Most of you know that I am not a ‘religious’ person. But I am a Christian. To many of you, you may not understand the difference and the difference is HUGE.
Every year has a Christmas Season, but do you really know why it is celebrated?
Is being a good person mean you are a Christian? Does religiously attending church services make you a Christian? If a person’s good deeds are more than their bad deeds (sin) in quantity mean they are a Christian bound for Heaven? Are Christians any better than non Christians?
NO! That is all RELIGIOUS and RELIGION. It is NOT what the Bible teaches.. it is what many pulpits teach which is lies. See, I am NOT RELIGIOUS. Dos and Do nots, good deeds or bad, none impresses me and to no person do I make judgements about them by their deeds. To me.. we all have bad deeds. We all have sins. Who am I to judge another person – its not for me to judge.
There are all kinds of pulpit teachers and priests and pastors who are lying to you. There are TV evangelists who are complete Charlestons coveting for your money. Church organizations that talk about Jesus Christ, and throw Bible verses at you (completely out of proper context) to make it mean what they want you to hear; LIES. They tell you that it is WHAT YOU DO that decides whether you will go to heaven when you die or the other unpleasant destination of torment and that it is your good deeds that determine where you will end up.
You need to know the BIBLE truth.. not what they are telling you. I have found out that, IT IS NOT THE SAME!
We all know this Christmas verse, heard it ever year at Christmas. Hear the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, every year. His birth is a completely proven historical FACT – that is not in question. But who He was is in question by many. Especially with all the false preaching going on.. all lies. But why did Jesus come through the Virgin birth? The Angels of God told us from the very birth…
“And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David A SAVIOUR, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN.” (Luke 2: 9-14 KJV)
TOWARD MEN comes our Saviour from our sins and our sin debt. Let’s be honest, we are ALL sinners. No one has kept the Ten Commandments perfectly. NO ONE EXCEPT Jesus the Christ (Jesus, the anointed, ‘Christ’ is not His last name!), the only begotten Son of God.
God loves all of us but He is perfectly Holy as well. Because of His perfect Holiness, there must be a punishment for sin and that punishment is separation from God forever in a place of torment. The Bible calls it ‘eternal damnation’. We usually compare our goodness with others around us. But because we are all sinners, that is not a fair assessment of our goodness. The fair assessment is comparing ourselves with the Holiness of God. Believe me.. NONE OF US MEASURE UP! NONE!
So God, who never changes, loves us perfectly. But He is perfectly Holy and is perfect in Justice. What is He to do to keep us from being judged by His own Holiness and wrath for our sins? God does not want anyone to end up in a place of torment for all time. It is His perfect attributes of MERCY and LOVE where the solution comes. He will become a human but through a Virgin. His holiness intact. Live a PERFECTLY SINLESS LIFE and then, on the cross, He would take the punishment for the sins of the whole world upon Himself. While on the cross Jesus cries out “IT IS FINISHED!” In the original Greek text of the new testament this literally means “PAID IN FULL”.
An exchange was made in the courtroom of God’s justice. We stand accused of being a sinner before the judge – a Holy God (we owe a debt), but our attorney (Jesus Christ – God in the flesh) took the punishment we deserved and paid the debt (of sins) FOR US. The penalty now paid, the debt now fully paid, we are free from the judgement of God and have been saved from the place of torment and are Heaven bound.
All we have to do, is accept the only atonement for our sins through what Christ did on the cross, in belief, to be saved. It is NOT by anything we did, nor any good works we do. It is 100% the work of God to save us.
This is the good news of Christmas. It is the GRACE of GOD that saves all who will believe this, not of anything we did nor that what we will do in the future.
Salvation is not a work to perform. It is a GIFT of God’s Grace to be RECEIVED!
“For by GRACE are ye saved THROUGH FAITH; and that NOT of yourselves: it is the GIFT of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)
THAT is the REAL DEFINITION of a Christian. That is why a Christian is called a BELIEVER.
Here are three short videos that explain why Jesus came. It explains more what I am saying here. It is your choice to believe or not believe.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFoPJEdC-cZeDGeIuZ5FFEljk9WyevpBO]
There is only ONE sin that will keep a person from going to Heaven when they die. JUST ONE. Unbelief in what Christ did for us to pay the penalty of our sin debt against a Holy and Righteous God.
Receive the GOOD NEWS that the shepherds did in the Christmas story you have heard every year.
Merry Christmas Everyone!