Editor’s Note: This post is written by guest blogger, David Hundert. David is a current Master of Divinity student at Evangelical Seminary.
In the previous post, we talked about the importance of repentance. Why is repentance needed?
Consider what the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah once more. Isaiah 64:6 reads, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
In addition Psalms 14:1-3 reads, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
These passages teach that everything we do that we think is good, it isn’t good enough.
Now I’m a realist. I understand that many of you reading this post are believers and have already given your lives to Christ. However, one thing that I’d like you to grasp is that we were all once prisoners of our own sin, guilt, and shame. When Jesus Christ was born into this world, to become the one to pay for our sins once and for all, the true King freed us from that bondage, and, Hallelujah, we now serve a new King! One who is acquainted with our sorrows. When we gather at this time of year to celebrate advent, we celebrate the victory tour of the one true Righteous King who freed us from sin and death!
The good news, the gospel, is what Paul wrote in the book of Romans 3:21-26,
“But now apart from the law, (or aside from the law) the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
Paul uses some good “Christian-ese” terms in there for you… Lets look at them. This passage states that the righteousness of God is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. This means that we are made right, our relationship with God is restored, through faith in Jesus Christ. Since we are all sinners equally, Jew and Gentile, Jesus’ redemption, or payment, is made available just as equally through Jesus. God offered up His Son as payment or atonement, through His death and the shedding of His blood, so that all who believe in Him through faith can be saved.
Now that the payment has been made, why does there need to be a second advent? We’ll try to answer that in the next post.
Let's Talk About Sunday 