earth into the presence of God (Hebrews 11:5; I Corinthians 15:51-54; I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

The Great Eternal JEHOVAH, who made the heavens and the earth, revealed Himself to this evil world in the person of the Man Christ Jesus. God was manifest in human flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. God’s only-begotten and well-beloved Son came down from Heaven and became a Jewish man, He lived upon this earth a sinless life of perfect obedience to His Father’s law, and a life of holy service on behalf of sinful men. On the Cross of Calvary, Jesus was obedient unto death. Your sins were laid upon Jesus; and on the accursed tree, Jesus bore upon Himself all the punishment due to human guilt. God bruised Christ, His own Son, in the place of sinners. The payment of your enormous debt of guilt was demanded, and Christ has paid it in full with His own Blood. Your soul will be accounted just the moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ, the great Sin-Bearer.

Look now to the Cross and see the Great Substitute taking the wrath that your sins deserved.The Innocent dying for the guilty. The Lord of glory bearing the sins of rebellious men. Christ suffering instead of us. Come to Jesus now, accept Him as your Substitute. “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” “God hath made Jesus to be sin for you, who knew no sin; that you might be made the righteousness of God in Christ.” The way of safety is the way of Substitution, the way of Atonement, the way of Jesus Christ’s Blood. The only way to travel in the King's Highway is by simply trusting in Christ alone, believing on Him alone with all the heart, relying upon Him, depending upon Him, leaning on Him, resting on Him, believing His words and promises. Christ Jesus is God in human flesh, He suffered and bled for human sin, trust your soul with Him, and you are eternally saved.

Be ye Thankful

O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever.  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. O give thanks unto the LORD; for HE IS good; for His mercy endureth for ever. Be ye thankful. Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place. I give thanks unto Thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto Thy name. Rooted and built up in Christ Jesus, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto Thee do we give thanks: for that Thy name is near Thy wondrous works declare. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name.

Let us come before God's presence with thanksgiving. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Enter into the LORD'S gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good. And he fell down on his face at Jesus' feet, giving Him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. By Jesus therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

A thankless heart is a Christ-less heart. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And all the angels stood round about the throne of God, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned. It is the direct will of God to be thankful unto your Maker for all things. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Most of all - be thankful you're not in Hell today where you really belong.

Food for Thought 2

There is only one true and living God, but human nature has made almost as many gods as there are stars in the sky.  However there is only one wise Creator God, whose name is JEHOVAH JESUS, the Creator of all things, in whom we live and move and have our being.  Will you have the God who was manifest in the flesh to be your Savior God?  Trust Him as your God and make Him your God forever and ever.  He will be my Guide even unto death.

Take Christ Jesus to be yours, as your God, whom you trust and love, whom you embrace and adore, apprehending Him by faith and love.  Is He truly your God now?  There must be no playing or pretense:  Jesus Christ must be accepted and received as yours personally.  If you are to be saved, you must by a deliberate act, give up yourself to Christ Himself, and take Him to be all your Salvation.

Crave God's forgiveness for Christ's sake.  Trust to His Son's atoning blood sacrifice.  Trust the Son of God to be your Savior.  He died for sinners, especially for you.  Let His bloody death be your Eternal Life.  He poured out His own life's blood to cleanse and forgive the guilty.  Let Jesus be your Prophet, sit at His feet and learn of Him.  Let Him be your King to reign over you.  Let Him be your Priest to offer His Perfect Sacrifice for your sins.  Jesus is willing and prepared to give Himself to every needy soul that is willing to receive Him. *John 1:12*

Let the Holy Ghost regenerate, teach, lead, sanctify, illuminate, and comfort you.  Without Jesus, you can do nothing that will ever please God.  The Father decreed, the Son purchased, the Holy Ghost applies.  Obey the Holy Ghost's warnings, promptings, cautions, and admonitions.  Refrain from committing old fleshly habits.  Burn your boats behind you, and never go back to the old country of your sins.  Put yourself under the Holy Ghost's control and leadership.  Resign your body to be His temple and instrument of Holiness.

God is now willing to pass by your iniquities, transgressions, and sins for Jesus' sake. He is the God who is ready to pardon, waiting to forgive the guilty.  Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.  The Gospel of the Grace of God is only for the guilty.  If you are not guilty, there is no Gospel for you.  The Invisible God put on human flesh, He came down to Earth in the person of Jesus of Nazareth to save the guilty.  God bypassed the elite and well-connected and is born in a cattle shed in Bethlehem.  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ.  Snap out of your sinful slumber and wicked stupor.  You must go directly to Jesus Christ, cry out to Him for mercy and pardon.

Jesus says this about us:  I have been grievously wronged by the sinner; his injury to Me is a very cruel one; there is no remedy for it, but I will Myself bear their sins and the penalty for all the wrong which has been done to Me.  The offender has broken My Law, and there is a penalty laid upon him for what he has done, and he righteously deserves to bear it. It was an offense against Me, and he deserves to be punished for it, but I will bear the whole penalty Myself.  I offer Myself up to suffer in the sinner's place, that he may be accounted innocent and go free.

As the Just Judge, God must punish all sin.  There is a necessity that the Judge of all the Earth should do right.  The justice of God, the Judgment to come is awaiting the unregenerate sinner.  Sin must be punished, but the Judge Himself stoops to bear the penalty for the offenses committed against Himself, to bear the consequences of sin committed against His own authority and His own person, and to bear those consequences in His own person that the offender may be reconciled to Him.

God Himself becomes the Substitute for those who have broken His own Law, and done despite to His name, and as a real man in His own body on the tree bore the consequences of human sin which should have fallen upon His enemies, us guilty sinners. God patiently importunes and pleads with the offender who refuses His free pardon by Blood.  God's divine Love comes to us throughout a wondrous plan, by which Jesus came to be a Substitute, to live and die in our place, that we might go free. The Cross is the display of self-denying, amazing, unparalleled love.  Jesus has taken our sins upon Himself, and bore the penalty due on account of those sins.

The divine Law will justify no man till he keeps it perfectly.  The Law condemns every man who has violated it but once.  The Law demands eternal death as the penalty for a single offense.  The Law casts the guilty man into prison, and he can never be released till he has paid the whole fine.  Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree, and He has freed us from the penalty that was due to us.

Every atheist ought to be ashamed of not loving the Lord Jesus Christ, and not trusting such a Savior as the Lord Jesus Christ is.  God in human flesh, bleeding, dying, bearing the penalty of human sin, presenting Himself as our sinless Blood Sacrifice and Atonement, and He now says that, whosoever believeth in Me shall not perish, but shall have Everlasting Life.  If you must spite anybody, spite anyone but the Christ of God.

Blindness and hardness of heart comes upon the man who rebels against God.  If you would escape the snares and traps of life, look well to your tongue, keep it from speaking evil, and that it speaks not blasphemy against God, or slander against your fellowman.  Keep your lips from guile, that is, from deceit, from double meanings, from saying one thing and meaning another.  Speak plain, say what you mean, mean what you say.  Come to Christ with your whole heart and understanding, confess Him before men, magnify Him with your words and deeds.

You have sinned, your heart is ever inclined to sin. You have broken God's Law and rejected Christ; you need God's divine forgiveness; you need a complete change of nature, a new birth, a conversion and regeneration.  Nothing short of the new birth, a thorough total radical change will make you ready to enter Heaven.  The most unpopular truth in the world today came form the mouth of Jesus Christ, "Ye must be born again."

No effort performed by man can ever regenerate a dead soul - it is the work alone of the Holy Spirit, who creates us anew in Christ Jesus.  Men despise that truth.  The spiritual truth still displeases the self-righteous sin-loving natural man.  Give God your heart and soul through Christ, serve Him because you love Him.  Surrender to Jesus your inner self and body daily.  The main necessity is the work of the Holy Spirit.  *John 3:7* must be your constant cry.  Being born again is not the evolving of something good out of you that was hidden away there; no, the new birth is the putting into you the divine nature of Jesus Christ which was not there.  The New Birth is the Holy Spirit's quickening of you from your death in sin.

God has done so much for me and that encourages me to turn away from my sins.  Willful wickedness is a horrible and hateful thing.  Loathe and leave your iniquities.  Abhor selfishness and egotism.  Be very personal and individual about your own Christianity. You must be born again individually and personally, Eternal Life must come to you by a personal transaction between Jesus Christ and yourself.

