A profound statement is as follows: “For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2). It is wise when the creature (you, me, and every human being) stops, looks, and listens to these words of absolute truth. To look at God’s truth is to look beyond self to absolute truth that never changes and can fortify your life forever. “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of the world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7,8).

The word of God not only conveys divine wisdom but applies that wisdom to the moral and intellectual needs of all humans. In comprehending the depths of human wisdom every thought and question that can be asked is anticipated and recorded in the infallible word of God. This infallible word stands every test and continues to live and abide forever. From no other source can such a response be found that accurately addresses man’s every question and need. The wisest of humankind can speculate about eternity future, philosophize, theorize, dream, or hope about what they don’t or can’t know. They can offer so-called educated guesses or opinions which will stand or fall with the test of time and intellectual scrutiny. It is only the infallible word of God that propounds absolute truth without compromise or apology. In studying the Word of God, His truths are expressed in declarative sentences and with sure words that are unassail by the test of time and the scrutiny of the greatest minds in history. One of the greatest questions an inquiring unbeliever may ask is: “What must I do to be saved?” A believer in Christ may ask, “Lord what will you have me to do?” A skeptic may inquire: “What is truth?” Others may ask: “What shall I eat? Or, what shall we drink? Or, wherewith shall we be clothed?” A wise person asks, “What is man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his own soul?” The theist may ask, “What is man, that you are mindful of him or the son of man, that you visit him?”

These are the inquiries of man as he tries, speculates, and conjects only to find it impossible to provide definitive and unquestionable answers that endure, to stand the tests of time.
God poses open and definitive questions to those who have noticed the clear declarations in his written word. He inquires, “What think ye of Christ?” Have you been asked this question by anyone? It is doubtful!
“Where art thou?” “What is this that thou hast done?” “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” “How can you escape the damnation of hell?”
One of the most penetrating and glaring questions is, “How can you escape the damnation of hell”? The answer to this arresting question is not hidden. Man may find difficulty in providing a clear and understandable answer, but the message of God from His word is clear. It is that Christ descended from heaven to earth, took on a human body, went to the cross, suffered, shed His blood, and paid the debt that you and I owed. His declarative statement and final word, as he gave up His impeccable life was, “It is finished!” No argument can prevail against the truth that this finished work of Christ is altogether and only a work of God for man and not the works of man for God. In fact, man can make no contribution whatever to this finished work, because it is not the continuing work of man but the finished and once for all work of God for man. This is God’s truth! For those who believe, the entire value of Christ’s finished work is reckoned to them and, in an instant, they stand redeemed from condemnation. As a result of God’s work on behalf of man, and man’s acceptance of the impeccable son of God, the individual who believes stands eternally secure upon a foundation of peace with God. “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).

The fact that men may be delivered from condemnation is important, but it should not be overlooked, that neither the creation of the universe, including all humanity, nor the fall of man, was imposed upon God as an obligation. When observing the plan of God for mankind His so great salvation is not merely a temporary rescue, but is the perfect provision for their eternal, and forever salvation. The backdrop preceding the salvation of man was important enough to justify the creation of the universe, the coming of the impeccable Son of God, and His sacrificial death on the cross, in payment for all sin. This amazing finished Cross Work is without question, and altogether, a Work of God for man wherein man can make no contribution whatever. Every step taken by God, in this great accomplishment, makes its permanent contribution to that which will glorify Him both now and forever! Christ has wrought, in His sacrificial death, full redemption from sin and a perfect reconciliation for man. Man must be reconciled toward God; God does not need to be reconciled toward man. Do not miss this…He most certainly must be propitiated. As a result of reconciliation, God is instantly propitiated or satisfied with the finished work of His Son, who paid the supreme penalty for all sin. While our impeccable Savior cannot look upon sin with the slightest degree of approval, He is able to remain just while He justifies the ungodly who can do no more than to believe in Jesus Christ as the exclusive and only Savior.

“To declare, I say, at this time, His righteousness; that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believes in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

“But to him that works not, but believes on Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith (in Christ) is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).

God righteously dealt with the problem of human sin when, this blight on humanity was consummated in the gift of His Son as the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. After His finished work, He graciously enabled a free choice of salvation on the part of any who would believe on Him. In view of this fact, God recognized the free will of man for what He ordained it to be. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that as man, by an act of personal choice, renounced God in the garden, in like manner, by the exercise of a positive choice, he must come to know Him and accept His finished work of redemption. It matters little that man cannot, of himself, turn to God and that he must be enabled to do so; however, in the end, though enabled, he acts by his own will! This great God ordained truth is emphasized in every passage wherein the salvation of mankind is inextricably related to his decision to believe and come to the only one who can and will save. “Whosoever will may come.” “I know how that YOU TURNED TO GOD, from idols” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). This is a reversal of the legalistic term “from sins to God.”

“Testifying both to Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).

