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Is Your Damnation Just?
That's some question, isn't it? In fact
it's kind of startling. Not only that, it actually assumes that you are already
heading for damnation.
Now maybe you think that idea is preposterous, or even insulting. And
therefore you don't want to even consider it. But
nevertheless it's true. God says that you really are headed for eternal damnation. And
you know something, when God does damn you forever it will be the very thing you chose
to receive, as well as the very thing that you deserve to receive. Unless
unless
before it is too late, you choose instead to let
God save you from eternal damnation.
Damnation Deserved
The truth of the matter is that we all deserve eternal damnation from God. None
of us are without sin; none of us are perfectly righteous before God. Instead we are
all ungodly and unrighteous people by nature, no matter how good or not-so-bad we
may think ourselves to be. As God has the Apostle Paul declare unto us, we are
"all under sin":
9 What then? are we better
than
they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles,
that they are all under sin;
10 As it is written, There is none
righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after
God. (Romans 3:9-11)
And in connection with this, God's holy law also serves as an official
"ministration of death" to us. For it confirms beyond
the shadow of a doubt that we are guilty before God, and as such are legally worthy of
death and eternal damnation. Hence Paul goes on to say:
19 Now we know that what things soever the law
saith, it saith to
them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God. (Romans 3:19)
"Guilty before God," that's what all
of us are including you. Guilty of what? Guilty of being ungodly and sinful in
God's sight. Therefore, and without a doubt, God really is telling you that you are headed
for eternal damnation.
Damnation Described
As one who is "guilty before God," God's Justice sentences you to
9 .
be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His
power; (II Thessalonians 1:9)
And in being so punished you will experience "indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish," as you suffer the debt and
penalty of your own sins and ungodliness.
You Are In Jeopardy
The consequences of being damned by God to suffer the debt and penalty of
your own sins are horrifying. And yet that is the very prospect facing you. In fact the truth
of the matter is that you are in jeopardy of it at this very moment. If it were not for the
fact that for the time being God is graciously withholding His day of wrath and
righteous judgment, you would have already begun
to serve your sentence of eternal damnation. However, God is still withholding His
day of judgment, and He is still offering to save you from eternal damnation.
Salvation Through Jesus Christ
24 Being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth
to
be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare,
I say, at this time
his righteousness: that he might be just and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:24-26)
Through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, God
provided for saving you from eternal damnation. As the Apostle Paul says, when Jesus
Christ died on the cross of Calvary He "was
delivered for our offences, and raised again for our
justification." (Romans 4:25) He died as our substitute-Redeemer. He
completely paid the price for the debt and penalty
of our sins through His own sufferings and death. And in so doing He made it so
that God can completely forgive us our sins and also justify us unto eternal life with
Him. He made it so that we can be reconciled to God, have "peace with God," and not
have to be damned by God for our sins and ungodliness. And best of all, the Lord
Jesus Christ made it so that we can have all of
this as an absolutely free gift.
The one requirement that God has for saving you is that you yourself believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ as your all-sufficient Savior. As the Apostle Paul declares,
God is "just, and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus."
When you believe in someone, you depend upon him and his ability to do
something for you that you cannot do for yourself. And this is just what it means to
"believe in Jesus." Instead of depending in
any way upon yourself or your own efforts to save you, you choose to depend
completely upon the redemptive work of the Lord
Jesus Christ as all that you need for your salvation.
Have you chosen to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your all-sufficient Savior?
If not, why not do so right now and let God save you from eternal damnation.
K. R. Blades
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