Leave the bottle, lascivious ways, fornication, uncleanness, dishonesty, tricks of the trade, cheating, stinting, loafing, and lying.  Human nature is fond of human wisdom and ability.  Leave off your fretting, fuming; being anxious and peevish.  Human nature wants to wash itself.  Trust to the boundless mercy of God in Christ Jesus.  Come to God for the New Birth and ask Him to change your inner nature.  There is no good thing whatsoever in you.  A soul must get alone with God if it is really born again, for a saved soul cannot live without private prayer.  A love for the word of God, and for private prayer is needful for daily victory.

Grace-Faith-Blood

God's grace caused Him to humble Himself and become a sinless Jewish man named Jesus of Nazareth.  *Philippians 2:8* The good grace of God led Jesus to offer Himself up as a sinless Sacrifice for human sin. God saves guilty sinners for Jesus' sake; God saves the ungodly because of what Jesus endured on the Cross of Calvary to pay the infinite penalty due to human sin. *Titus 2:11*  Bible Salvation is by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Jesus' Blood alone. *Romans 5:9*

Every sinner is condemned and cursed before God, that means he is guilty before God and under an eternal death sentence. All men are sinners by birth and by choice, and a sinner cannot help save himself from his sins.  We all have an evil sin nature within, and we have committed sins against our good and loving Creator God.  No man is a Christian until he is born again from above by the power of the Holy Ghost.  There is no such thing as a perfect sinner.  *Titus 3:5*

A man cannot be saved, because of what he has done. *Romans 3:23* Your very best works are filthy rags in the sight of God.  The only way any man can ever be righteous before God is to have the Righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to his soul by a miracle called Salvation.  You can do many wonderful works and still go to Hell like a bullet. *Matthew 7:22-23*  Your only hope of Heaven must be Jesus' Precious Blood which was shed by God manifest in the flesh to satisfy the divine justice of God that your sins deserve.

If Salvation is Jesus plus anything, then the *plus* becomes more important than what Jesus has done, because the man who has only Jesus will die and go to Hell for not having the *plus*, whatever it may be.  You can't trust Jesus 98% and then something else 2%.  That 2% will damn you.  You must trust to Jesus 100%.  Receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior is trusting to His Blood alone. Remember that you don't get better and live right to get saved from sin; you get saved from sin and then you get better and the Grace of God helps you live right for the glory of God. You can't get any better at all until you are first saved by the Grace of God alone, through Faith alone in Jesus' Atoning Blood alone.

A sinner is not saved by what he does, or how he feels, or what he knows.  You might as well trust your sins to get to Heaven as to trust your own righteousness. You go to Heaven heart-first not headfirst.  Believe on the Son of God with all your heart.  *Romans 10:9* Either Jesus saves sinners completely, or a sinner must save himself completely.  Salvation is either a Free Gift, or Salvation must be earned in some way.  *Romans 6:23* Jesus died in our place on the Cross to pay our deadly sin debt. Man's only part in Salvation is for him to Believe (trust, rely, depend) on the Lord Jesus Christ's Precious Blood.

The sinner who is depending on Jesus' Blood alone and nothing else has Everlasting Life.  The hardest thing for self-righteous human nature to do is for a man to reject himself completely and to simply believe on Jesus Christ to save his sinful soul from the love of sin and the Lake of Fire.  Place the matter of your Salvation fully into the hands of Jesus Christ and depend totally on His perfect atoning finished work to take away your sins.

Bible Salvation is by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Jesus' Blood alone.  Every sinner must be saved by grace, faith, and blood. Salvation is not what you've done; Salvation is what Jesus has done.  Grace teaches a man he is a sinner, and then the Grace of God points the man to the Savior who can take away his sins.  Grace gives a man the Faith he needs to Believe on Jesus Christ.  Bible Faith always looks to God's Blood for the free forgiveness of all sins.  Childlike trust in Jesus' Blood is what saves the guilty soul instantly.  Faith in Christ's Precious Atoning Blood is key to you obtaining Eternal Life. *Romans 3:25*

As a Little Child

Jesus said, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." A child is marked by helplessness, that is, total helpless dependence on another. No child can survive without the assistance of others. They have nothing to show for themselves. They cannot count on their own achievements. They are little beggars. They have no preconceptions of God. They have no prejudices, superstition, or falsehoods. They are absolutely, completely, totally, actually helpless. Children of the kingdom of God must enter the kingdom helpless.

And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by Him, and said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in My name receiveth Me: and whosoever shall receive Me receiveth Him that sent Me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. *Luke 9:47-48*  The way to rise in the ranks of Christ, is to go down. The way to the top is down.  Sink into the highest place; in sinking, you rise. Think only of the Lord Jesus Christ's glory.  Be willing to do the least thing, and then you are growing in Christ. When you are great, then you are little. When you are nothing, then you are great. The Lord must take away from us carnal pride that makes us stand up on our dignity, and think we must be Somebody! God will not use you as long as you are "somebody"; but when you are nobody, then will God greatly magnify you, and use you in His kingdom and service. Carnal ambition, self-seeking and religious pride reeks in the nostrils of God.

Convert - the turning of the soul from sin to the Savior. The Holy Spirit turning a bad life into a godly one, to change the heart and moral character, from enmity to God and from vicious habits, to the love of God and godly habits and living. *Psalm 19:7; 51:13; Isaiah 6:10; Matthew 13:15; 18:3; Luke 22:32; John 12:40; Acts 3:19; Acts 28:27; James 5:19-20*

A child is transparent, trusting, frank and free from care. They completely and sincerely trust another for their food, clothing, lodging, and protection. A child thinks no lofty thoughts of himself, they are not even aware of themselves. They don't consider if they deserve things, or whether it's important enough to merit such attention. A child is ready to receive and act upon the Truth. Children are not proud of their virtues. They do not battle self-righteousness. Little children see no need to dispute over preeminence or selfish suspicion.

Children are free from the pride of knowledge. They have no learning, no degrees, no intellectual conceit. They are teachable, lead-able, open-minded, and submissive. A child is not important or sophisticated or wise in his own eyes. Children are conscious of their own weakness. They don't propose amendments to the Gospel. Children are transparent, forgiving, quickly penitent and contrite, and cry over a wrong done. They are miserable over theirs sins. They are open to receiving gifts humbly and thankfully, not pretending to merit anything. They know how to receive a gift - they simply take it. They are open to the unmerited favor of God. A child easily returns love for gifts - hugs, kisses, and many thanks. We must grow down until we become like a child. A child has no ambition for great things or titles, they crave not worldly honor.

We need a childlike faith in Jesus, but not a childish faith. Children are humble, modest opinion of themselves. They are not envious of others. They drop all contentions over preeminence. They have no ambitious views of being greater than another. We must lay aside pride, ambition, envy, vanity, and prejudice. *I Kings 3:7* No affectation of worldly honor and power. We should be careful for nothing, void of malice, harmless, merciful, gentle, kind, dutiful, flexible, eager, yielding, governable. Children have no great aims of position, or thoughts to raise themselves, little in his own eyes. Children have a clear conscience. Come to Christ before you grow too old to understand the Gospel with your heart.

The mind of a child is a blank piece of paper. Our minds must be open to the pen of the Holy Spirit. A child has no preconceived notions, opinions, or notions that they cannot give up. The child believes what Jesus says. He is affected to Christ, easily influenced and touched. A child is inquisitive, always wanting to learn. Children are under others' control. They depend upon someone else's wisdom, guidance, provision, and care. Children never seek greatness. Quickly take what is provided them. A child soon forgives and forgets. He has humble resignation and easy dependence to parents. Simplicity of belief. Children are weak, helpless, and unimportant. Grow smaller, not bigger; get less, not greater. Children are at the bottom of the social order. They are not asked about significant decisions. They are without claim or merit.

Children are needy, entirely dependent on another. Children are always hungry, they are lonely at bedtime, when they are sent to their room by themselves, that is the worst punishment for them. They love fellowship. They have no claim or merit in themselves. They have no obvious importance, zero status. The child believes in all humility, looking up to his teacher, and receiving the teacher's words as truth. Say, "Lord, I am a know-nothing, I come to You to be taught, I am nothing, be my All in All.

