The
Bible teaches that Jesus DIDN'T come into the world to condemn anyone; but
rather, to save sinners. What a precious truth! It is the Law of God that
condemns all mankind. Many people mistakenly believe that the Ten
Commandments are a plan of salvation, but they are not. God's Law condemns
all of us as miserable failures and guilty sinners (Romans 3:10-23). Salvation is
not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to
your account through receiving Him by faith.
I certainly don't condemn anyone, for the Bible condemns all of us as guilty, dirty, rotten, hell-deserving sinners. My salvation solely rests in Christ's righteousness, because of the precious blood that He gave for our sins. I have no goodness of my own to satisfy the demands of a holy God. Sin must be paid for. Since I am a sinful man, I could never meet God's holy demands for justice. This is why God in unconditional love sent His only begotten Son into the world, the sinless Lamb of God, Who was perfectly acceptable to the Father as a sacrifice for the sins of all humanity throughout the ages.
When the rich young man came to Jesus in Mark 10:17-22, he was self-righteous. The young man thought that keeping God's Law could save him. He bragged to Jesus that he had kept all the commandments. Jesus pointed out to him that he was covetous, and had not kept the Law perfectly. The young man was very sad because Jesus told him to go sell and give away his worldly possessions. Jesus wasn't giving that young man a plan of salvation, He was using the Law as it was intended to be used—to show men their sinfulness and need for a Savior.
The Law condemns; Jesus saves!
There is so much false teaching today because people don't understand this basic Biblical truth. Salvation simply involves acknowledging one's guilt of sin under God's Law and then trusting upon the Savior for forgiveness. There is much condemnation today from religious folks, who put sinners on trial and demand that they clean up their life in order to be saved. Others teach that a person must "persevere" in holy living in order to get to Heaven. And then there are those religious folks who teach that a person can lose their salvation if they go into sin. All of these false doctrines are rooted in the keeping of the Law, which is a road to Hell.
The Bible says that JESUS CAME TO SAVE SINNERS!
In 1st Timothy 1:15 the Apostle Paul said, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to SAVE SINNERS; of whom I am chief.” The reason why Jesus Christ came into this world was to SAVE SINNERS. May I say to all you religious folks who teach a false gospel... let Jesus SAVE SINNERS! Salvation is of the Lord. It is the Lord's job to save sinners.
It's time for Lordship Salvationists to stop condemning people and let JESUS SAVE SINNERS!
It's time for Calvinists to stop condemning people who fail to persevere and let JESUS SAVE SINNERS!
It's time for those who teach that salvation can be lost to stop condemning people and let JESUS SAVE SINNERS!
If Jesus didn't come into the world to condemn sinners, then neither should we. Jesus came to SAVE SINNERS and that is the wonderful message of the Gospel. 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 defines the Gospel as Christ's death on the cross for our sins, His burial and His resurrection three days later. We don't go to Heaven because of what we can do for God; but rather, because of what God has done for us by the sacrifice of His dear Son on the cross. Eternal life is a free gift (Romans 6:23). Salvation is a TAKE proposition, not a GIVE proposition. You simply take it and it's yours forever!
Romans 4:5 wonderfully proclaims, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Amen and amen! A man's faith is COUNTED for righteousness, because we have no self-righteousness of our own to offer God (Isaiah 64:6). The Bible says here that Jesus justifieth THE UNGODLY, by faith. That is the only type of person that Jesus ever saves, an ungodly person, for to be anything else is self-righteousness.
Lordship Salvationists errantly teach that a person must have intent to reform or else they cannot be saved. That is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that an ungodly man's faith is counted for righteousness. Thus, he needs no righteousness of his own, and a good thing, because we have none to offer. JESUS CAME TO SAVE SINNERS!
“Nothing
in my future can ever affect the salvation that I have... Once you trust
the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are eternally secure!”
—Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008), a quote from the classic MP3 sermon
titled, “
