“For the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)
All of us regularly disobey God and do things the Bible describes as sinful. We may not have used this word, but all of us can remember things we have said, thought, or done for which we have felt guilty, or at least have had some sense that we did not do the right thing.
The Bible teaches us that God is a pure and holy being and thus requires perfection from us, because we are created in His image and likeness. But none of us are perfect beings and none of us can meet God’s perfect standard, if left to our own devices.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
But God has not left us alone in this world. He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into this world two thousand years ago. The Lord Jesus lived the perfect life that we should have lived, and then He bore the punishment from God that our sins deserve when He died on the cross.
God’s offer of salvation from our deserved punishment is free in the sense that it does not require anything materially from us (such as money), it is open to all human beings, and it is not something that we can earn. It does require something from us, however: we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, come to Him in sincere repentance, and fully place our trust in Him.
This means turning our back on our old, worldly lives of sin and on living for ourselves. We must instead dedicate our lives to God and obey Him, and not our own desires. We cannot serve God and remain a slave to our sins.
“That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)
This message of grace is spreading across the world and offers full and permanent forgiveness to all who turn from a life of sin in sincere repentance and place their trust in the Lord Jesus and what He did on the cross. Those who accept Christ’s offer of salvation are promised eternal life with Him in heaven.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)