Jesus Died for Sinners, Losers and Winners

 

In Romans 7:18-19 Paul writes, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

 

There is a truth that the Bible reveals to us. That truth is that we as humans are not born good. We are born with a bent toward evil.

 

In Romans 3:10-11 Paul writes, “None is righteousness, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God.”

 

This is very clear, no one is born righteousness, no one is born understanding God, and no one is born naturally seeking God.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is recognizing that no person is born with a bent toward God naturally.

 

Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All of us fall short of God’s standard, which is perfection. No person is perfect so we can’t depend on our goodness or perfection.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging that we are not perfect, and that God’s standard is perfection.

 

Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

The best we as imperfect and sinful humans can earn with our very best effort is death. God in His grace gives us a gift through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

 

Romans 3:23 and 6:23 says two things to me.

 

First, it says we need to be aware of our sin and our inability to earn or deserve salvation. That salvation comes through Jesus and Him only.

 

Second it says that we as humans are all in the same situation. There is no human being naturally better than any other human being.  

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging that we are sinners who have sinned, and we cannot earn our salvation.

 

All of this sounds depressing and negative.

 

In reality, it allows us to see that God has provided us in Jesus with what we need for salvation.

 

Jesus provides salvation through His mercy. In His mercy Jesus does not give us what we deserve.

Jesus provides salvation through His grace. In His grace Jesus gives us much more than we deserve.

 

The fact that we are sinners who sin is bad, but the fact is that Jesus by His mercy and grace provides what we cannot provide for ourselves – salvation.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is depending on Jesus and His death and His resurrection to provide us salvation, the forgiveness of our sin, and eternal life.

 

Depending on Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                            Joe

 

A personal note: This Sunday I shared with my faith family that at the end of this year I would be retiring from full time pastoring. I have had the honor to serve six churches over forty-seven years and it has been a great adventure. I don’t know what next year will hold for Jan and me but I know God has more adventures for us.