Jesus is Lord
No matter how good you are, how hard you try, or how decent of a person you attempt to be, when it comes to following Christ, you can’t earn your way to God. You can’t do enough good things to tip the scales in your favor. You can’t buy, win, impress, or manipulate your way into salvation.
But Jesus has already purchased your freedom on a cross and offered it to you as a gift.
But you do have one job, as Paul describes in his letter to the Romans…
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9 NIV
Many people believe that Jesus was a real, historical person. Many people believe that Jesus was a genuinely good man. But the Bible says that even the demons believe there’s only one God (James 2:19).
Minutes before their deaths, two criminals hung next to Jesus on the cross. One of the criminals mocked Him, but the other one trusted in Him. Jesus told the one who trusted Him that he would soon be in Heaven. He received grace.
You see, we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s holy standard. We all need His grace, but we haven’t all received His grace.
So are you trying to be good enough for God? The bad news is, you can’t. You can’t ever be good enough on your own. But the great news is, Jesus has already made a way. However, you can’t simply know that He was a real person or think that some of His teachings were nice.
The most important question remains: Will you make Him the Lord of your life?
Jesus Does The Impossible
Jesus’ statement in Matthew 19:26 is often taken out of context. Many people have taken this verse to mean that they can do anything they want in life because God can do the impossible. Often this can lead to selfish prayers and a small view of God.
In order to understand what Jesus is saying, we should read the preceding verses. In Matthew 19:16-22, a young man comes to Jesus asking for eternal life. Jesus tells him that he must give up all of his earthly possessions—something the young man is not willing to do. Because he failed the test, the young man failed to inherit eternal life.
Jesus says in Matthew 19:23 that it is very difficult for a rich man to enter heaven. The point is that loving Jesus requires everything we are. Our ultimate love cannot be split between Jesus and something else.
The disciples then ask, “Who can be saved?” Jesus responds in Matthew 19:26 that it is impossible for man to save himself—but it is possible with God. God can do the ...