We’re all undeserving of salvation but God loves us enough to change that.

Romans 3:10-27

¹⁰ As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
¹¹     there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
¹² All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
¹³ “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
¹⁴     “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶     ruin and misery mark their ways,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they do not know.”
¹⁸     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰ Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

²¹ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— ²⁶ he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

²⁷ Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith.

At work we had a CPD presentation on windows (I’m a Building Designer) and we talked about how Nickel Sulphide impurities in glass can cause it to shatter at any time. It can be the smallest particle, only able to be seen under a microscope, yet it can destroy an entire piece of glass. So they test every piece of glass and if they find any at all, the whole piece is discarded.

Sin is a bit like Nickel Sulphide in glass. Even the smallest amount disrupts a person’s status of perfection. But the difference between glass and us is that not just some are affected, we all have a Nickel Sulphide impurity. All of us, the entire human race, are defective and should not be allowed out of the factory to be used in any building.

There’s a spoken word by Beautiful Eulogy that articulates sin quiet well. For me anyway.

“The size of sin is as small as a grain of sand, but separates between Wide Ocean and dry land. It’s bigger than bad habits; it’s a matter of man seeking for God’s spot following in same pattern as Adam. Its deep rooted we are the seed of a broken family tree branching out limbs of disease…

…The size of sin so big it causes a cosmic fraction and Hell is the only relevant response to righteous reaction. This is what our sinful actions actually earned us, but God took upon himself the weight of sin reserved for us; a weight so significant that only the blood of an innocent one is acceptable and worthy. So rather than make light of it or minimize the size of it, we should marvel at the magnitude of mercy”

The size of sin – beautiful eulogy

It’s as simple as that, we’re all imperfect nickel sulphide riddled panes of glass. But Jesus changed the test. He swapped our results with His and gave us a pass instead of a fail.

If we think about the question we are looking at this week: How can a good God send people to hell? It is hard to reconcile when we know a person that doesn’t know Jesus; a colleague, a friend, a boyfriend, a sister, brother, mother, father. It would be great if we could say that they are saved and going to heaven based on our belief that they are good people. But that’s not what the Bible teaches us. “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.”

We hate the idea of people we love not going to heaven. And so we should. It’s a terribly bleak outlook for them if they do not have Jesus’ saving grace. But it’s not something we should shy away from and pretend doesn’t exist. We need to instead live lives that scream the gospel so that they too can find the love and hope that we have been given.

Head: Do you at times down play the weight of sin? Forgetting at times that it’s only by grace that we have been saved? I know I do

Heart: Stop and think about Jesus and what he did on the cross. Think about all the sin in your life. Think about all the sin that has occurred by all people throughout all of history. That’s what Jesus took on himself and died for.

Hands: Have a think about the people in your life that don’t have the saving grace of Jesus. How can you be showing them who Jesus is?

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for enduring the punishment that was reserved for me. Thank you for saving all my brothers and sisters in Christ as well. Thank you that we have a community were we can serve and love one another. I pray that you would use my life to bring other people to you. In particular I ask that if it is in your will you will save my loved ones who do not call you Lord and Saviour. Please open their eyes. Amen

A song to listen to: New Life

Celina Facey- Creek Road Presbyterian Church- Carina