Thursday, 26 December 2013

They've all taken the wrong turn; they've all wandered down blind alleys. No one's living right; I can't find a single one.

Rom 3:9  So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it: 
Rom 3:10  There's nobody living right, not even one, 
Rom 3:11  nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God. 
Rom 3:12  They've all taken the wrong turn; they've all wandered down blind alleys. No one's living right; I can't find a single one. 
Rom 3:13  Their throats are gaping graves, their tongues slick as mud slides. Every word they speak is tinged with poison. 
Rom 3:14  They open their mouths and pollute the air. 
Rom 3:15  They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year, 
Rom 3:16  litter the land with heartbreak and ruin, 
Rom 3:17  Don't know the first thing about living with others. 
Rom 3:18  They never give God the time of day. 
Rom 3:19  This makes it clear, doesn't it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it's clear enough, isn't it, that we're sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? 
Rom 3:20  Our involvement with God's revelation doesn't put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else's sin.

 Romans 3:9-20

 All Justly under Judgment 

Rom_3:9-20

A number of quotations are advanced-mostly from the Septuagint or Greek version of the Old Testament-establishing the hopeless evil of man’s condition. These apply, in the first place, to God’s peculiar people, the Jews; but if true of them, how terrible must be the condition of the great heathen world! Every mouth will be stopped and all the world brought in guilty before God, Rom_3:19.

Various organs of the body are enumerated, and in each ease some terrible affirmation is made of inbred depravity. What need for salvation! What can atone for such sin, or cleanse such hearts,  save the redeeming grace of God?

Law here is obviously employed in the wide sense of conscience as well as Scripture. It is God’s ideal held up before our faces, to show us from what we have fallen. The looking-glass is intended, not to wash the face, but to show how much it needs washing. You may commend your soap, and no one will use it; but if you reveal the discoloring filth, people will be only too glad to avail themselves of the cleansing power which otherwise they would neglect and despise. The way to fill the inquiry room is to hold up the divine standard before men’s consciences.

Rom 3:22  God-setting-things-right that we read about, has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this.

Rom 3:23  Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us,
Rom 3:24  God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus Christ.

Rom 3:25  God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public--to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured.
Rom 3:26  This is not only clear, but it's now--this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in His rightness..............

1.   COME to Him confessing your sins.  He has said, "Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out."
John 6:37. Repentance is absolutely necessary for Salvation.

2. TRUST Him to forgive your sins through the merits of His atonement for your sins on the cross at Calvary.
His word says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

3.   You may be tempted to think that your sins are too great for God to forgive you.  Do not look at your sins or your feelings.  Look only to the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe what God has said,  "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

4.   Then in simple faith TRUST Him to be your Savior,  John 1:12, "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."  RECEIVE Him as your Savior by simple trust in His promise.

5.   The next step is to CONFESS to someone that you are now a Christian - that the Lord Jesus Christ is your Savior, and that you belong to Him.   When you do this sincerely, you will find assurance, and peace
and joy coming into your heart.  Read Rom 10: 9,10.

6.   READ your Bible every day.  Have regularly times for prayer every day (this prayer is simple talking to your loving Savior and Lord, communicating your love and need of Him in your life and He will reveal more of Himself to you in your new found relationship).   
Go to services where you will meet other Christians who have done the same as you repented and confessed and have received the Lord Jesus into their Hearts and lives.   Also you can find their friendship and help in your new life in Jesus.


  

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