4 Big Reasons to Read Your Bible(Reasons 1 & 2)

2. The Law

Romans 7:7 What then shall we say?  That the law is sin? By no means!  Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.  For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."

                              

The Law is important for three reasons. 1. It reveals to us what sin is. 2. It leaves us guilty before God. 3. It teaches us how to live.

1 John 3:4 Everyone who makes a practice sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

Since sin is going against the Law then shouldn’t we know what the Law is?  How can you know what the Law is if you don't read your Bible.  You want to know what the Law says?  Then read Exodus 20 for a start.  I guarantee that you are guilty of breaking at least a few of these laws.  Once you realize that you are guilty before God for violating his laws then that leads us to reason number 2.

Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

Now that the law has been made known to you, you will no longer be able to justify your sins because now you know that they are wrong beyond doubt. This leaves the door open for the Gospel because you realize that without some help you are going to be condemned.  This is why the Law is such an important part of evangelizing, because it is only through the Law that people realize their deep need for the grace of Jesus Christ. How can we make them realize their need of grace if we as Christians do not even know the Law?  It also ties into an earlier point I made about how the Bible teaches us to live.

Romans 7:22 For I delight in the Law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

This is a very important passage because it shows that while we should take delight in the Law it is impossible for us to keep it.  It also shows that it is very important for us to TRY to follow the Law in a pursuit of righteousness.  Just because we are Christians and freed from the Law does not give us license to disobey it.  On the Contrary.

1 John 3:9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep sinning because he has been born of God. 

Notice that it says that, "no one born of God makes a PRACTICE of sinning." It does not say that one who is born of God does not sin, just that they do not willfully sin.  So therefore it is important for us Christians to study the Law of God so the sins that we are not yet conscious of may be revealed to us in order that we might correct them in our pursuit of righteousness.

1. The Gospel Message

Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jews first and also to the Greek . 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

This passage gives a definition for what the Gospel is.  It is the power of salvation for anyone who believes.  Well, believes in what exactly?

Romans 10:9 - because 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.

It is important to realize that Jesus came and was the fulfillment of the Law.  Because God must be just and cannot let sin go unpunished He sent His one and only Son to bear the punishment for our sins (death) so that we can be safe from His wrath.  This is the gospel message.  That we who are guilty sinners are saved from God's just wrath by the blood that was shed by Jesus (who was guiltless before the Law) when He was crucified on the cross.  God further showed His power over death and thus showed us His power to save us from death when He raised Jesus from the dead after three days.

Romans 5:8 but God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned alread , because he has not believed in the name of the Son of God.

We have seen how the Law keeps people from justifying their sin.  So it is important that after we have stopped their own justifications that we let them know the Gospel so that they might truly be justified before God. 

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through  the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

How can we hope to spread the Gospel without knowing exactly what it is?  These are just a few clarified verses that help explain exactly what the Gospel is, but I cannot describe to you the feeling of awe that will fill you when you are reading the Bible on your own and you come to the realization that the Gospel isn't one of the many themes in the Bible.  It IS the theme of the Bible.  The more you read, the more you will begin to realize that the whole Bible tells of the Gospel and that all of its passages are tied to the Gospel.

The Bible does not need to be modernized or revamped or spiced up in order to get people interested.  The Bible simply needs to be taught so that people can realize on their own just how wonderful it is. You won't realize this if you think of the Bible as a textbook.  Its wonder and majesty can only be realized when you have that eureka moment when you realize that it is God's Word to you.   Every time I read from it I am left in awe and wonder and I want more.  The Bible is fascinating.  The more you read, the more you understand how it all ties together and you just can't get enough of it.  

Understanding & Appreciating Grace

Romans 3:22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for who we all believe.  For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God , 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.  This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

The concept of God's gift of grace is very strange to most people who are not Christian, and there are several Christians who do not truly appreciate what a magnificent gift grace is or who miss it all together.  In order to properly understand grace you must first understand why you need it in the first place.  The reason that you need grace is because without it you stand zero chance of getting into heaven.  This is because heaven cannot be earned by anyone  therefore we need to have grace given to us in order to have eternal life.  Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Why can't we earn heaven?  You may be thinking that you are pretty much a good person and do not need grace because God will see that on your Judgment Day and overlook the "small" crimes that you are guilty of.  Let's look at a modern courtroom and see how this defense would hold up.  For the sake of argument let's say that you are texting and driving.  While you are doing this you do not see that the light has turned red and you drive straight through the intersection slamming into another vehicle and killing the driver.  You are arrested, you are taken to trial, and you are found guilty.  The judge asks if you would like to say anything before you are sentenced and you reply, "Yes Judge, I would like to point out that I know what I did was wrong, but I am really a good person.  I don't drink. I donate money and time to all of these charities.  This is the only time I have ever broken the law.  Because of this and because I know that you are a good man, I know that you will commute my sentence." After your answer the Judge pauses a moment before replying, "All that you said it true. This is the only time you have broken the law. However, I am a good man and because of that I must see that justice is served." He then proceeds to punish you to the fullest extent of the law.