A child believes sincerely and in simplicity with all its heart. A child has no sinister motives, or formality. The child's faith and repentance are genuine. Don't play at religion any longer. A child is not ashamed to talk as your heart feels - speak openly about Jesus and His bleeding love to others around you. Trusting to Christ alone now is the way of safety. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as a little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Children are willing to receive; they are broke and needy. Kids desire to make others happy. A little child believes Jesus is a real Person near at hand. There is an absence of boasting or selfish desire to be greater than others. They are not achieving, but accepting. Little children have a sense of wonder that makes life exciting; they are filled with potential. Children are simple in their wants, have expectant attitudes, and depend completely (conscious clinging trust) on their fathers to meet all their needs. A child has no pride in who, or what they are, or what they have achieved; they possess no self-ambition. The entrance gate into the kingdom of God is very low; we must go through on our hands and knees with our head held low. There is no place in the kingdom for those who trust in themselves. Humble yourself or Jesus will leave you in your pride and lostness. Jesus only gives His free forgiveness of sins to those sinners who don't deserve it.

Believe exactly what Christ says, and trust all that Christ has done. Children believe that God hears their prayers. Honest simplicity and trustfulness of a little child. Humble, but not aware of it. A child is grieved when others are in distress. A child seeks to please his father, and seeks his approval and smile. A child loves peace and joy, they cannot endure arguing and fighting. A child is troubled to hear anyone speak evil of their parents. A child is grieved when his father is upset with him. A child will strive to imitate his father and follow in his steps. They have n0 duplicity or hypocrisy, and without partiality. They instinctively choose the low place. They are simple, not careful about the future. A child clings close to their parent, sincerely esteeming their father the biggest and best man in the world. Follow Jesus humbly, diligently, joyfully, wholly.

Trust Jesus for everything to do with salvation and life. You know so much, that you knowtoomuch. Human nature wants to alter or amend the Gospel. Christ is not received by the brain, but by the heart. The best receiver is the empty sinner (John 1:12). Jesus is your main need. You must have Christ, or die in your sins. Trusting, not thinking and reasoning, is the way to Christ. Simply believe what Jesus says in the Bible.

There is nothing in you can do to make you fit for the kingdom of God. Just be nothing, the less you are, and the weaker you are, the better. The devil tempts you to become as gods (Genesis 3:5), but Jesus leads you to become as little children, just the opposite. Seeking to become gods, men become devils; but seeking to become as little children, you will partake of the divine nature. The path to true happiness is becoming little. Take Christ at His word, trust His finished work. A child is not trouble about not being prepared to come to Christ - he is a sinner and he know it, so he just comes to Christ. Jesus calls me, so I come; Jesus died for me, so I trust Him.

Conversion is an absolute necessity. We can only do righteously after we are made Righteous in the sight of God by the grace of God. If a ship is headed for hidden rocks, scrubbing the decks won't do any good, the ship's course must be changed; the ship must be turned. Self-improvement cannot help the sinner; your soul is headed for eternal shipwreck, your course must be turned, our you will sink into Hell. You must invite the Pilot onboard your soul, and let Him have the helm of your heart. Only Christ can turn you away from your iniquities. Jesus paid the full Ransom to release you from the slavery and love of your sins. You can't do good, until you are first made good, by receiving Christ's Goodness. You must be converted, your mind and thoughts must be changed by the Holy Spirit. You've made up your mind, but the Holy Ghost must unmake your mind and then transform it.

Celebrate the Crucified Creator's goodness. You are nothing else but sin. Simply seek Jesus Christ, trust His precious blood, and you are saved. To be converted means to be turned around in your thinking by the working of the Holy Ghost. Conversion is a turning from self-confidence and self-rule to the rule of God. Conversion is being turned from your self-made plans to God's plan for your life. To do less than "be converted" by Christ Himself is to miss the kingdom of God altogether. Children are a pattern for us to follow: in their humble dependence on others, their openness, their acceptance of themselves other their low position in life. Children live by faith, by faith they accept their lot, trusting others to care for them and see them through. We enter the kingdom of God by admitting our helplessness, inability to save ourselves, and becoming totally depending on the mercy and grace of God in Christ.

Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein."

A Big Favor

Now note this - Every one of us by nature is dead in our sins, without hope, and a child of the devil.  Sin doesn't give life, it takes life. God has been very good to you, He has spared your life.  If divine justice had been executed, you would have been in Hell long ago. You have provoked God so many times, you can barely stand to be provoked for ten minutes, but you have provoked your Maker for 20, 30, 40, 50 years with your sins, negligence, unbelief, and despising. You have stuck your finger in the eye of God when you have rejected His Son and chose your sins instead.  You have ridiculed the Bible, yet God has spared you for years and given you many comforts and blessings.

We all have to be born again by the Holy Ghost and receive Jesus Christ by faith in order to become the sons and daughters of God. *John 1:12* God must justify us by Jesus Christ's Righteousness, or we are eternally condemned in His sight.  Man attempts to cover over his guilt with good works and self-improvements, but his sins still remain on his soul.  Man-made efforts cannot quiet a guilty conscience.

The best deeds we can do are only dung in God's sight.  We cannot make our soul "Good" within by doing some deeds of kindness to others. The only person who is "Good" in God's sight is Jesus Christ.  Human nature says, "I want to do it my way, and approach God with what I have produced." Never forget - Religious works and systems cannot satisfy divine justice. There's only one way to God, and man didn't come up with it.  *John 14:6* The only way to safely approach the Holy Creator God is by Christ's sinless atoning blood.

The Innocent One dying as a Substitute for the guilty. Jesus paid it All; everything else is self-righteousness. At the Cross, the Blood of an innocent Man permanently atones for the guilt of human sin.  Only the satisfactory, atoning work of God manifest in the flesh on Calvary's Cross can satisfy God's divine justice.  One sinless Lamb of God bore the sins of the whole world and laid down His life for us all.  God Incarnate dwelling among sinful men, working out a perfect Righteousness for us, and making Atonement for human sin by giving Himself up to a bloody death on Calvary's Cross.

You can never be "Good" in yourself, for you are a sinner.  Sinners are not good at all.  There is none that doeth good, no, not one. *Romans 3:12* This truth is contrary to all of man's religious thinking today. The word "Good" in the Bible means to be Perfect and to be absolutely, infinitely, immutably Righteous as God is.  The man Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, came down to Earth to rescue of from the damnation we deserve.  We weren't looking for Jesus, but He came to seek and save us.

The Gospel will not let you gloat about your salvation, but you can only be grateful to your Merciful Maker for His so great Salvation. You can never work enough to buy yourself out of the slave market of sin.  The unregenerate man feeds upon his sins with pleasure. I know it is so of a truth:  but how should man be just with God?  God declares us Righteous when He imputes Christ's Righteousness to our account.  Jesus has paid for the record of sins that we committed against God.  All the evidence and guilt of our sins is transferred to Christ's account.  Christ's Precious Blood erases our sin's penalty from our eternal record.  Admire that the eternal God would ever deal graciously with someone as sinful and rebellious as you.  Adore the Savior for His goodness and mercy toward you.

You've committed many crimes all through your life in God's sight in thought, word, and deed.  But in Mercy, Jesus takes your criminal record and erases your name, and writes in His name over the list of your crimes. Then He pays the fine and adds your criminal history and penalty to His record, and then you get to have Christ's spotless record, because He never broke the Law one time. This is called Imputation and Justification in the Bible.  This is how a holy God has Mercy today on a guilty sinner. God miraculously switches the names on the rap sheets.  Christ's name was written on the top of the volume of all your sins.  Jesus becomes the condemned criminal, and you are made Righteous with His perfect record credited (imputed) to your name.

Jesus takes our vileness and perversion upon Himself, and gives us His virtue and purity.  Jesus takes our record of sin, and gives us His record of sinlessness. Jesus bore the wrath that was reserved for me. Christ replaces our sins with His Righteousness and all the charges brought against have been thrown out of God's courtroom.  God can no longer find any record of your sins because Jesus' blood washes, cleanses, blots out, and takes away your transgressions. Your record is spotless and clean in Christ. God's redeeming grace does you a big favor the moment you trust to Jesus' Atoning Blood.

