God's Dynamite: None of Us Can Swim So We All Need Saving


How do we become right with God?  That question is at the core of most religions.  However, different religions give different answers to it.  On top of that, religions may differ within themselves about the answer to that question.  Including Christianity!

The apostle Paul dove into this issue in Romans 3:21-31.  He had already established that both Jews and Gentiles had failed to be righteous before God.  God's answer to that problem was to give righteousness to humanity, a righteousness apart from the law that was affirmed by the Law and the Prophets.

It's as if we've all fallen overboard in the ocean and none of us can swim.  None of us can swim, so we all need saving!

This righteousness comes by God's grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  

In verses 23-24, the apostle asserted that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.  "All" really means "all, " Jew and Gentile.  But he also said that both are justified, or declared righteous, freely by God's grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

So how do we become right with God?  By putting our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, affirming that he is real, that he died on the cross for our sins, and that he rose from the dead, and following him.

All this comes from God's grace.  Grace is about God's unmerited attitude of favor toward us.  He accepts us as we are.

Oftentimes, Christ followers call people to "accept Christ."  But the Bible never talks about people accepting Christ.  The term can help people understand that we receive salvation as God's gift.  But it may do more harm than good because salvation is about God accepting us through Christ, not us accepting Christ as our Lord.  It also gives the impression that salvation is about accepting the gift of salvation and that's it.

For this reason, I like the term "follow Christ" much better.  Following Christ implies putting faith in Christ, repenting, and becoming a disciple.  

One of the great problems of the evangelical church today is too many see themselves as Christ accepters and not as Christ followers!

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