As I write this post hurricane Irene is crashing into North Carolina and Virginia. It is hoped that she will lose some of her steam but the threat of storm surge and massive rain are still the big threats of this storm. This is the sixth hurricane or tropical storm named Irene. Irene comes from a Greek word, Eirene, which means "peace". I don't know how much peace she will bring to the east coast but I do know that peace is possible between a human being and their maker. Check this Bible verse out...
King James Version (KJV)
Romans 5
1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Remember the word "justified"? That's right, we can be declared righteous by God by faith and because of this marvelous transaction we can have "peace" with God! The choice is pretty stark, you can face the hurricane of God's wrath or experience the peace with God and the peace of God...by faith! Do you have peace today? Do you need God's forgiveness? Trust in Jesus.
On July 5, 2011 Casey Anthony was found not guilty of murdering her little girl, Caylee Anthony. Most people were quick to point out that an acquittal in the American judicial system is not a declaration of innocence but merely a determination that the accused was not guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt". Most arrogant Americans even argue that, if she did the crime, she could never be forgiven. Can Casey Anthony be forgiven? Let me begin answering that question by saying that Casey was found not guilty by a jury of her peers. The entire fire power of the Orlando prosecutor's office was leveled at her and she was acquitted. Get over it. I don't know whether she did it or not, I'm not God. But here is the answer to the question "can she be forgiven"? Yes!! A thousand times yes!! The Bible is full of known murderers who were forgiven, David is the best example, he was an adulterer too! Let me go on to say that Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, the BTK strangler in Wichita and multitudes of others can all be forgiven. The real question is "could you be forgiven"? Does that offend you? We are all desperately wicked (at least that's what Jeremiah said). Yes, we can be forgiven and even better we can be "justified". Now there is a great King James Bible word! Here is a verse where it is used...
Romans 3:28
King James Version (KJV)
28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
A man (any man or woman, boy or girl) can be justified by faith (believing in Jesus Christ as Savior). Do you know what justified means? Dr. Strong in his complete concordance of Biblical words says the actual Greek word translated "justified" means [rendered righteous, to declare one to be righteous]. That is infinitely better than acquitted. While Casey will never be regarded by the American public as innocent the God of the universe says we can be declared "righteous" by placing our faith in Christ. We can avoid the eternal penitentiary called Hell by having faith in Jesus. No sinner no matter how vile is without hope as long as they have breath. Do you need to be justified? Trust Jesus today.
Sadly, in my many years of pastoring churches I have found that I am increasingly hard pressed to find a gospel tract that actually gets the gospel right. One of the favorite gospel false additions that is so dear to the self righteous, Lordship salvation minions is the command to "repent of your sins" if you want to be forgiven. Let's examine this false claim. First, a defintion...repent (found 23 times in the New Testament) is a translation from the Greek word "metanoeo". The word means in a literal sense "to think differently to reconsider" (Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words). It is implied in the very act of believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior that you would have to think differently about some things. You would have to change your mind about your condition (I am a sinner), you would have to reconsider your previous opinion of Christ (He really is God, He really did die and raise from the dead to pay for my sins). No where does it say that you must turn away from your sins in order to be forgiven (that is a work!!). In fact, no where in the New Testament can you find the phrase "repent of sin" or "repent of your sins". Another compelling argument against the false claim of repentance of sins for forgiveness is found in the gospel of John. Now John is a wonderful book. All seekers and new believers should read it. It is loaded with one syllable words and is very easy to understand. It tells us about Jesus Christ and the fact that He is God incarnate who came to rescue us from our sinful estate! In John 20:30-31 we are given the purpose of the book's writing, here it is...
John 20:30-31
King James Version (KJV)
30And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
There you have it, the purpose for the book of John is that the reader might read the story and after reading John's account he/she might come to faith in Christ! It is the only book in the Bible that expressly says the whole reason for it's existence is to get you to Believe in Christ. Now here is the kicker. No where in John do you find the words repent, repentance, repented, repentest, repenteth, repenting or repentings. Do you think that John just made a big mistake? Maybe God just overlooked that important detail? No!! The only way a person gains forgiveness from sin and eternal life is by BELIEVING on Christ. Don't miss heaven because of the boneheads that insist on adding instructions to God's simple plan! I do believe there is a place in the Christian's life for ridding his life of sinful practices but that is part of sanctification (the Christian walk)and having good fellowship with God it is not required to initially become a forgiven child of God. Paul warned against adding requirements to the true gospel in the book of Galatians and we'll deal with that later. Do you need to be forgiven and know that Heaven will be your destination? Trust Christ today!