Think This Over 3

The Gospel of free grace and dying love, full forgiveness for the greatest sinners; immediate, irreversible pardon given in a moment to every sinner who believes in Christ Jesus.  The Gospel of redemption through the Precious Blood of Jesus.  Full Atonement has been made, and the Ransom price has been paid for human sin.  Whosoever believeth in Jesus today is free from the law, guilt, curse, hell, and death.  Sin cannot escape judgment, but you can be delivered from the judgment to come if your sins are charged to Jesus Christ for your judgment fell on Him on the Cross when He bore your sins in His body there.

The Gospel of free Justification by Faith, Regeneration by the Holy Ghost, and the unchanging Love of God.  At the Cross, Jesus offers you a way of escape from the wrath to come.  Because you have sinned against God, you have a debt to pay, but only Jesus' Blood Atonement can settle your sin debts with your Maker.  Eternal Redemption by Precious Blood is what you need immediately.  Salvation is the perfect work of God, His Son, and the Holy Ghost.  God is real, Jesus Christ is the essence of genuine hope, and His grace is available to you now through His atoning blood.

You know the story - Man has sinned against God, and God the Just One must punish every sin. And then all of a sudden, when the shepherds were keeping their flocks by night, straightway a multitude of the heavenly host appeared singing and giving glory to God in the highest.  There JESUS was laying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. The Son of God was born into this evil world.  God was incarnated at Bethlehem-Judah.  The kindness and love of God our Savior appeared toward sinful man through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus lived 33 years here on Earth. His great made Him to come to this Earth and be incarnated here in human form.  He lived here in poverty and obscurity as a Jewish carpenter. He was despised and rejected of men. He was the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was betrayed by Judas in Gethsemane with a kiss, while He was covered in a bloody sweat caused by our sins. He was burdened under the tremendous weight of human guilt and transgression. He was mocked and abused by rough soldiers. The strict justice of God treated Jesus as if He were actually the sinner.  He was led away by those who arrested Him to Caiaphas and Pilate's judgment hall.  Jesus was absolutely innocent; He died as the Substitute for sinners.

God in human flesh was set at nought, ridiculed, jeered, and scorned.  He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.  Jesus was tied to a pillar and lashed with terrible scourges.  He suffered contempt, shame, and reproach for our sake. They falsely accused and condemned Hm.  He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.  The Roman soldiers crowned Him with thorns, covered Him with an old robe, and then gave him a reed for a scepter.  He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.

Pilate found no fault in Jesus, but Pilate still delivered Jesus over to the will of the people. Jesus struggled through the streets of Jerusalem beneath the weight of the Cross.  They hooted and hounded Him all the way to Golgotha.  The soldiers threw Him down on His back, stretched out His arms and feet to the tree. They drove the cruel nails through His sinless hands and feet.  The centurions lifted Him up high into the air, and then dashed the Cross into its place, dislocating His bones. The howling mob around the Cross laughed and jeered at Him as He slowly bled out His life.

JEHOVAH'S punishment was poured out on Sin at the Cross.  Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree; God laid all our iniquities on Jesus; God made Jesus to be Sin for us.  The Lord of glory was cruelly treated, and then He died the death of a criminal, even the death of the Cross. The storm of divine wrath swept over Jesus on Golgotha. God's divine justice was unleashed on Jesus due to our sins.  In the pitch black darkness Jesus cried, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me." The Savior died forsaken by His God. At the last, Jesus cried, "It is finished!" and then He bowed His head and gave up the ghost.

The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me. They took down His mangled body from the Cross. He was buried in Joseph's borrowed tomb.  But on the third day, the angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and rolled away the stone. Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God.  He showed Himself to His disciples, and to others, for forty days.  And then, from the Mount of Olives, Jesus ascended up into heaven, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.  Heaven's hosts met and welcomed Him.  Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.  Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.  Jesus then sits down victoriously at the right hand of His Father's throne.

The wisdom and love of God devised the perfect plan of Salvation by which divine justice could be satisfied.  Eternal wisdom revealed to sinful man the plan by which the Son of God would suffer instead us sinners, so divine justice could be satisfied and its claims discharged in full.  It was necessary that Someone must suffer instead of sinful man, in order that man might escape God's divine wrath.  Jesus of Nazareth is God in human form, JEHOVAH became a Jewish man to bleed, to be spit upon, scourged, and crucified. Christ Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

Come now to the Cross, look up and trust Christ Jesus Himself to save and forgive you.  Here am I Lord Jesus, a poor guilty sinner, having nothing to trust to of my own, I lay all sins on You, and they are gone. I cast myself on your atoning cross-work, I trust only You to save me from my sins.  I rely only on Your redeeming love and blood.

In Christ Jesus, there is not one sin or charge against me in the Book of God.  Redemption by Blood, Salvation by the Great Substitute and His Atonement alone.  Men will say they cannot understand the Gospel, but what they mean is that they will not have it, because they want to save their sins which they love.  Human nature says, "I want my own way, I want to do my own thing, I am willing to give up Christ for what I can get out of this world now for myself. I want this world, money, the bottle, lust, secret evil, and vile companions more than Jesus and His way."*John 5:44* They don't care to be saved by the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  They would rather trust in anything else.  Unregenerate men are determined to perish, and have rejected God's offers of mercy.  Now mark it down, human nature will believe anything but the Bible, and trust anyone but Jesus Christ.  They will try to be better and change their manner of life, and they will try anything they can think up.

The man who has no righteousness of his own, senses his guilt, and that is longing to escape the wrath to come, will be the first soul to seek and meet Jesus Christ.  Ye must be born again from above by the power of the Holy Ghost.  Don't let your enmity, prejudice, vices, and degradation keep you away from the Savior. Without the New Birth, you cannot see, comprehend, understand, or know anything about the Kingdom of God.  Every soul must be born from above.  There is no hope for you apart from the New Birth from above.  The door of God's mercy is wide open.  Believe on Jesus Christ, trust to His Blood, receive the New Birth within, take Eternal Life freely from the hands of Jesus.

Think This Over 2

The grace of God is absolutely free; no merit of yours is required at all.  God's grace is as free as the air you are breathing right now. Eternal salvation is available to you now without a penny of human merit.  Jesus gives and forgives freely only to the undeserving sinner. You are certainly guilty in the sight of God; there is no doubt about that.  Jesus gave Himself up at Calvary freely for your sake.  Acknowledge your transgressions of God's law, own your guilt, don't pass the buck, face yourself and reality.  There is no medicine to prescribe for a sinner's spiritual sickness except Christ, Christ, Christ.  Christ Jesus and Him crucified for the ungodly is the sure remedy for human guilt.

Come to Jesus just as you are, freely take what Jesus freely gives, and Christ is yours on the spot.  There's not one speck of good in your evil nature. You may be religious in man's eyes, but you are not righteous in God's eyes.  If your sins are bothering you, the Holy Ghost is beginning to work in your soul.  By nature, every man loves his sins.  Never trust to the merits of Mary, for she has none.  Eternal life begins at the Cross with the Lamb of God.  Let your empty soul down into the deep cool well of Christ's Infinite Merit and Mercy, and let your thirsty soul be filled to the brim.  *Proverbs 25:25* Jesus Christ is only Person who knows all about you and still loved you enough to die for your sins.

Mercy for the guilty is available down low at the feet of Jesus. *Psalm 2:12* The road to Hell is paved with self-righteousness.  You insult the Atonement of Christ when you set up your own righteousness as though it as good as His Atonement.  Jesus made Himself of no reputation, have you?  Plead your guilt, not your goodness; plead your misery, not your merit.  Human nature says, "I try to do my best, if anyone is going to heaven, I should."  Do the wise thing, put yourself in the place of the guilty, the worthless, those who have merited divine wrath, for you deserve nothing better, and then God will meet you in mercy.  A wise man always prepares for the inevitable:  Infirmity, Frailty, Mortality, Reality, Eternity.