Now you may be saying to yourself, "Well that's a bad example. I would never do something that bad."  Wouldn't you? Matthew 5:21 You have heard it said to those of old, "You shall not murder; whoever murders will be liable to judgment." 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to council; and whoever says, "You Fool!" will be liable to the hell of fire.  Now are you guilty of that?  I have yet to meet anybody who isn't.  And that isn't the only crime you are going to be held accountable for.  Matthew 5:27 You have heard it said, "You shall not commit adultery." 28 But I say to you that everyone who has looked at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  So now you may realize that you are a murdering adulterer.  Well I'm sorry to say that we are not done yet.  Have you ever lied or stolen something? (Exodus 20:15-16)  Have you ever used God's name in vain? (Exodus 20:7, Matthew 12:36) I don't know of anyone who has not done all of these things.  If you are honest with yourself then you should know that you are guilty of all these crimes against God.  My dear friends, this why heaven cannot be earned.  We have been given the standard for entering heaven but we cannot maintain it because we are sinful by our very nature.  Romans 3:20 For by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through knowledge of the law comes knowledge of sin.

Now this is where grace comes into play.  God wants us to be in heaven with Him.  Just because He might have to send us to Hell because of our sin does not mean He takes any joy in it.  So what did God do to save us?  He took on a mortal body in the form of Jesus.  He lived a sinless life.  And because He loved us He gave Himself over to death so that He might bear the punishment for our sins.  Then to further show His power over death, Jesus rose from the dead after three days.  This is the gift of grace.  Jesus died so that you might be saved from your just and deserved sentence of Hell.  We didn't do anything to earn this.  The only thing in this life that we earn is Hell.  That is why grace is a gift.  God has given it to us although we didn't deserve it.  All we have to do is accept it and that is a very easy thing to do.  You have to acknowledge the fact that you are a lawbreaker (sinner).  You have to willfully turn your back on sinful things.  This won't stop you from sinning because you are a sinful creature, but it is an important mindset to have.  Romans 7:19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  The process of turning your back on sin, (no longer willfully sinning) is called repentance.  Now you are ready to receive the gift of grace.  Romans 10:9 because 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.  There you have it.  After you have repented all you have to do is believe and confess that you know Jesus is God and was raised from the dead.  It is that simple.  It's like accepting a million dollar gift because someone showed you the receipt proving it was legally paid for.  Why wouldn't you take it?  Especially now that you know you need it.  I hope grace makes more sense to you now. It's us being given a gift that wasn't earned, and cannot be repaid.  If you haven't accepted it then I sincerely pray that you do.  If you have, then I hope this has helped you to understand just how wonderful a gift grace is and that you never stop giving thanks and praises to our loving God.

Judged by Righteousness

Psalms 9:7 But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, 8 and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the people with uprightness.

I have discussed how God is both our Creator and our King.  Today we are going to look at a much trickier aspect of God and that is God as our Judge.  What gives God the right to judge us? Well, He did create us and as our King He gave us laws to follow so logically who better to be our judge than God?  The Bible states in the above verses and in other places (Acts 17:30) that when God judges us, He will judge us in righteousness because He is a righteous judge. Psalms 7:11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. So that begs the question, what is righteousness?

This is where things can get tricky.  It's very important that you don't rely on just what I point out here, but that you also open up your Bible and discover all it says about the subject of what it means to be righteous because the word "righteous" appears in the Bible (ESV translation) two hundred and sixty-two times.  The word "righteousness" appears two hundred and fifty-nine times. Clearly the Bible has a lot to say on the subject that I can't fit into one post, so please do some research on your own.  However, I am going to try to explain the concept of biblical righteousness as best I can.

First let's ask the question, who is righteous before God? Psalm 143:2 Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. There you have it.  No one who is alive is righteous before God.  Even Jesus backs this up. Mark 10:18 and Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." Why is no one good?  Because God gave us His standard of righteousness in the law.  These laws embody who God is.  The laws that God gave the people of Israel are a description of God because they outline His very nature. In order for a person to be righteous he must keep God's commandments.  However, this is an impossible task.  All anyone has to do is go through the Ten Commandments to discover that they are guilty of breaking these laws, are therefore unrighteous in the eyes of God. 

You may be asking yourself what you can do in order to be judged worthy to get to heaven, and the answer to that question is that there is nothing you can do to get to heaven. Romans 5:17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in the life through one man Jesus Christ.    Paul tells us here that righteousness is in fact a free gift of God through the death of His Son Jesus.  Just as one man's actions (Adam) caused the rest of us to have a nature of sin, so it is that we can receive righteousness through the actions of Jesus.  But the most important thing to take away from that verse is that righteousness cannot be earned by anything that you or I do as people because it will be given to us as a freely given gift of grace. 

