Part Four of Five: Man’s Response

Death separated me from my parents. I literally and figuratively owe my life and who I am to them. Together, they prepared me for the rest of my life. Dad taught me how to become a man, while mom taught me all about family and love. If I had the capacity to choose my parents, I would have chosen them anyway.

In the natural, as men and women, we cannot choose our earthly father and mother. Therefore, what we do not have the capacity to do in the natural, we do have the capacity to do in the spiritual. We have two choices, the Heavenly Father, or the father of all lies. In other word, we can choose who we want to serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord [1]. As we have learned from parts one, two, and three of this series, it was all part of God’s plan. The sin nature we inherited from Adam’s disobedience, separated us all from God. God’s remedy? The Cross. Now, man’s response? Receive Him. Pure and simple. We need to do nothing more, except live according to His Word, which is our reasonable service [2]. It is all for our benefit anyway.

v12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name…[John 1:12 KJV]

Immediately after you receive Christ by personal invitation [3], the Cross bridges the chasm of sin. In other words, our sin separates us from God, but the Cross bridges the gap so we can go across and back into God’s presence. He then forgives us of all sin to that point, and His grace abounds. This does not stop us from sinning though, and further repentance is required when we slip and make another mistake, but our redemption and salvation remain secure as long as we continue to repent. However, don’t make the mistake of thinking, “Because we have God’s forgiveness and grace, we can continue to sin.” Romans 6:1, 2, squelches that plan. In fact, we are to continue to grow in our faith [4].

You might ask, how do I accept Christ and receive His redemption and free gift of salvation, God’s grace, and mercy? We’ll look at that in part five. If you can’t wait, PM me on Facebook at @warrenjngycp or @james.lindquist.142. Or email me at james@jameslindquistbooks.com.

Thank you, Lord, for your redemption and saving me from myself. I thank you for my salvation, for your grace, your mercy, and your love. Thank you, Father for your Son, Jesus Christ, my Savior, who died for me; for the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who implements your plan(s), and teaches us all things. You are my Rock, my high tower, my strength, my power, my refuge, my Savior, and the horn of my salvation. Who is the Rock, save our God? I give you praise, glory, and honor, in your precious name, AMEN.

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved [5].
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[1] Joshua 24:15
[2] Romans 12:1
[3] John 15:16; Acts 3:19
[4] Romans 12, 1, 2
[5] Act 4:12