Call upon Jesus' name and ask for the free gift of God's pure grace found in Jesus' precious blood.  Rest your weary, sin-laden soul on what Christ has done for sinners.  To set your own doings along side Christ's Righteousness is to set up a lie.  You have nothing to plead but your guilt.  Your doings and Christ's doings cannot be mixed together, that is like mixing dung with diamonds.  The offense of the Cross will never let man trust in their own righteousness.  Jesus will only give you His Righteousness absolutely free.  You must part with your own righteousness, or you will be damned.  Jesus bore your guilt and sin on Calvary.  Human nature ignorantly strives to merit Free Everlasting Life. Human nature is too proud to simply trust to Jesus alone.  *Acts 16:31*

You are not to bring anything to Jesus, you only have to receive everything from Him freely.  There is nothing in you that could ever deserve anything good from God.  You can only deserve the wrath of God forever.  You can be forgiven only because of what Jesus suffered for you. Salvation is not Christ and then something from you, oh no, Salvation is Christ alone who is the sinner's Savior.  He is the Alpha and Omega of Salvation.

Whosoever believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life.  H-A-T-H spells "got it."  You are really sinning against God every day, and your sins really need forgiving, and the Lord Jesus Christ is really the only Sin-Forgiver there is. If you ever get saved, you'll have to get saved at the Cross, or you will go to Hell like a bullet. God took your sins and put them on Jesus, and then He paid the deadly penalty in your place.  Christ died for your wrong thoughts, wrong ways, wrong words, and wrong imaginations. If you are a good man, you will love Jesus Christ.  If you don't love Jesus Christ, you are a bad man. Why haven't you trusted you Jesus Christ?  Bad men avoid and reject Jesus Christ.

You will not boast of your goodness when you appear all alone before God's White Throne Judgment.  *Revelation 20:11-15*  *Romans 3:19* There is no admittance to Heaven except through faith in the atoning blood of the Lamb of God.  *John 1:27; Revelation 5:9*  You are just one big mass of sin and misery.  The way of Cain is salvation by human effort.  No man by nature has one particle of good anywhere in his soul. You must first come to the end of yourself.  You must be nothing, and Christ must be Everything.   Trust in God as He has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  Trust to Christ's all-sufficient atoning sacrifice, His perfect Righteousness, the bleeding love of His heart, the infinite wisdom of His head, and the great power of His arm.

Only Christ Himself can absolve human sins, not some make-believe priest dressed up in some religious costume.  Immediately cast your guilty soul on Christ Jesus, rest there completely for all your Salvation.  Come to Christ as a nothing, and He will give you Everything.  If is safest and wisest to trust in Christ's doing than in yourself.  Deal earnestly and personally with the Lord Jesus Christ for your soul's needs.  Be a poor miserable sinner who looks for everything in Christ.  With nothing in your hand, cling to Him.  Simply look to His agonies, sufferings, wounds, cross, bloody death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and intercession.  The guilty and vile are always welcome at the Cross.

God became a sinless Jewish man for us, and for our Salvation, He bore our sins and the whole weight of God's wrath, so we could be spared in the day of Judgment.  Anything you try to do to earn Salvation is absolutely useless.  You can do good works, but never trust them to help save your soul. Deep self-distrust is the safest way.  Confess your sinfulness, admit your nothingness, and glory in Christ alone.  Wholly trust your soul for time and Eternity to the keeping of the Savior who lived, loved, died, and rose again from the dead for sinners.

It was divine love that sent the Savior into this world of sin and misery.  Love made God leave heaven's portals, and He came down here to Earth to dwell in human flesh as Jesus of Nazareth to seek and save lost sinners.  Bleeding love paid your sins' Ransom one awful day at Calvary.  Jesus was numbered with transgressors, He died between two criminals on Golgotha.  God's love still knocks at the heart of sinful men today.  The thing that rules and runs you daily is your God.

Lord Jesus, I give myself up to You to save me, I trust your Precious Blood to cleanse me throughly from all my sins.  Look upon me in love and mercy and give me Your grace and forgiveness.  Jesus must have all the Glory.  Don't let your self-righteousness delude you into thinking you are fine the way you are.  In your natural state, you are in imminent danger of hell fire. High and great thoughts of Christ will lead to your misery lessening, and your sins disappearing.  The Cross cuts at the root of all the efforts of human nature that hope to win heaven or obtain the favor of God by human doings.

Where shall I go to meet God?  Well, just where you are, yield yourself to God, confess your sinfulness, acknowledge your inability to help save yourself, trust to the blood of Christ, submit to His Righteousness, abhor your sins, pour out your heart before the Lord, ask Him for Jesus' sake to meet with you, and reconcile your guilty soul to Him through the bloody death of His Son.  You have no natural goodness, and in the sight of God, you are only one big mass of corruption and sin.  Ask Christ for Everything your poor heart needs.  Jesus is all my Praise.  If you are convicted of sin, humbled, without hope and merit, and have no proud boasting left, come on to Jesus now.

You cannot get yourself ready for Christ.  You cannot make yourself better, and as long as you stay away from Christ, you will only make yourself worse and worse.  Jesus bore your sins in His own body on the tree, and then He suffered the consequences and punishment due to your sins.  Trust Jesus just now.  Bible Faith is the trusting to what Jesus has done for lost sinners.  Believe on Jesus' doing and dying, and He is yours. Trust to the living person of Jesus Christ who gave Himself for the ungodly.  If you plead what you have done, you are pleading a lie.

God manifest in the flesh died a criminal's death naked publicly because of your sins.  Your Creator that made the galaxies, nebulas, and planets exposed Himself to open shame in order to your sins' punishment.  Believe in Jesus' Precious Blood with all your heart.  Salvation is all of God's grace, not of your self-righteousness.  You have nothing to do but to come and rest on what Christ has done for you.  Self-righteous human nature wants to do, wants to feel, and it wants to do its best.  But Christ has done it all.  To work for your salvation is a waste of time.  Trusting in Jesus only and entirely.  Jesus bled and died for me, He bore the consequences of my sins and guilt, I trust my soul to Him, and now all my sins are gone, because He was punished in my place.  My sins are imputed to Him, for He died to put my sins away, and now His Righteousness is reckoned to be my Righteousness forever.

Any man is a fool to pay for his sins in Hell when he doesn't have to.  Your sins have been taken care of at the Cross, and if you go to Hell and pay for your sins for all Eternity, you will have done the dumbest thing you could ever do, because you don't have to do it.  The folks that get free Salvation are the needy sinners who come down to the Cross and pick it up. You can't make a mistake trusting Jesus Christ with your soul.   If you want eternal life and your sins forgiven freely, you are now invited to come to Jesus Christ as a guilty sinner and trust to His sinless Blood Atonement alone.

Think This Over 1

Take some time to think - stop racing around in this life making no progress.  Think about what God has done for you, and what He is doing right now in your life.  Think about what God is up to in your life in spite of any visible evidence.  Take time to thank God and people, thanking requires thinking, and thinking requires time.  Resist ingratitude by thinking and thanking.  Be quick to say, Thank you.  The greatest and rarest of all virtues today is Gratitude.

If you sense your sinfulness and wretchedness, look now for mercy only through Christ's Atoning Sacrifice.  Christ was crucified for the guilty.  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.  Great sinners need the Great Savior.  The full Ransom for your sins was paid in full with Jesus' own innocent blood on Calvary.  The guilty need and seek mercy at the Cross, and they only believe in the Merciful Mediator, and the mercy of God is theirs instantly.  Jesus came to save the lost, the ruined, the guilty, the unworthy.  God saves not according to your merit, but according to His mercy in Christ.  Beware - one drop of human merit will taint all your Salvation.  Human endeavor and effort is a dead end.  Jesus is the sinner's only friend in the day of Judgment.  Your works are only filthy rags at their best.  If you have no merits, you can be justified freely by Christ's imputed Righteousness.

Human nature says, "My own merits ought to be good enough."  Don't play the fool with your immortal soul.  Your works are all faulty and defiled with selfishness.  Praise the Great High Priest for His great merit, sweet mercy, and free grace.  Only Christ can clothe us with Righteousness and make us acceptable to God.  The way of free salvation is through the merits of the Mediator's blood.  You must be saved completely by the merits of Another.  We are only made Righteous through what Christ has done for us.  Sin is washed away alone by the Precious Blood of Christ.  Hold up Jesus Christ, put down human ability.  If you are sick of self, you are in harmony with God.