Please consider a few scriptures that invite human kind to come to the water of life that only flows through the Son of God. “Come NOW, and let us reason together, 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). “Come unto me, ALL you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (John 6:37). “And him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). God provides light where there is darkness and truth where there is error and uncertainty. God so graciously, by the Holy Spirit, exerts an influence upon unsaved humanity by which each individual may make a conscious and intelligent acceptance of CHRIST AS SAVIOR and by which they are caused to seek and accept the salvation which Christ provides. It is asserted that, apart from this God ordained influence, no unregenerate person will ever turn to God and believe in Christ as the exclusive Savior. The sovereign election of God only includes those whom God calls, draws, and enlightens. They are a part of God’s decrees which will be executed justly and sovereignly as He has so ordained and willed. The gospel is to be preached to all, but not all will respond. Due to the fact that not all respond, highly motivated believers may become deeply burdened for their eternal souls. They may be well intentioned and suppose that stronger appeals, greater arguments, and repetitious calls to the alter will bring those who are lost to receive Christ as Savior. The lesson to be learned is “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zachariah 4:6). It is by the power of God and not by the persuasions of man. These appeals though sincere disregard the all-important work of the Holy Spirit by which alone unregenerate individuals may believe in Christ. A multiplicity of outward actions may have been stressed as a requirement for salvation. However, many of these actions can be performed separate and apart from any true acceptance of Christ as Savior. Tragically, these outward professions have too frequently (and falsely) been counted as an essential part of salvation. On many occasions these superficial avowals prove to be empty and void! They have filled the air with vacuous doubt and unbelief instead of a crystal clear and understandable gospel that presents Christ as the only Savior.

These false requirements are generally demanded by a strong personality who measures success by the number of people who come forward and walk down an aisle, in a one-time public confession. Instead of a quick down the aisle public confession, it is the entire life that is to be confessed before an unbelieving and scoffing world. Since it is clear that one hundred percent of those called are justified, and one hundred percent of those justified are saved and glorified, the messenger will do well to consider that it is God who opens the heart and enlightens the individual to act on their own volition in the acceptance of Christ as Savior. Only confusion and darkness will prevail when the unsaved are forced by human pressure into professions which have no origin in the inner recesses of the soul itself. When the gospel message is not clear and man is persuaded, he must perform or successfully behave his way to salvation; when sin occurs (and it will) such uninformed individuals will think they were never saved in the first place. The good news is… God has provided for the errant believer and the provision is outlined in 1 John 1:9. This scripture must be understood as soon as possible as all will sin, but the issue is to keep short accounts, confess the sin, and press forward.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

It is enlightening to know that the Holy Spirit teaches the believer to grow in grace and become totally occupied with Christ and less occupied with selfish desires and the lusts of the flesh. This will occur when believers first consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners lest they become weary and faint in their own minds. When they first consider Him rather than a temporal and passing physical desire, they have looked at the crossroad of the good and bad options and have taken the right way. God knows our every temptation and weakness and has provided a way of escape from the low road to the high road. Notice what Jeremiah has to say about your way and what God knows about you. “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10: 23).

“Stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16).

What is man to do when he takes the wrong path, commits sins that place him out of fellowship, and takes him to a very dark place. Many errant and foolish souls have gone to a dark place and found that, in spite of the original lure, it has taken them farther than they wanted to go; it has kept them longer than they planned to stay, and certainly cost much more than they had hoped to pay. There is good news; God is not shocked by human behavior; His immaculate character is never disturbed by human actions. He remains, sovereign, perfect, and is always filled with His own inner happiness. He has anticipated our shortcomings and provides perfectly for our recovery. “He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

No believer in Christ should be taken back when a brother commits a sin. The sin nature is not eradicated at the point of salvation and sins are produced from its area of weakness. If God says the person who confesses and forsakes his sins shall have mercy, is it not reasonable to assume that no believer is above sin and should confess the sin for restoration to full fellowship? To say a believer will not commit certain sins is to disregard the weakness and frailty of human flesh. The controlling sin nature is prone to sin and does nothing but feed its own nature. It is by steady spiritual growth and learning the weakness of the flesh, with the knowledge to immediately confess sins, that is an imperative to successful spiritual growth and production. To say that a believer who sins was not saved in the first place is ignorance and disregards the entire doctrine of the natural man with his attendant weakness of the flesh. It is wise to realize that unless a believer grows in grace and is perpetually controlled by the Holy Spirit, he is controlled by the old sin nature and walks in darkness. Walking in darkness does not mean the believer no longer believes in Christ or was never saved; it means he has succumbed to temptation and is out of fellowship. This is a dangerous place for a believer, and to continue in disobedience will invoke divine discipline. Discipline from God to a believer may begin with a gentle knocking on the heart, but if the sin continues the knocking will intensify. To perpetually ignore this knocking (warning) may very well terminate in the sin unto death. The sin unto death is the most grievous sin a believer can commit. It is the last sin that is committed by a believer and if ignored it is to the destruction and demise of the errant believer. Be advised and warned… listen to the knocking!

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

When weak humans assume a disposition to do wrong rather than right, every other believer should understand that inappropriate behaviors of a believer emanate from spiritual blindness. Once walking in the light, now walking in darkness is the low road which results from being out of fellowship and walking by means of the old sin nature. It is to grieve or quench the Holy Spirit. It is to be in rebellion and to inhale darkness within the soul. It is the wrong way when there is a right way. Stubborn and selfish man must awake from his spiritual slumber and if he does not, soon it will be realized…that he is deceived and God will not be mocked.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7,8).  To the scoffer… “Wherefore, let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
To the genuinely concerned believer… “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering yourself, lest you also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).
Yes, you too can be deceived and captured in the snares of the Devil. Therefore, occupy yourself with a daily intake of the word of God and perpetually, cast your cares on Him.
“Casting all your care on Him; for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).”

“Awake thou that sleepeth, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Ephesians 5:14).