Why Should I Let You In?

Suppose God asked you this question when you stand before Him. What do you think you'd say?

That you believe you're a good person? That you have a good heart? That you go to church? That you serve in the church? That you tithe? That you keep His commandments?

Well if these are your answers, then I have good news for you—the best news you've ever heard:

You're wrong.

Truth of the matter is, you can do all of these things, and they would be good, but you'd still miss God. But it's important to understand why.

When you think about the nature of God, two themes jump out about Him: His justice and His mercy. It's true God is gracious, loving and merciful. But it's also equally true that He's holy, just and righteous. And He cannot put down justice for the sake of mercy. We see this in Exodus 34 where God is described as "by no means clearing the guilty". Because God is holy, by nature He MUST punish us for our sins.

That's why it's important to understand who and what we are as people. We use the phrase "I'm only human" when we fall short, but it was never intended for us to sin in the first place; but we've become so used to our sinful condition that we don't realize the impact of our unrighteousness. Case-in-point: Have you ever told a lie? Stolen (even if it was small)? Used God's name in vain? Hated someone? Looked lustfully at someone (which Jesus calls adultery if that person isn't your spouse)? If so, by God's standard, you're a lying, thieving, blasphemous, murderous adulterer. Or if we look at it from another angle, if you counted the number of sins you commit in a given day, and you multiplied that out over your life, how many sins would you have committed by the time you die? On your best day, let's say you sin three times: One was a sin of commission, the others were sins of omission (something you were supposed to do but didn't). If you do the math, 3 sins a day for 70 years is over 76,000 sins!

That's quite a bit. Wouldn't God be justified in punishing you? And where does the mercy come in?

Enter Jesus. The sinless man born by the power of God, the second person in the Trinity takes on human flesh. He was tempted just as we are, but never sinned. He was crucified not for himself, but for your sins. He took the punishment you deserve upon himself so you could go free. He rose from the dead to grant you eternal life. He made the way for you to be reconciled to God instead of enduring endless wrath in Hell. He traded you his righteousness for your sinfulness. THAT'S mercy.

This gift of salvation is available to ALL who receive it. Salvation is the gift of mercy and restoration to all who have sinned any number of times. The more you've sinned, the more this gift is meant for you, and you should not feel unworthy to approach God to receive it. On the contrary, God DOESN'T want people coming into Heaven saying they deserve to be there because of the things they did. No, it was God's mercy and grace that allowed you in, and you have only Jesus to thank.

Here is how you receive salvation. You're transferring your trust from your own works and your own brand of righteousness to trusting in God's righteousness. The Book of Romans describes this new righteousness as one based on faith in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. You're trusting in Christ for your eternal fate, so if God asked you why He should let you in, your answer of trusting in Christ's sacrifice for your sins is the only acceptable answer. You receive salvation by turning from your sin back to God. It was your sin that got you in trouble to begin with; turn from it and follow God's ways, and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord. Get of your throne and let him sit there. Let Jesus govern your life.

If you have made that commitment to Jesus, to receive his sacrifice for yourself, to turn from your sins and to follow Him, you have eternal life. Heaven is a free gift, neither earned nor deserved. And eternal life doesn't begin when you die, nor do we only trust Jesus with our death. Rather we have eternal life now, and we're also trusting Jesus with our life. That is how you can KNOW that you have eternal life.

If you have been touched by this message, and are looking for a church home in the Chicago area, I highly recommend Zion Faith Center Bible Church. It's at 9993 S Throop (just inside 100^th/Vincennes on the bus). We have our services Sunday mornings at 9 AM, our Tuesday services are at 7:30 PM, and our telecast comes on CAN-TV Channel 36 on Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. Thanks for reading, and may God be with you and our community.