I have been following Jesus for about two and a half years now. Best two and a half years of my life. God doesn't speak just through the Bible, but He has been teaching me many things through it. Here's something that he showed me last week.
Don't read this post for the sake of entertainment, especially if you don't know Jesus.
While reading through John, I was struck again by a misconception people have about our natural standing with God since the Fall. I'll mention two passages that reminded me of this. The first verse really stuck out to me; It's from John the Baptist's Testimony about Jesus:
But the whole point of Jesus coming to earth was to provide a way back from death to life. Take a look at what Jesus says in John 5:24:
Now here is the misconception: Many people think that we start out innocent, or neutral. John Piper explained it with the analogy of the pendulum of a metronome. Many people think that we begin at the center, and we can swing toward the good side or the bad side. The truth, however, is that we are all completely on the bad side from the start, and there is no way we can change that or earn our way to the good side. Here is the Good News, from Romans 3:23-24:
If you aren't living with Jesus, you are not on a good path. Don't read this passively. When we stand before our Creator, we won't have an excuse for not following Jesus. He has lovingly and graciously given us a way back to him, and to reject him is foolish and eternally costly.
Looking back to my life before knowing Jesus, I can see that I was not innocent at all, even though for a long time I appeared to be a Christian, and I would have said I was. No matter how good we appear to be, we know how bent toward evil we are on the inside. We need to be fixed, to be changed, to return to God, and Jesus is the only one who can do it. Our choice is to remain or live. Repent and turn to Jesus, and live.
Don't read this post for the sake of entertainment, especially if you don't know Jesus.
While reading through John, I was struck again by a misconception people have about our natural standing with God since the Fall. I'll mention two passages that reminded me of this. The first verse really stuck out to me; It's from John the Baptist's Testimony about Jesus:
"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." -John 3:36The last part struck me: "God's wrath remains on him." That means that from birth, God's wrath is on us until we give our lives to Jesus. God, our Creator, gave mankind the choice to remain or die, and we chose to die. We chose life apart from God, which is death compared to life with God. Disobeying a perfect, holy God resulted in God's wrath, the consequence of sin: eternal death apart from him.
But the whole point of Jesus coming to earth was to provide a way back from death to life. Take a look at what Jesus says in John 5:24:
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."Through Jesus we can cross from death to life. The only way to get back to God is through Jesus (John 14:6).
Now here is the misconception: Many people think that we start out innocent, or neutral. John Piper explained it with the analogy of the pendulum of a metronome. Many people think that we begin at the center, and we can swing toward the good side or the bad side. The truth, however, is that we are all completely on the bad side from the start, and there is no way we can change that or earn our way to the good side. Here is the Good News, from Romans 3:23-24:
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."Through Jesus alone, we can cross over from death to life. But the fact of the matter is this: we all are facing eternal death if we aren't living for Jesus. We have the choice to remain where we are, on the road to death, or to turn to Jesus (called repenting).
If you aren't living with Jesus, you are not on a good path. Don't read this passively. When we stand before our Creator, we won't have an excuse for not following Jesus. He has lovingly and graciously given us a way back to him, and to reject him is foolish and eternally costly.
Looking back to my life before knowing Jesus, I can see that I was not innocent at all, even though for a long time I appeared to be a Christian, and I would have said I was. No matter how good we appear to be, we know how bent toward evil we are on the inside. We need to be fixed, to be changed, to return to God, and Jesus is the only one who can do it. Our choice is to remain or live. Repent and turn to Jesus, and live.
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