From the Website of Tom and Sandra Hooper.
The Gospel
What you are about to read may change your life forever.
I have a question for you. How perfect do you think you must be to get into heaven? What if I told you that you had to be perfect like God? Believe it or not, that is what the Bible teaches. God is completely holy. Since God is completely holy, how could God accept us into His presence unless we are holy as He is?
Here is our problem. We know we are not perfect, but rather, sinners. The Bible says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
I would like to bring up the struggles a certain man had in his day. We would have to admire the struggles this gentleman had to attain salvation. His name was Martin Luther.
Martin Luther entered the Catholic Priesthood for one reason, and that was to save his soul. We must understand that in Martin's time, the doctrine of salvation was confusing on many points. They taught in those days that a person had to be perfect if he wanted to go to heaven. Although it was confusing, the fact is, they were correct that one must be perfect to enter into heaven.
Martin entered the monastery with the hopes that he could make himself perfect. He would do things like sleep in his cold cell without blankets. He would spend time begging, and there were times he went many days without food, just to mortify the flesh. But Martin found no comfort for his struggles.
Another thing Martin did was go to confession. He found little hope there too. He would spend as much as six hours a day in confession, going over all the things he did. One day his confessor got so exasperated with Martin. He told Martin that the next time he came to confession, that it not be over these little sins, but for things like murder or idolatry, but not for little sins. But Martin, being a better theologian in his day, knew the issue was not whether the sin was big or little, but whether or not it had been confessed, because he knew that just one small sin could banish us from God forever! He reached an impasse because he knew that in order for sins to be forgiven, they had to be confessed, and for them to be confessed, they had to be remembered, and if they could not be remembered, they could not be confessed and therefore they could not be forgiven! He was in despair. But think about this for a moment. Even if Martin confessed all his sins, he still had tomorrow to face and more sins!
One day Martin's confessor said to him, "Why don't you teach the Bible?" So Martin began to lecture on the Psalms and came to 22:1 where it says, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Martin contemplated on that verse and wondered why Jesus experienced the despair of soul, the kind of agony Martin was experiencing. It began to dawn on Martin that Jesus experienced that because He died on the cross for sinners.
Then Martin began to lecture on the book of Romans, and came to Romans 1:6 where it states, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;" and another, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17 ). Martin hated the phrase the righteousness of God. He said what gave him terror was because he was such a great sinner and God was righteous, that was the problem. But as he studied the text, he began to see the connection between the phrase "the righteous of God" as revealed in the Gospel, and the phrase "the just shall live by faith." Then Martin realized there are two ways to look at the righteousness of God.
The righteousness that God has as an attribute as being God.
The righteousness which God gives to those who believe in Christ.
As Martin continued his lectures on the book of Romans, he came to chapter 3. "That all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." He also pondered Romans 3:24, "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"
And then as Martin began to look at the life of Abraham in Romans chapter 4, he began to discover that justified is not God making us righteous day by day so that we can enter into heaven, but justification means that God declares us to be as righteous as Christ Himself is. It's a legal declaration that God makes about us.
Now, before we put this all in perspective, let's look at what 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
What that verse actually means is that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, our sins were credited to Him. He took our sins, and in exchange He gives us His righteousness. Look at the picture just below and you will see how the transfer works.
Righteousness refers to the perfections of God, and He gives that to us, and He gives that to us as a FREE GIFT. What it actually boils down to is that Jesus got what He did not deserve, our sin, and we get what we don't deserve, His righteousness.
The Bible says, "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:24,25).
So justification doesn't simply mean, "Just as if I never sinned," it means more than that. It means just as if I lived a complete life of obedience and holiness. This is only because Jesus Christ is my substitute, and He meets all the requirements of God's requirements for me.
So please understand, we are not saved on the basis of our merit, that is, anything good we have done, but the basis of Christ's perfect merit, accepted by God the Father.
We can say several things about the righteousness of God, which is a theme in the Scriptures. It is a righteousness that is entirely different from ours.
1) Paul said he wanted to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ. It's a righteousness which we have none. We make no contribution, all we can do is receive the gift. So when you think about it, righteousness has to be a free gift. We can't attain it ourselves.
