Harbor Baptist Church

You Have a Problem

Romans 1 tells us that the “wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” It is against those who “suppress the truth” and man is without excuse, for “what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.”

God declares:

“Since the creation of the world my invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even my eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

God is talking about me. He is talking about your neighbor. He is talking about your spouse. He is talking about your children. Most importantly, though, he is talking about YOU.

The issue is not necessarily that we humans do bad things (though we do), nor is it that we are inherently wicked from birth (though we certainly are). The issue is, “Although we know God, we do not glorify him as God, nor are we thankful…”

As God concluded way back in the beginning:

“every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart is only evil continually. And the Lord regretted making man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart because of it” (Genesis 6:5-6).

Paul concluded the same, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22-23) and “…Scripture has confined all under sin…” (Galatians 3:22), and “…whatever the law says, it says…. so that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).

It Started Before You

This all occurred because one before us first brought forth sin, the one known as the Serpent, Satan, the devil, the Dragon of Old, Lucifer, the “anointed cherub that covereth” (Ezekiel 28:14-19; Revelation 12:9; 20:2; Isaiah 14:12). He first deceived our maternity (Eve), subsequently resulting in our death and captivity forever in the underworld.

We don’t know why.

We don’t know the motivations that prompted his deception.

All we do know is the result of the fall: an existence and a world that is much, much different than we were originally intended to be or exist in.

Adam’s Fall is Your Fall

Because of Adam and Eve, the poison that is your fallen nature, and the penalty that is mortality, spread to all the living, and over our entire creation. But God, who sought to redeem his creation and his “vessels of mercy” (Romans 9:14-24), chose, through the lineage of the one man, Abraham, a path to correct what had before been lost.

God said:

“Abram, get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house. Go to a land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation” (Genesis 12:1-3).

And, because of Abraham’s faith, it was “accounted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:22).

And from him came Isaac, and from Isaac Jacob, and from Jacob the twelve (Acts 7:8) and the twelve, by providence, went down to live in Egypt. And there they made a life for themselves and over the course of 400 years, this single family became a mighty people. God then called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. And it was also this man, Moses, from which the Israelites (and, later, the Christians) inherited the Oracles of God (Acts 7:38; Romans 3:2; 1 Peter 4:11; Hebrews 5:12).

And mighty were the men God called: from Moses to the time of the Judges, to the time of the Kings, to David, a man after God’s own heart (Romans 4:6-8; Psalm 32:1-2; Acts 13:22; 1 Sam. 13:14), to his son, Solomon, the wisest of all who ever lived (1 Kings 3:12; 4:29–31). They all heeded the call placed on their lives and they did all that God asked them to do.

In the culmination of the times, God fulfilled the promise he had made to Abraham, stating “from your seed, all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Galatians 3:8). The Word then, the Logos (Λόγος), “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), for the time of his visitation was at hand (Dan. 9:24; Luke 1:68, 78; Isaiah 53).

Jesus Is the Messiah

This day all the prophets had looked forward to (Luke 10:24; John 8:56). But, from centuries of waiting, the Jewish people had become confused and blinded (John 12:40; 2 Corinthians 3:14; 4:4; Isaiah 6:10; 29:10; Acts 28:26; Romans 11:7, 8). They ultimately rejected their Messiah, believing they had salvation in the Scriptures themselves, rather than in the one in whom the Scriptures spoke (John 5:39; Matthew 23:37–39; Luke 13:34-35; 19:41-44). But, thankfully for YOU, their rejection of him opened a door for God to gather to himself a people for his name from the rest of the world (Acts 15:13-17; Romans 11:16-25).

For it is not by keeping the law that anyone can be justified in God’s sight, but “by grace through faith are we saved” (Matthew 16:21-22; Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:1-8; Ephesians 2:8-9). As David said, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:12) and “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity” (Psalm 32:2), and as Moses said “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3-8).

Neither the law nor sacrifices have any power over sin (Hebrews 10:1-10; Galatians 3:11; Romans 3:20), but the law was to serve as a tutor and the sacrifices as a shadow and a guide of what was to come (Galatians 3:24). The Scriptures now serve as our examples (Romans 15:4), to reveal to us the depth and magnitude of our sin, and illustrate the sober reality that no one can keep the law himself or bridge or bind the chasm that separates us from God.

