The Basics of Christian Living Part One (cont.)

This series comes from a class I teach to new members, new Christians and those who want to review their Christian walk.

This is a continuation of Part One.

II. What did I do when I accepted him?

1. I Recognized Sin in My Personal Life.

This is key.

Until I recognized my personal responsibility for the sin in my life, I could not realize that I needed to be "saved;" saved from sin's hold on my life, saved from sin's consequenses and saved from the practice of sin.

When Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," it is not being mean or nasty, it is simply stating an absolute truth. (For those who do not believe there is absolute truth I would ask, "Are you absolutely sure there's not?")

Nobody's perfect. We all seem to know that.

But God demands perfection. Absolute, unwavering, perfection, because He is perfect.

So what's a body to do? I simply cannot be perfect...period. And neither can you.

What is sin, anyway?

Sin is missing the mark of perfection that God has placed before us.

So, any thought, any deed, any attitude of ours that is not in the dead center of God's will for me (or you) at any given moment is sin.

And we are all sinners.

Now, the fact that we have lots of company is no consolation. We do not control God with our numbers.

He has said, "The wages of sin is death..." (Romans6:23)

That's everlasting, irreversible, spiritual death.


2. Had a Godly sorrow for my sin

Once I recognized that there was sin in my life, and that sin would separate me from God forever; once I realized that sin comes with a debt that must be paid, I could then experience a Godly sorrow for my sin.

Justice would demand that I bear the responsibility for my sin.

Here's an example:

Suppose I was driving with you as a passenger. Suppose you told me to go faster. Suppose I resisted, but you persisted and I finally sped up. Then suppose an officer of the law pulled us over and started to write a ticket for speeding. Suppose I skillfully explained to him that you had told me to go that fast and so I had an excuse. Do you think he would say, "Oh! OK then. I won't give you the ticket, I'll give it to you passenger who told you to speed?" Of course not. He would hold me responsible, and he would give ME the ticket.

There is a price to responsibility. The price of sin is death. That price WILL be paid.

One way or another, every sin that ever has been committed, is being committed and ever will be committed must be paid for.

Frankly, I cannot afford the payment for sin.

But Jesus, if He is God (and He is), can.

And Romans 6:23 finishes up by saying, "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord."

Jesus, in one awful eternal moment on Calvary, paid the sin debt that I owed. He did not pay part of the debt, He paid all of the debt.

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only (one and only) begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."


3. Faced Christ’s claims on my life

Jesus died and rose for me. He did it for you,too. If either of us had been the only one(s) in need of His death, He would have died for us.

Such is His love for us.

When I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, when I realized that He had done all that needed to be done for me to receive and eternity with God, I "cashed in the claim ticket" He had on me.

To do so, I had to trust in Him and only in Him and His finished work on my behalf at the cross of Calvary for my salvation.

"...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

4. Believed God raised Him from the dead

Romans 10:9 and 10 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth congession is made unto salvation."

It is a matter of both heart and testimony. Believe what Christ has done and agree (confess) with God that Jesus' is Lord.

5. Placed my faith in Him and His finished work at the cross.

Once I placed my faith Him and His finished work at the cross, and yielded my will to His in an act of obedience and submission, He did His work in me. He gave me a new heart, a new attitude and a new direction.

6. Committed to live for Him

Commitment is a difficult thing for us today. Let me illustrate committment for you.

A man climbed the ladder to a high dive at the local swimming pool. "I'm going to dive into the water," he said. But half way up he turned around and went back down the ladder. He was NOT committed to the dive.

Next, he began to climb the ladder again. Again he proclaimed, "I'm going to dive into the water." This time he went out onto the board and began to jump up and down. Then he turned around, climbed back down the ladder. He was NOT committed tot he dive.

Finally, he climbed the ladder, proclaimed his intention, jumped up and down, then leaned forward until his center of gravity was out over the pool. Guess what. He was going in the water. He was committed. There would be no turning back.

Once we commit ourselves to Christ there can be no turning back. No matter what we say, no matter what we think, no matter what we think, if we turn back, we were never committed. With committment THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TURNING BACK.

When I (and you) became accepted Him, I committed myself to His Lordship. He, in turn, gave me an eternal relationship with the Creator of all that is.

He gave me the promise of a peace that passes understanding. He gave me unconditional love. He gave me joy everlasting. He gave me hope. He gave me strength. He gave me power. He gave me service.

He gave me life.

He'll give it to you, if you want it badly enough to commit to Him. If you'll trust Him. If you'll receive Him.

"To as many as received Him to them gave He the power to become sons of God."

I don't remember who it was who first said it, but here it is in a nutshell:

"The Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men could become the sons of God"

(To be continued)