Last Saturday I was on my way to a prayer meeting in Shorewood with a group of my fellow pastors. I had been there before and knew how to get there. As I left my house I noticed that I needed some gas in my car so I made a little trip down to the gas station in Yorkville. I was doing some serious worshipping of the Lord with a CD that I had inserted in my car. I was worshipping the Lord. I was preparing myself to pray with my brothers and fellow pastors. My heart was right. My attitude was in the right frame of mind, but something was wrong. As I was making my way down the road I noticed that I was a few miles from Morris and that I was on the wrong road. I made a U-turn but realized that I would be too late to join in the prayer meeting and made my way back home. Even though my heart was right, I was on the wrong road.
In the same way, there are many people today on the wrong road. Many of them are sincere in what they believe. Many of them believe they are walking the right path. Unfortunately they do not know they are on a road that leads nowhere. Proverbs 14:12 states “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Elsewhere Jesus said “wide is the gate and broad the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.”
The good news is that those on the wrong road can make a U-turn. They can get on the right track if they will follow the road map that has been laid out for them in God’s Word. Specifically Paul gave us a great road map to help others find the right path in the book of Romans.
In Romans 3:10 Paul wrote "As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one." Perhaps we do not understand this concept of righteous. Righteous means measuring up to God's standard. In essence Paul is saying that none of us are perfect. We might be a good person, but none of us would dare say that we are perfect. I know this may come as bad news to some of you, but you are just not as great as you thought.
In Romans 3:23 Paul takes it one more step when he writes "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Not only does Paul say that we are not perfect, but we also choose to do things that are not pleasing to God. We choose to go against what he teaches is right to do. For instance when we lie, cheat, steal, cheat on our spouses, fudge on our taxes, have bad thoughts, we are not living up to the standards that God requires. The Bible calls this sin and us sinners. Maybe we don't like that term so lets just say that we are crooked and have a tendency to do crooked things. If you think you are are exempt from this rule, read it again "all have sinned." This is the one rule for which there is no exception.
Paul reveals the consequences of our choices in Romans 6:23 when he writes "the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." All of us like to receive wages for what we do. I do not know of anyone who does not like to get paid. In other words it is all about the economy. In God's economy, if we choose to sin we must pay the price. The price is not physical death as we are all going to die. The price is eternal separation from God after our physical death. Perhaps you don't believe that there is life after death. Okay, are you willing to stake eternity on it? What if I am right? Are you willing to live with the consequences of your choice? The good news is that God loves us so much that he made a way for us to be with Him in eternity. We cannot earn it. We do not deserve it. And we cannot buy it. It is simply a gift that God wants to give us through Jesus Christ our Lord. All we can do is accept it or reject it.
Paul explains how we can accept this gift in Romans 10:9-10 "If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." The Bible states that we are to believe and confess that Jesus is Lord. Also we are to believe that He was raised from the dead. This belief is pivotal to our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection Christianity is nothing more than a good set of ethical standards, but there is no hope. The fact that Jesus died on the cross, and was raised from the dead, makes Christianity different from all other religions. We have a living God who did what was necessary to establish a relationship with us. What we must do is believe and confess this truth.
However, notice that Paul said we are to confess Jesus is Lord. Paul means that it is more than just saying save me from eternal death, but come and be my Lord now in this life. We want to live our lives in a such a way that we surrender our will to God's will. Paul concludes this idea in Romans 10:13 with these words "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." The key phrase is "everyone who calls." Previously Paul said there is no one righteous, not even one. He also said "all have sinned." Since Paul's clear teaching is that all people without exception have sinned and are not righteous, it is only consistent that God's salvation be available to everyone.
But not everyone will be saved. There is a qualifier in this verse, which is everyone who calls on the name of the Lord." If you call on the name of Jesus to save you, you will be saved. Calling out means placing all your hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ alone. It means that if you are going to make it to heaven and miss eternal separation from God then it is going to be through Jesus Christ alone.
Whatever road or path you find yourself on, the good news is that you can turn around and choose a different road. Why not do so today? Pray this simple prayer "Lord I admit that I am a sinner and fall short of your plans for my life. I believe that Jesus died for my sins and that He rose from the dead and is alive today. I confess my sins and commit my life to Jesus as Lord and savior of my life. Amen,"
If you honestly prayed that prayer then you are a child of God. Now you need to involve yourself in a Bible teaching church and become all that God intends for you to be. I know a really good church in my area if you would like to know. I look forward to hearing from you.
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