Peace, Plain and Simple

This world is so full of religion. Every time I start thinking about the religion of this world it brings my blood to a boil. Sin being as bad as it is, at least leads to a person feeling guilty and seeking relief. Religion gets in between a sinner and the forgiveness he needs, and offers him a cheap substitute that doesn't work.

That might offend someone but the truth is, you could go on a pilgrimage, you could finger some beads, you could walk an aisle, say a prayer, become a member of this church or that church, do this ritual or that ritual, but it won't satisfy the demands of a holy God. Religious activity will not make right all the wrong we've done. It just won't satisfy the wrath of God our sin incurred. What we need is peace with God but all our efforts will never be enough to remove the stain of our sin. God had a board meeting and condemned the entire human race. We need someone to get us out of this mess we're in. We need someone that can mediate between us and God, and put an end to this war.

The great news is, God already made peace with us. That's right, it's already done. It's not in what we do or how we live but what's already been done for us. This acceptance is found outside of ourselves, has nothing to do with our righteousness, and requires us to believe something, not do something. It is hard to wrap ones mind around because it is contrary to all religion and natural law. The truth of the matter is, God found acceptance in only ONE place. God found acceptance only in ONE PERSON. God made peace with mankind, but not in a church, an aisle, a prayer, repenting of all your sins, or flipping beads, but in a Person. We cannot find acceptance with God in keeping commandments or keeping a bunch of rules, but rather in believing something that's already been done. God made peace with mankind on the cross, at Calvary, in Jesus Christ 2000 years ago AND NOWHERE ELSE. God finds acceptance ONLY in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we can have peace with God THROUGH Jesus Christ BY FAITH. God will look at our faith, and count it as if it were perfect righteousness.

To summarize... God finds peace in what Jesus did on the cross. The question now is to each individual... Do you ma'am, or you sir, find peace with God in Jesus Christ? It's no longer a question of personal performance or religious activity. The question now is, do we find peace in what God did... Or not? We could at this point ignore God's method of peace, and continue trying to selfishly earn salvation by our own righteousness and be damned as a result, or we could accept what God's already done for us, live by that faith, and be saved. The question then is... DO YOU FIND YOUR ACCEPTANCE IN JESUS CHRIST? If yes, then salvation is assured. If not, death, the final judgment and hell are only one heart stoppage away.