The Bible sets up a legal structure that I thought couldn't be ignored.
I'm not talking about Mosaic Law, though that is part of it.
I am talking about the whole overall story that ultimately make Jesus the Savior of the world.
Now, I've already shared my understanding of what the Gospel is, so I won't bore you with that again.
The legal system that is in place, as described in the Bible, places me on trial for my sins, and finds me inexcusably guilty. For my crimes, I am punishable onto death, eternally condemned to torment in hell.
However, at a pivotal moment in history, a sufficient sacrificial Lamb, which has been ordained to fill in for me since just after Adam first introduced sin to our species, came and died in my place.
The reason this happened, and had been in the works since long before I ever existed, was because God knew me before He formed me in my mom's womb. I believe He knew me and had a plan for me way back before Adam ever even ate of that fateful fruit.
That plan was a great one. I would be blameless of any sin. I would be innocent. I would be his rightful and noble heir. I would take His name as my own, and I would bring pride to that name as a son of God.
That plan is why Jesus had to die for me. Jesus had to die to restore me to that plan. Jesus' death was made necessary by not just Adam's sin, and not just my sin, but by the sins that every human throughout history would commit.
Thus, I am guilty of sin, just as every person to inhabit the planet is, was, and will be.
But, guilt is a tricky thing. Because, you see, to be guilty, I had to have made a choice. I had to have, of my own volition, done something other than what God wanted me to do. I had to have gone outside His perfect will for my life, just as Adam did that fateful day with his wife.
So, if I am found guilty, and thus righteously convicted and sentenced to eternity in hell, by the trial of Scripture, then what I did must be my own doing.
If I didn't choose to sin--if I was made to sin by a God I could not refuse--then what I am is not guilty, but obedient. If God made me to sin, and I sinned, then I have stayed within His wishes for me, and I have satisfied my calling.
If that is the case, then it would not be right to find me guilty of anything displeasing to God. It would not be a righteous consequence to sentence me to eternal damnation. It would not be justice to convict a man that only did what God made Him to do.
But, the Bible makes it very clear that from the beginning, God has had a great plan for me. God has, since before the foundation of the world, predestined me to be His son.
Therefore, in full acknowledgement of my guilt, found to be worthy of hell by trial of Scripture, I recognize Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, dying vicariously for me, that I might be restored to that great destiny God has always had for me.
I'm not talking about Mosaic Law, though that is part of it.
I am talking about the whole overall story that ultimately make Jesus the Savior of the world.
Now, I've already shared my understanding of what the Gospel is, so I won't bore you with that again.
The legal system that is in place, as described in the Bible, places me on trial for my sins, and finds me inexcusably guilty. For my crimes, I am punishable onto death, eternally condemned to torment in hell.
However, at a pivotal moment in history, a sufficient sacrificial Lamb, which has been ordained to fill in for me since just after Adam first introduced sin to our species, came and died in my place.
The reason this happened, and had been in the works since long before I ever existed, was because God knew me before He formed me in my mom's womb. I believe He knew me and had a plan for me way back before Adam ever even ate of that fateful fruit.
That plan was a great one. I would be blameless of any sin. I would be innocent. I would be his rightful and noble heir. I would take His name as my own, and I would bring pride to that name as a son of God.
That plan is why Jesus had to die for me. Jesus had to die to restore me to that plan. Jesus' death was made necessary by not just Adam's sin, and not just my sin, but by the sins that every human throughout history would commit.
Thus, I am guilty of sin, just as every person to inhabit the planet is, was, and will be.
But, guilt is a tricky thing. Because, you see, to be guilty, I had to have made a choice. I had to have, of my own volition, done something other than what God wanted me to do. I had to have gone outside His perfect will for my life, just as Adam did that fateful day with his wife.
So, if I am found guilty, and thus righteously convicted and sentenced to eternity in hell, by the trial of Scripture, then what I did must be my own doing.
If I didn't choose to sin--if I was made to sin by a God I could not refuse--then what I am is not guilty, but obedient. If God made me to sin, and I sinned, then I have stayed within His wishes for me, and I have satisfied my calling.
If that is the case, then it would not be right to find me guilty of anything displeasing to God. It would not be a righteous consequence to sentence me to eternal damnation. It would not be justice to convict a man that only did what God made Him to do.
But, the Bible makes it very clear that from the beginning, God has had a great plan for me. God has, since before the foundation of the world, predestined me to be His son.
Therefore, in full acknowledgement of my guilt, found to be worthy of hell by trial of Scripture, I recognize Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, dying vicariously for me, that I might be restored to that great destiny God has always had for me.