Human nature hates the doctrine of free salvation, for God's Salvation is all of a free gift, and not in the least of human merit.  A guilty man, if he is to be saved at all, he must be saved through the mercy of God.  Only take Jesus' atoning blood with you when approaching the Most High God.  God considers your need, not your merit.  Will you have Salvation freely?  If so, take Him freely.  Freely is the only way to obtain Salvation from Jesus.  But if you will try to earn grace, you and God can never agree.  Human nature stubbornly continues its deadly efforts to save itself and neglects Christ's Perfect and Free Righteousness.

You are always liable to death, and in danger of the wrath to come. You need your sins forgiven, so seek and find mercy through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh. You will die soon, death will come to your door, time and circumstances will soon corner you, and you will need the help of the Savior at the Judgment, so quit playing the fool and running such a terrible risk of losing your soul, the risk of the loss of heaven, and the awful risk of going to Hell forever.  There is eternal life in Jesus Christ, whoso putteth their trust in Him is safe.

God says, "There is the Medicine, take Him, drink Him."  Man says, "No! I will make my own medicine, I will make my own way, and compound my own pill."  God says, "I will freely forgive for Jesus' sake."  Man says, "I will try and deserve to be forgiven."  Remember this - you can never deserve God's forgiveness.  Jesus will only love sinners freely.  I am fully and freely forgiven for Jesus' sake. Do not trifle with eternal matters. Salvation must be a Gift.  True faith will cause you to feel your ruin and danger, to confess your guilt, and then to lay hold on eternal life in Christ freely.  Jesus put away sin by the Sacrifice of Himself, and nothing else.  You must take away nothing from Christ's Sacrifice, and you must add nothing to it.

Self-righteousness rejects the atoning sacrifice of Calvary; the Cross is a needless thing to the carnal mind.  Sick folks are always visiting the doctor, and contrite needy sinners are always visiting the God of all grace, Jesus Christ. Human nature tries to reach heaven by its own doings.  The Cross was a gross mistake if human merit can suffice.  If your works can help save you, why did Jesus die?  A man who is trying to save himself is in opposition to the Savior.   He that thinks much of the merits of his own good works despises the merits of the finished work of Christ. Your own righteousness flies in the face of Jesus Christ.  The sinner's Savior is the only way to New Jerusalem.  Draw near to Jesus by simple trust in His atoning blood.  It is not your goodness, but Jesus' goodness; not your merits, but His mercy; not human goodness, but divine grace; not the Law, but bleeding Love.  Jesus did it, He did it all, and He must be praised, that is all.

Remission is a free pardon, freely given, acting immediately, abiding forever, no fear of guilt can ever be laid to the charge of the forgiven soul.  This is the great secret, the heavenly news, the Gospel of Salvation, that through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ human sin is justly put away.  Salvation comes not from human merit or efforts.  The way of Cain is self-salvation by human merit and religious ceremonies.  To believe in yourself is pure idolatry.  Human nature is self-confidence, works, and outward ceremonies all the way.  True trust in Christ is an entire reliance upon His finished work on Calvary's tree.  Have done with all other trust but Jesus Himself.  Rest the whole weight of your soul's needs upon Him.

Think of your sin and sinfulness, looking back at your past, your present and future, and then look to Jesus only for free forgiveness.  "Jesus only"  -- this is the lifeboat you must float to gloryland on.  Human works can never save a guilty sinner.  Salvation by works makes much of man, and makes nothing of Christ.  Nothing you can do can ever reverse the condemnation and curse which your sins have passed upon you.  You are naturally no good.  As long as you are self-righteous, God cannot deal with you in mercy and favor.  Divine mercy and human merit can no more blend than oil and water.  Bread and water are ours by simply eating and drinking, and Christ is ours by simply receiving Him by faith.  Simple childlike faith accepts Jesus as He is found in the Bible.  Faith says, "Here is Jesus, I believe in Him, I take Him, I receive Him as my own, and He is mine at once and forever.

Full Pardon and sure and free Justification through faith in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ.  Believe in His Precious Blood now, believe in the merits of His Great Sacrifice of Calvary.  My one hope of righteousness in this life, and happiness in the life to come, is only found in the life, death, and resurrection, in the person and merit, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on Him for yourself.  Trust to Jesus because of what He is (God manifest in the flesh), and what He has done (bled to death to atone for human sin), and what He is doing now (ever liveth to make intercession for those come to God through Him).  Salvation is of the Lord Jesus Christ alone.  Salvation cannot be of human merit, for there is no such thing. We have plenty of demerit, but we have no merit.

Your own merit is out of the question.  Boasted self-merit shuts you out from true Righteousness.  The Cross is the death of your self-righteousness.  Plead the merit of His Precious Blood in earnest prayer.  You must look out of yourself to Another.  Human merit or Christ's Atonement;  human speculation or divine revelation.  Cleansing from the power and guilt of your sins is needed immediately.  Receive at once the merits of the Savior.  Out with your knowledge, good resolves, and self-sufficiency.  You have no good works worth mentioning.

The less you value your own righteousness, the more you will seek after Christ's true holiness.  The less you think of your own ability, the more ardently you will follow after the Lord Jesus Christ.  Sincerely lay aside all hope of salvation by your own merits.  The less a man thinks of himself, the more he will think of Christ. You have no natural goodness.  Show your gratitude daily for being saved freely by grace through the Righteousness of Christ.  Christ must save you, or you are lost to all Eternity.  Jesus can save you, so submit yourself to Him.  O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do Thou it for Thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against Thee.

Make a clean break with your sins, unload your past, lay bare the present at the throne of grace.  Beg Jesus to be your Mediator and Advocate.  Trust to His Blood, not your works.  Simply let Jesus' blood wash your soul whiter as snow.  Leave your desperate case in the Great Advocate's hands.  To conceal sin is to damn your soul.  Confess your sins and you will find mercy with God.  The safest thing to do is to place yourself among the guilty down at the foot of the Cross.  If you have no merit and are full of sin, you can come straightway to Christ for His mercy and free forgiveness.

Admire the measureless merits of the Lord Jesus Christ; resting on His power, relying on His grace.  The terrible discovery of the evil of your sin and the utter despair of self will drive you to cast yourself on the merit and mercy of the Savior.  Adore His mercy, trust His blood, magnify His love, accept His grace, yield to the Holy Spirit's leading, renewing and working. Be you dead, let Jesus be your life, be you the beggar, let Jesus be your riches.  Be you sick, let the Lamb of God be your health.  Be you lost, let the Good Shepherd be your Savior.  Stand still, be still, and know that Jesus is the the just God and Savior who saves sinners.

Food for Thought 1

My Savior's Righteousness is my only boast.  Come to God in God's way, cast yourself at Jesus' feet, cry for Mercy for Jesus' sake. Your soul needs the Designer's clothing from heaven.  Designed by Jesus so God could accept you into His presence.  You don't have any righteousness at all. The free and simple Gospel dazes the carnal mind.  All that you have done to try to fit yourself for Heaven is in vain.  God has a Righteousness for sinful men who have none of their own.  You don't have to provide your own righteousness, for God has already provided it for you in the person of His Son.

Trust to the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be made the Righteousness of God in Jesus.  All the abilities of man can never impress a Holy Creator God.  God accepts no man's person; God will only accept the person of Jesus Christ.  There is no other way but Christ's Righteousness that God will accept you. What is it that you are trusting this hour?

A secret evil of some sort is keeping you from the Savior. It is a sin of one shape or another that you have grown to love.  Unbelief is the damning sin.  Some sin lies at your heart's door and keeps the Savior out.  You have broken God's divine Law all of your life, and live forgetful of God.  The atheist is arrogant, he is too big a man in his own eyes to become a Christian.  Too educated, too respectable, too worldly, too deep a thinker, he knows too much to be saved from sin.  The atheist grasps at vanity, and sins his years away, and then loses his soul.  The atheist will not come and sit down at Jesus' feet like a little child and believe what God says in the Bible.  Atheists worship sex, money, education, and men. The atheist loses his soul to gratify his own loftiness and pride.  The atheist carries about with him guilty secrets. He labors to conceal his secret shameful habits. Eventually the consequences of your sins are going to catch up with you. Darwinian quackery can never solve a sinner's problems.  Atheists trust to the nonsense and absurdity of darwin which will ruin and damn them.

