Our Only Hope

Does God exist? Is there life after death? Those are some common questions that many ask. There’s another question that while not as common, is just as important: How good do you have to be to get to heaven?

Well, God is holy and perfect, and He requires perfect obedience to His commandments. What hope is there, then, for ever having a relationship with God?  Here’s how:

Creation and Covenant

The Triune God created the universe out of nothing for His own glory. He then uniquely created human beings in His image to be in a loving relationship with Him forever. In order for man to have this relationship with Him, God made a covenant of works with Adam wherein He promised him and all humanity after him eternal life if he obeyed God perfectly, but death if he disobeyed (Gen. 1:26-28, 2:7-17).

Condemnation

Man disobeyed God because he wanted to think and live the way he wanted to apart from God.  As a result, death came into the world: “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23).

This death is both physical and spiritual. Physically, we will all die one day. Spiritually, we are conceived and born alienated from God and relationship with Him, and are slaves to sin, death, and Satan (Psalm 51; Eph 2:1-3).

This means that we’re all guilty before God, and one day we’re going to die and be judged by God for our sins. Here’s the problem: No amount of religion or good deeds can satisfy God’s justice and get us to heaven: “For by works…no human being will be justified in His sight…” (Romans 3:20).

If that were the end of the story, we would have no hope. By God’s grace, that is not the end of the story:

Christ

The Good News is that after Adam sinned plunging himself and us into a state of sin, death, and condemnation, God made another covenant: a covenant of grace. God promised to save sinners through faith in the Savior that He would send (Gen 3:15). That Savior is Jesus Christ, the eternal divine Son of God and second person of the Trinity. He was sent into the world to save sinners like us (John 3:16). To do that, He became truly human as we are, yet without sin. He did what we fail to do by obeying God’s Law perfectly. He then died on the cross to bear the judgment of God that we deserved, and paid the full penalty for the sins of His people.  He then He rose bodily from the dead so that those who by God’s Spirit and grace alone repent and believe in Him could be forgiven of their sins and be in a relationship of love with God forever!

Getting to heaven then is not by our efforts or good works; but is based entirely on God’s grace alone and what Jesus Christ alone has done for sinners like you!  It’s a free gift: “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:23).

So, how do you receive this amazing gift?

How can I be right with God?

Jesus said, “…repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

Repent: this means to have a godly sorrow for over your sin, and to turn from your sin and your way of thinking and living, and turn to Christ and endeavor to think and live the way God wants you to.

Believe: this means to receive and rest in–to place all of your trust–in the resurrected and ascended Christ alone to save you: “For by grace are you saved through faith…it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

When you by God’s grace repent and believe, putting your full trust in Christ and His perfect life and works alone to save you, the Scriptures declare that you are forgiven of all of your sins. Not only this, but the perfect obedience that God requires is yours in Christ as God credits to your account the perfect righteousness of Christ. You have eternal life right now and forever: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life” (John 6:47).

To summarize, here’s how we must respond to this Good News:

• Admit that you have sinned against God and are deserving of eternal condemnation, and that your own morals and good works will never be able to make you right with God.

• Believe that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, and that He died for sinners like you, and rose bodily from the dead so that all who turn from their sin and trust in Him alone have eternal life.

• Call upon Jesus right now by receiving Him as your Lord and Savior as you turn away from your sin and place all of your trust in Jesus Christ alone to save you.

If you would like to talk more about this, please contact us at john@olivestreetpres.org

What Now?

When a person by God’s grace alone becomes a Christian, here’s some important things that God wants us to do:

1. The Lord commands believers to be a part of a local church. We encourage you to get connected to a church that preaches the bible and believes that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We invite you to join us at Olive Street every Sunday at 10:30am.
2. Read God’s Word daily so that you can grow in your faith. A good place to start is the Gospel of John.
3. Pray every day. Talk to God and give Him praise and thanks for who He is and all that He has done; confess your sins to Him; pray for others and any needs that you might have; and pray that His kingdom would continue to grow and how He might use you to love and serve others to that end.