The ONLY Way to Eternity with God
The location of my encounter with the law was as fresh last night as it was more than twenty years ago. Time does that; it stops our memory, bringing back the clarity of the situation as if it is occurring again in the present day.
- The night sky was dark, and the memory was of an early morning drive.
- The driver during the late night was not me, but the memory of that day impresses upon me how I was in control of my speed on that early morning, so long ago.
- The blue lights did not flash behind us last night as they once did so many years ago.
However, the memory remains as fresh now, even though back then I was just beginning my teaching career.
In recalling the speeding ticket, I deserved but did not receive, so long ago, it caused me to consider what God’s judgment means to us all.
“For there is not partiality with God.
(The Letter of Paul to the Romans 2: 11-12 NASB)
For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.”
No partiality. The Jewish people struggled with this concept because they thought and they claimed that they faithfully KEPT God’s Law. To those who are not born Jewish, but Gentile (us), we also struggle, for we claim that we are ‘doing’ all the right things. So, what is the apostle Paul really proclaiming?
- He means: It will not matter which church we attended during our lifetimes.
- And he also means: It will not matter whether we taught, worked in children’s ministry, led the youth ministry, or chaired twelve committees. &
- Finally, Paul states: It will not matter how money we placed in the offering plate.
We SHOULD attend church, serve God, and tithe. It is biblical.
BUT GOD SHOWS NO FAVORTISM.
- ALL PEOPLE FALL SHORT BEFORE HOLY GOD.
- ALL MEN ARE SINNERS AND IN NEED OF GOD’S SALVATION.
We MUST be ‘doers’ of the Law, and the ONLY way mankind can be ‘doers’ of the Law is to FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
(The Letter of Paul to the Romans 3: 23-26 NASB)
being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.
This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time,
so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
- No one can boast of this or of that station in life.
- No one can claim this position in Jesus or that one.
- No one can state he was born in this particular family and not in that family.
- No one has ever born ‘RIGHT’ with God, and no one ever will.
We must all: men, women, and children, come to God the same way. When the Holy Spirit compels us to be saved, it is WHAT WE DO WITH JESUS THAT MATTERS.
We know this because the Bible tells us so.
In talking with Thomas, one of His disciples,
“Jesus said to him,
(The Gospel According to John 14:6 NASB)
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father but through Me.”