The atheist wars with his own conscience.  He wars with the laws of morality. Atheism begins in the heart, not in the head.  Atheism is a deliberate, decision to shut God out of everything. Atheism is a deep-rooted defiance against God.  The secrets of all hearts shall be revealed at the great day of Judgment.  When a man rejects divine revelation, he is reduced to human speculation.  The atheist says, "Turn off the lights, so I can see better."  The word of God lays bare the secret thoughts of the soul - it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  The words of God lay bare a man's inmost secrets. Secret sins kill your conscience.  Some secret evil is keeping you from trusting to Jesus.  The day of Judgment will reveal childish faults, youthful lusts, vile memories, dark secrets, private sins, wanderings into darkness, filthy thoughts, and roaming eyes.

There's no such thing as a humble atheist. *Psalm 10:4* The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.  The atheist spits his blasphemous words in the face of the Savior, and then goes on to Hell where he belongs.  No God for me is the atheist's thought.  Never trust to human reasoning at all.  If there is a spark of honesty in the atheist, death causes uneasiness in his mind.

There is a Judge of all the earth, and He must do Right, and the day is coming when He shall execute vengeance upon all those who live and die in their sins, for He cannot pass by iniquity.  The holy nature of God cannot let sin go unpunished.  You may shut your eyes to the Gospel - but it is still there. You may reject or neglect or ridicule it, but before long you shall realize it is so. Your unbelief is high treason against the goodness of God.  If you will not repent and trust to Christ alone, you must perish in your unbelief.  If you die with your sins upon your soul, you'll go straight to Hell and be lost and without hope forever.

Your sin is deadly serious.  Stop toying with sin and playing the fool with your soul. You don't know what tomorrow is going to bring.  Stop indulging in your evil passions and lustful tendencies. Altogether quit the ways of your sins.  Simply quit yourself, and look to Jesus now.  If you are trusting to any of your imaginary righteousness, you can never be saved.  You must come out of yourself, or you are a lost man.  Leave off trusting in yourself.  The hardest self-denial is to deny your self-righteousness, and get completely away from all confidence in your doings and everything that comes out of yourself. You might as well hope to be saved by your sins as by your good works, for you have none.  All you have is bad works, for all your works are a rival to Jesus Christ's finished work.  You must come out of your filthy self-righteous rags if you are to be saved. Fix your eyes on wholly upon Jesus the Mediator.  You can only come to God through the merciful Mediator - the Lord Jesus Christ.

The ungodly shall be punished for all their ungodly words, deeds, and thoughts according to the rules of divine justice and equity in the last day of Judgment.  God's divine justice is only completely satisfied by the Precious Blood of Christ.  It is always the case that when a person grows skeptical of the Gospel, that there is some secret evil in their life which they are trying to cover up and protect.  The holy Gospel presses hard upon your guilty conscience and makes you fell uneasy in your sins. Like a flashlight and broom, the Law reveals all the lusts and vile passions in the secret corners of your nature.  You have a little piece of Hell burning within you called Sin.

The best lost man you know would lose his mind if he were to see himself as God sees him. Even good, nice, respectable, lovable sort of people are evil in God's sight, and they all must be born again and give up all trust in themselves, as much as the worst of men must do.  A righteousness must be absolutely Perfect to be accepted by God, and that is not the case with your righteousness.  Only Christ's Righteousness is pure and without blemish.  Self-righteousness only leads to delusion, deception, and then damnation.

The way to Heaven by human merit is only possible to a man who has been absolutely Perfect all of his life, from his youth to his dying day.  You are not Perfect, for all men have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.  You may present a fair outside that impresses man's eye, but inwardly and secretly you think and practice all sorts of evil.  There is some secret wickedness which you will not let go of, this is why you hate and avoid Christ so.  You cannot improve on Christ's Righteousness, so quit trying to help Jesus save you.

God perceives all your secret thoughts, He reads your mind all day long.  God knows about everything you've ever done; He has recorded all the secret filthiness from your childhood, to your manhood, to your old age.  The Almighty has recorded all your dirty thoughts, vile imaginations, all your wrong words, all your greediness and lusting, murmuring, covetousness, wastefulness, envy, and unbelief.  Only the Blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse you from all sin.  *I John 1:7* Every man by nature practice is an idolator.  The unregenerate atheist always has an idol he worships.  He will worship anything rather than the God that made him and died for him.  The atheist would rather worship himself or some other sinner, rather than the Savior.  God is all purity.  Holiness delights in God, but Sin delights in self.  Acknowledge your sinfulness to God, ask God for repentance to help you turn from sinful habits in thought, word, and deed, and heartily trust to Jesus' bloody death and resurrection to save you from the wrath to come and the love of sin.

Follow after faith in Jesus' blood, repentance, the forsaking of sins, godliness, inward purity, holiness.  Live life to make others happy. Do not tolerate any known sin in your public or private life.  Have a spirit of quick forgiveness. Resent no injury. Have patience under trouble and trial. Be not carried away into grumbling or murmuring in times of affliction, pain, poverty or adversity.  Don't give up and don't give into sin.  Don't quit doing right, and don't be quiet about the Gospel.  Maintain a steady calm, and gentleness of spirit.  Be faithful to do right when everything else is going wrong.  Keep a bright and unashamed testimony for Jesus. Tell perishing sinners of Christ Crucified. Cry out earnestly to the Holy Spirit for quickening daily.  Quicken me O Lord after Thy lovingkindness.  Save me, Lord.  Cry out to Jesus always for mercy and help.

Are You in Good Hands?

Is your Soul insured today?  Your Soul can be in “Good Hands” with Jesus Christ; remember to never trust yourself, your religion, or Allstate.  Get your 'Soul Insurance' for free at Calvary today - You definitely need this Coverage.  Americans spend thousands of their hard-earned dollars each year on many types of insurance; here are just a few: health, life, homeowners, car, boat, dental, disability, flood, renter's, long-term care, liability, pet, and the list goes on and on. America's insurance industry pays out an average of $55B in claims annually and averages $40B in profits each year, and the industry currently has a surplus of over $420B.

I'm sure you've heard these sales slogans many times: Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. You're in good hands with Allstate. Geico - So easy, a caveman could do it. Men and women want security, because they fear the worst happening to their bodies and properties, so to calm their fears they purchase insurance. But there is one type of insurance that is the most important, but the majority of people neglect to obtain it, and that is 'Soul Insurance.'

Your soul is worth more than the entire world. Jesus said this, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” *Mark 8:36-37* Death is unavoidable. You cannot, you will not, escape it. Death is lurking everywhere. There is just the stroke of the clock between you and death – no man knows that hour. You have sinned against God and His Law by lying, cheating, lusting, blaspheming, evil thoughts, pride, and rejecting Christ. Sins against God’s Law and rejection of His Son has stirred up God’s wrath toward you. *John 3:36* Sin brings death to your soul, and sooner or later, you will die physically. Human nature defies and doubts the existence of the Creator God, because human nature loves sin and darkness.

At death, you will certainly need your soul insured to protect it from the wrath and justice of God that your sins deserve. Soul Insurance cannot be purchased or earned; it can only be received freely. Christ Jesus is the ‘only’ insurance Agent for the souls of sinful men. Your soul needs coverage just like your car and house. Your soul will outlive the stars. Your soul must be covered in Jesus’ blood to protect you from God’s wrath on your sin. Flee to Jesus from the wrath to come. You have to deal with Christ Jesus personally, and come to Him by childlike faith on His terms – as a lost unworthy sinner in need of forgiveness of sins. The 'Heavenly Insurance Agent' (the Lord Jesus Himself) is knocking at your heart’s door today, and He wants to give you His 'Soul Insurance' absolutely free: Jesus paid it all for you on Calvary's tree. Jesus doesn’t sell His salvation to anyone, He only gives it away to needy sinners. The 'gift of God' is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Basically, man is a sinner. He does not always want to admit this, but he is regardless of how many good works or good deeds he performs, he can do nothing about his sinful 'nature.' Your sin nature causes you to sin. You need a new nature within – ye must be born again. You may be a fine, respectable citizen contributing to the welfare of your community. Morally, you may be one of the best people in your community. You may give more money than anyone else to charities or even to your church. In themselves, these deeds are well and good, but they cannot prepare you for death, because the Bible says in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Because you haven't received Christ Jesus into your body and soul, in the sight of God, you are lost and dead in your sins. You are lost to God and eternity. This is why you need to be saved. *John 3:36; Titus 3:5* Regardless of how many good deeds you have done, you still haven't dealt with your sinful 'nature.