As Jesus declared:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He said, “Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. “Many,” he said, “will seek to enter and will not be able” because “No one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him” (John 14:6; Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 13:22; John 6:44).

YOU do not want to be found outside when the door has been shut saying “Lord, Lord, open for us” and yet, have him answer, “I do not know you…depart from me…” (Luke 13:25; Matthew 25:1-13).

For we are told that Jesus is precious to those who believe, but to those who are disobedient, he is “foolishness to them” (1 Corinthians 1:20-25). He is said to be “the stone which the builders rejected which has become the chief cornerstone” (1 Peter 2:7; Psalm 118:22; Ephesians 2:20) and “no other name under heaven has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). For Jesus is the culmination of all that is spoken in Moses and the Prophets (Hebrews 1:1-2; 10:7; Luke 16:27-31).

And so, “we have the prophetic word confirmed” (2 Peter 1:19), that “Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he was seen by Peter, then by the twelve, afterward by over five hundred, by James, then by all the apostles, and then by Paul, who is the least of the apostles, having been a persecutor of the church of God” (1 Corinthians 15:3-9).

This is What’s Coming For You

And, just as the Scriptures predicted the good news of Jesus’ first visitation (Luke 4:16-22), that of his death, burial, and resurrection on our behalf, that he might save us from the penalty of sin and death (Romans 6:23), so too, does Scripture predict his second coming (Jude 1:14-15; Isaiah 61:2b; Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 24:27-31; Zechariah 14:4; Revelation 1:7; 19:15) and the resurrection of our bodies from death (Daniel 12:2; Acts 24:15; John 5:28-29). The first time he came in meekness and lowliness of heart, the suffering servant come to die. But the second time, Jesus will come in his Wrath, and he will appear as a lamb who has been slain and the world will tremble at his appearance and will tried to hide themselves from his power and majesty and authority (Isaiah 2:10; Revelation 6:15).

In the end, All will stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 2:16; 14:10-12; Matthew 16:27; Acts 10:42) and all will be held to account and will have to answer for what they have done, being judged by what is written in the books of God (Revelation 20:11-13; Daniel 7:10; 12:1; Exodus 32:32-33).

Those whose names are written in the Book of Life (Revelation 3:5; 20:12; Psalm 69:28; Philippians 4:3), these will be saved. Those whose names are not found in the Book of Life, they will be cast into the Lake of Fire for all eternity.

What You Must Do to Be Saved

Habakkuk 2:4 states,

“the Just shall live by faith.”

And Paul is pretty clear when he says:

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

Also he says:

“God has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-10).

Upon YOUR confession and by the mechanism of YOUR faith, Jesus promised you would be sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30). This seal is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who will indwell us, and will bring us into remembrance of all things and teach us all things (John 7:39; 14:17, 25-26; 15:26; 16:7-15; Luke 24:29; 1 Corinthians 2:13).

Can You Trust All of This?

And in this salvation, we can be confident. Paul states:

“I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” and “the Lord knows those who are his,” and “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (Romans 8:38-39; 2 Timothy 2:19; John 10:27-29).

There Is No Time to Delay

You must make your choice today, this very moment, as you are reading the words on this page. For Jesus warned us:

“You know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming,” and “of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father,” and you do not know when “your soul will be required of you” (Matthew 24:36, 42; 25:13; Mark 13:32; Luke 12:20).

We are called to “redeem the time, for the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). And again and again we are warned, “Do not be deceived” (James 1:16; Galatians 6:7; Luke 21:8; 2 Corinthians 11:3).

If you feel God drawing you to Jesus, to his Messiah, to the Christ, even if you don’t really understand it all, or feel confused, or like your entire life has just been turned upside down. It’s okay. TELL SOMEONE! Confess him as Lord of your life. Search your heart and your soul, and determine if you TRULY BELIEVE in what the Scripture says:

“That Christ died for our sins…and that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day…”

If you just made your profession of faith and believe that what Jesus said about himself is true, please comment below so we can rejoice with you as we together rejoice with the angels in heaven (Luke 15:10; 1 Peter 1:12). Then click on the “What to Do Next” button and find out what it means to step into eternity.