There are people who have sinned greatly, so much so, that they have ruined the lives of strangers and loved ones, and they ask, "Is there any way I can be forgiven?" Yes, there is.
Remember that picture above? When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, a transaction takes place.
God is crediting to you what you don't deserve, and therefore it is a "free gift." Remember, Jesus got what He didn't deserve, our sin, and we get what we don't deserve, His righteousness.
So, can God really forgive you? You just need to know that the righteousness that God gives is a gift of righteousness. That righteousness covers me and that same righteousness can cover you. It can be credited to your account even though you have sinned greatly, because the issue is not the greatness of the sin, it's the beauty and the completion of the righteousness.
2) This righteousness is unchangeable. The same righteousness that the apostle Paul received, is the same righteousness that I received, and it's the same righteousness you can receive.
3). The righteousness of God is also a permanent righteousness. Remember how we mentioned earlier about Martin Luther confessing his sins everyday? Although a person may confess his sins everyday, it doesn't mean that person is saved. Confessing sins does not save anyone. Going to church does not save anyone.
When you accept Jesus Christ as your "sin bearer," that gift of righteousness is strong enough and powerful enough and permanent enough to take you all the way to heaven.
There's no need for a Catholic to believe in purgatory (a place that doesn't exist anyway), a place where it is believed that a person is made perfect enough to enter into heaven. There's no need to think you can mortify your body, no need to do good works in order to make you perfect so you can enter into heaven. No my friends, these things will not work. The Good News of the Gospel is that when you place your trust in Jesus Christ, God credits you with His righteousness, and you are made perfect enough to right NOW enter into heaven.
Look at it this way. Imagine two trails. One is beautiful because great care has been taken to keep it beautiful. The other is full of ruts and very rough. When a blanket of snow falls on those trails, you cannot tell the difference between the two. That is the same way with us. We are clothed in His righteousness. In the Bible God says, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18).
The minute you die, as a believer, you are immediately escorted right into the presence of God because legally you are as perfect as Christ, because you are now clothed in His righteousness, that wonderful gift God gives us.
Paul speaks over a hundred times in the New Testament about the believer being "in Christ." This means that Jesus Christ covers us. We are covered because we are "in Him." We are joined to Christ and we even need not fear death because our confidence is in Him alone. He supplies the righteousness which God demands.
Your entrance into heaven and standing before God will have nothing to do with the good works you have done in the past, but God is going to be looking for the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Isn't this cause for rejoicing and thankfulness knowing there is nothing we can earn or that we owe God?
Yes, we know God wants us to be obedient, for that is part of the Christian life, but as far as our standing before God is concerned, Jesus Christ met all the requirements for us. God made "...him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." The Bible also says, "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25). That my friend, is the good news of the Gospel!
Can you be forgiven? Yes. The Bible says if you want to be saved, you simply "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." (Acts 16:31)
If you believe what you have read and want to be saved from your sins and have eternal life in the presence of God, I ask you now to bow your head and take a moment to just simply ask Jesus Christ to be your Saviour.
Don't worry about fancy prayers, because saying the sinner's prayer will not save you.
Don't worry about having to go forward in a church service, because going to the altar will not save you.
Don't worry that you have to confess your sins, or turn away from your sins, because confessing and turning from your sins will not save you.
Simply place your trust in what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross. When you accept the fact of what He did, you have accepted Jesus.
Once you are saved, you will find that your desires will change. You will have a desire to turn from your sins and do what is right, you will have a desire to read God's word, you will have a desire to have fellowship with other believers. It will be Christ IN YOU Who will give you a new life and new desires.
BB adds:
If you don't understand this yet pray to God and ask Him for wisdom.
Read this and the other tracts I have posted over and over. Look up the scriptures and read your bible with a deep searching heart.
I am not posting these to argue with people. I want to give the lost the opportunity to hear and understand the gospel...
If you want rest and peace and eternal life come to Christ.
If you are truly searching for God's salvation read these words carefully.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
John 10:28 And I
give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all;
and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
