What will you
do with Jesus Christ?
Our acceptance before God depends entirely on what Jesus Christ did
for us on the cross and our response to Him.
The Bible makes it emphatically clear if you accept Jesus Christ, God
will accept you. If you reject Jesus Christ, God will reject you.
“He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes
not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son
of God” (John 3:18).
It does not matter who we are, what we have been, or what we have
done in our past, because our eternal destiny deals with one question alone, what was our
personal response to the demands of Jesus Christ?
There is only one basis upon which an individual can be declared
right with God, and that basis is the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross. When any
person believes on Christ as his personal Savior, accepting the fact that He bore our sins
in His body on the cross, God declares us acquitted. In that moment all of our sins are
forgiven and we experience peace with God.
“Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
God provides us with a right relationship with Him, peace with God,
and a deep and satisfying joy because of what God has done for us in Christ. The believer
experiences “joy unspeakable and full of glory” because of the work of Christ,
not only for us, but in us. Deep, satisfying and lasting peace and joy is found in Christ
alone.
The reason for this joy and peace is because our becoming children of
God depends entirely on what Jesus Christ did for us and what we do with Him. The apostle
John summarized beautifully this great truth in these words: “This is the record,
that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has
life; and he that has not the Son has not life” (1 John 5:11-12).
Just think of it, the very moment you accept Jesus Christ, you
receive God’s kind of life. There is no other way in which anyone can get eternal
life in Christ. We receive eternal life in an instant by simple acceptance of Jesus
Christ. It is God’s free gift to us in response to personal faith in Christ.
We become the children of God and receive His kind of life by one
simple act of believing on Jesus. “As many as receive Him to them gave He the right
to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).
The instant you believe on Christ, you will become a child of God.
However, if you refuse to receive Jesus Christ, there is nothing else
you can do that will make you right with God. The gift of eternal life and becoming His
child depends on receiving Christ personally.
R. A. Torrey summarized this beautifully in Soul-Winning Sermons,
. . . . If you receive Jesus Christ, you will be a child of
God the instant you do it. But if you do not receive Jesus Christ, there is nothing else
that you can do that will make you a child of God.
If you accept Jesus Christ, you will have
peace of conscience. But if you reject Jesus Christ, there is nothing else that you can do
that will bring you peace of conscience.
If you accept Jesus Christ, you will have
joy that is deep and satisfying and lasting. But if you reject Jesus Christ, there is
nothing else that you can do that will bring you joy that is deep and satisfying and
lasting.
If you accept Jesus Christ, you will receive
eternal life at once, as the free gift of God’s grace. But if you reject Jesus
Christ, there is nothing else that you can do that will give you eternal life in Christ.
If you accept Jesus Christ, in an instant
you will become the child of God. But if you reject Jesus Christ, there is nothing else
that you can do that will make you a child of God.
If you accept Jesus Christ, God will accept
you, no matter who you are, no matter what you have been, no mater what you have done. But
if you reject Jesus Christ, God will reject you, no matter who you are, no matter how many
good things you have done.
“What shall I do then with Jesus which is called
Christ?” is still a haunting question that every individual must answer for himself.
Your response determines where you will spend eternity. Your acceptance before God depends
entirely on what you decide to do with Jesus Christ.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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