The truth is briefly this: Man is a sinner whether religious or otherwise. In the Second Chapter of Ephesians, the Bible says, a lost sinner is a child of wrath dead in trespasses and sin. His imaginary good works cannot blot out his past, present, or future sins. He must trust in the living Christ who lived, died, was buried, rose again the third day, ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, and is now interceding to God. In Ecclesiastes 1:15, God says, "that which is crooked cannot be made straight." Now matter how hard you try, regardless of what you do, you by your own efforts cannot change your 'sinful nature' and bring yourself back into fellowship with God Almighty. Only the Lord Jesus Christ the Savior can save from sin. Jesus still saves lost sinners that need Him and trust Him alone to save them hell fire. Jesus' shed His atoning blood on the Cross of Calvary for 'your' sins.

You must trust in Another's righteousness that is not your own, that is, the Righteousness of God that is given to the sinner by grace the very second He trusts and relies wholly on Christ to save Him from the lake of fire. Jesus Christ worked out a perfect Righteousness for you. Jesus lived a sinless life and obeyed the Law perfectly for you, so you could be saved freely. You must turn over your filthy rags of self-righteousness to Jesus, and He will provide freely and put on your soul His robe of righteousness which you need so desperately to save you from the wrath of God.

For some people it is not badness, but goodness that keeps them from the Savior. They are trying to be good, they are sincerely trying to do the right thing in life, but they are ignoring and rejecting Christ Jesus, the apple of God's eye. Nothing could be more hopeless and confusing than this for a sinner is not saved by trying, but simply trusting in Jesus' blood and receiving His Righteousness. Trusting only in Jesus that said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28; Romans 10:3-4) Have you received Christ? Are you saved from your sin and its penalty? Don't trust in your own good works, trust in Christ who was perfectly Good and then He died for you. Just let Christ Jesus be your Righteousness now.

The Righteousness of God is revealed to man through the Gospel of Christ. Religion will damn you quicker than anything else on this earth. Religion has to do with your self-righteousness. You will need God's Righteousness to enter Heaven; Jesus Christ is God’s righteousness. You will end up in hell if you think that you’re good enough to help out Jesus Christ. Please stop playing with your soul and toying around with your eternal destiny. You will end up in one of two places when you die: New Jerusalem or the lake of fire. Where you are heading? What is keeping you away from coming to Christ and embracing Him with all your heart? Religion keeps many people away. But remember this; religion will get you to Hell quicker than anything.

The 'gospel of the grace of God' has to do with a Person, the only One who showed up on this earth and lived a sinless life, and bore your sins in His own body, and He is the One who made you – your Creator. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. The name JESUS means Jehovah Saves. Jehovah-Jireh came down to this earth in the likeness of a man and dwelt in flesh and bones. Jesus Christ was the God-man with God's blood running through His veins. (See Zech 12:10; Isa 7:14; Matt 1:23; Isa 9:6; Acts 20:28; John 1:18; 3:13; 5:18 5:23; 6:46; 8:58; 9:38; 10:33; 20:28; Mark 2:5-7; John 1:3; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2; John 9:38; Mark 14:61-62; I Tim 3:16; Rom 9:5)

The message of the Cross of Christ is offensive to human righteousness and makes human nature furious with true Biblical Christianity. This is why Biblical Christianity is hated and avoided by every major religion in the world, because real Biblical Christianity has to do with a Person, and not a religious system of self-salvation. It has to do with a real, living Person who is God’s righteousness. An unsaved man will not admit his inability to save himself. He will not acknowledge he is incapable of getting himself to Heaven. He is convinced 'his way' is right. (John 14:6; Prov 12:15; 14:12; 16:25; 21:2) The natural mean loves a 'do it yourself' religion. Human nature is bent on doing something to save itself. Men look for, or make up a ‘god’ in their own mind that will match their sinful and godless lifestyle. But your conscience will still convict and warn you of the danger your soul is in until you come humbly to Christ as a sinner and receive Him.

The truth concerning the righteousness of God is what makes every self-righteous person in the world ‘scared to death’ of New Testament Biblical salvation. A religious man will have no part in it. They will not take a religion where they cannot play a part. They will always take a religion where their ‘works’ count for something, but in the gospel of the grace of God, your works count for nothing. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. (Isa 64:6) Verily every man at his 'best state' is altogether vanity. (Psa 39:5) Religion and self-righteousness will clothe you with filthy rags every time. God gives every man enough faith to be saved. You either WILL, or you won’t. Salvation truly has to do with your WILL. If you wind up in hell, no one will be responsible but you. If you burn forever, it will be your fault, not your friends and relatives or the hypocrites down at the church.

Christ Jesus paid for your 'Soul Insurance' in full with His own life's blood. The rich and free grace of God is available to you now. God saves sinners freely, wholly and alone by the blood of Jesus, without any work done by man. God's love was why Jesus Christ was sent into this world to bleed and die for sinners. Only Jesus Christ's blood can stop the cries of divine justice for you. Salvation is free to sinners, but it cost God dearly - it cost Him the heart-blood of His Dear Son. The blood atonement of the Lamb of God is the only thing that will appease God's anger and vengeance which abide on you if you're lost in your sins. Jesus is the Propitiation for man's sin.

If you would receive Christ, and not be rejected by Him, you must come to Him as a lost and needy sinner. If you reject or neglect Christ, you will murder your own soul. You will in fact commit soul suicide. Jesus said, “If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:21,24) If you mess around and die in your sins without Christ, God’s justice will not spare you, and the law of God will damn you.

Come to Calvary’s cross where Jesus bled and die for your sins. Look up into the agonizing face of Christ; listen to His cries, see the blood dripping from His broken, blood-stained body for your sins. That is the price God paid to redeem you from your sins. Salvation is free, but it is not cheap; your sins cost Jesus Christ His life. When God nailed His Son to the Cross to pay for your transgressions, God gave the very best He had to give – His Precious Son.

Nobody sees you as you really are but God, we think we’re all nice folks, you may have a good reputation with some of your friends and relatives, you may think very highly of yourself, or at least somebody does, but when you stand before God at His white throne judgment, every secret thought, word, and deed will be revealed about you. You will be seen as you really are on the inside and in secret. If I were you, I know what I would do: Instead of putting off coming to Jesus Christ, I would go directly to Him, and say as a lost sinner, “I can’t save myself, I believe You can save me by Your shed blood, I need Your righteousness, I am a hopeless wretch, I’m going to trust You to save me, I put myself in Your hands, I receive You into my body and soul, please give me eternal life or I don’t have it, please get me to Heaven, or I’m not going to make it, I’m not trusting anyone, but You to get me there.

Please put your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul. For God’s sake and for your own soul’s sake, do it now. Don’t take a chance on being revealed in the day of judgment for what you actually are in God's sight. When you stand before God, do you know how you want to appear, if you have any sense at all? God said this about His Son, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." You want to appear before God Almightly and look just like His Son, absolutely sinless and righteous. To do that, you must receive His Son’s righteousness and trust only in His shed blood. You could be very near the edge of the precipice of your earthly life and your time here on earth is quickly running out. Don't delay, get saved today.

You are still alive and in the time of grace. You are yet in a savable condition. The nail-scarred hands of God are stretched out to you. The blood of Christ is available to you now. The Holy Spirit still invites you to come to Christ. You can be saved right now and have eternal life. The matter is in your hands. Please don’t murder your own soul. Your soul needs eternal coverage. You have many other kinds of insurance, please receive your soul’s insurance before death comes for you. God has done all He can do. Christ has done His part; and He done it perfectly.

The Holy Spirit is pleading for your soul with all His might. The answer is yours. Will it be sin or salvation? Will it be Satan or the Savior? Will it be God or the curse of sin? Will it be everlasting life or eternal death? Will it be heaven or hell? Neglect is refusal. Neglect is rejection and defiance. Neglect of Christ results in sure destruction, death, and Hell. This moment may determine your Eternity. Will you repent of your sins, and put your trust solely in Christ to save you from Hell? Indecision is the most subtle trap of Satan. Choose Christ Jesus today, Take Him, Receive Him: Rest in His Righteousness and Simply Trust to His Atoning Blood!