But it is important to point out that God will not force this gift upon you.  If you don't want any part of the grace offered to you then God will not make you accept it and give it to you anyway.  God has offered you the gift, but it is you who must accept it.  The Bible says in both Genesis 15:6 and in Romans 4:3 that all Abraham had to do was to believe and it was credited to him as righteousness.  So what does this have to with you? Romans 10:9 because 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.  All you have to do is truly believe that God gave His Son to die for your sins and raised Him from the dead after three days in a victory over death, then confess that fact with your mouth.  Because if you truly believe then you are going to recognize your sins and the unrighteousness in your life and you are going to give those up in a pursuit of righteousness.  While The Bible tells us that we cannot obtain righteousness by the works of our hands, we are to pursue righteousness.

1 Timothy 6:11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time- he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in the unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.  To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Good News

Romans 5:8 but God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

What is the Gospel? If asked what the word gospel means most people who have been raised in the church can tell you that it means, "Good news."  Well, what is this good news? It is incredibly sad that in today's world most people do not even know what the good news of the Bible is.  They know that you get "saved" and then you go to church because Jesus loved them and died for them.  But even then they don't truly grasp why God would send His Son to die for us.  Unfortunately a lot of people today believe that God sent Jesus to die so that they might have a better life here on earth and then one day they will die and go to heaven.  This "prosperity" preaching is really confusing people as to why they need Jesus in the first place.  People do not even realize what it is that they need to be "saved" from.  They know that if they do not get "saved" then they won't get into heaven but they don't realize why they won't get into heaven.  They don't realize that Jesus's sacrifice wasn't to save us from the devil, it wasn't to save us from poverty, it wasn't so we could have a better home life, it wasn't so that we could quit smoking, or be rid of any other vice.  Jesus was sacrificed so that we might be spared the wrath of His Father who is a Mighty and Just God.

You might be asking yourself, "Why would God set his wrath against me? I'm a good person who tries to do what is right." Romans 3:20 For by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. What is the law? The law is what was given to Moses in Exodus 20 which we know as the Ten Commandments.  Most people have heard the Ten Commandments but when asked, they would still say that they are a good person. So if you think that you are a good person, I would like you to take this little test and please be honest.  No one knows the answers to these except you and God.

Have you ever told a lie?

Have you ever taken anything that didn't belong to you?

Have you ever looked at another person in lust? Jesus says in Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Have you ever taken God's name in vain? Think about what you say whenever someone cut you off when you are driving.  God's very name is Holy and He will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.  Matthew 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak. 

If most of you were honest with yourselves then you came to the same conclusion that I did. We are lying, thieving, blaspheming, adulterers.  So if you stood before a righteous God on your Judgment Day, would he send you to Heaven or to Hell?  You might think that you should still get to go to heaven because, after all, you didn't actually hurt anyone when you did those things.  If a cop pulls you over for going 20 mph over the limit, he is still going to give you a hefty fine at the very least, even if no one was hurt.  Why? Because you went against the decrees of the governing body and therefore the crime must be paid for.  Sin isn't just a crime against your fellow man; it is primarily a sin against God.  Since God is an infinite being then punishment for a crime against him is also infinite.  You and I, we deserve to be condemned to Hell.

I will be expanding on God's Justice in the near future.  Now though I want to tell you about how our sin debt to God has already been paid.  It was paid for when God sent his only Son to earth, to be born from a virgin and to be raised as a man, and not just any man but one to grow up to lead a perfect, sinless life.  He never committed a single sin, and you may think that was impossible for a man to do.  It is, but this wasn't just any man. He was Jesus, the Son of God.  He was able to do this because He wasn't just a man but He was also God.  So what happened when God took on human form and came to earth.  We killed Him.  We hung Him up to die a traitor’s death.  Why did God allow this to happen? Because in His omniscience God knew we would never be able to live up to the standards that are required for entry into Heaven.  So God sent his Son to earth to die as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. But then God showed his true power when he raised Jesus from the grave after three days so that He might show His power and that we might trust in His strength.  Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

What do you have to do to be a recipient of the gift of eternal life? First, you have to acknowledge that you are a sinful creature who has done wrong in the eyes of God and deserves to be sent to Hell as a punishment.  Then you must renounce sin and ask for God's forgiveness of your sinful ways.  Does this mean that if you ever sin again then you won't be saved? No.  What this means is to turn away from willfully sinning.  In short if you know that what you are doing is wrong, then don't do it.  And once God shows you an area in your life where you have been sinning and had not realized that your actions were sinful, then you must acknowledge it, ask forgiveness and turn from it. After you have acknowledged and then renounced your sin, then you must recognize Jesus for who He is and what He did for you.  Romans 10:9 because, 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. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  All you have to do then is believe in the saving power of God who sent His son as a sacrifice and then raised Him from the dead on the third day, and then make an open confession about it. Turn from your iniquity. Believe in Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection. Believe in His Lordship and also confess these things openly to others then you will be saved.  And then on your Judgment Day instead of facing an angry, and wrath-filled Judge, you will be welcomed home with the open arms of a Father who is filled with unimaginable love and grace.

John 3: 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.  17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.