Do you know if there's life after this life?
Do you know where you will spend eternity?
1 Mans Problem: "Sin"
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
2 God's Provision: "THE CROSS"
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 "Christ died for our sin according to the scriptures; and that he was buried,and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."
3 God's Gift: "SALVATION"
Romans 6:23b "...the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
4 Man's Responsibility: "FAITH"
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
5 The Result: "PEACE WITH GOD"
Romans 5:1 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
6 The Assurance: "SEALED "
Ephesians 1:13 "In whom [Christ] ye also trusted, after that, ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise..."
7 The Life: "A LIVING SACRIFICE"
Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
An observation...
Sometime ago, right after I had just finished walking someone thru points 1 thru 6, and they related their having trusted in Christ based on the above, I then asked them a question along the line of "so what is your understanding of all that; what is your understanding of what happens now, when you sin?"
I asked them that in an attempt to prepare them against what they were bound to run into at one point or another - the ever endless, religious treadmill of men in their ignorance not only of the sufficiency of the Cross as to its' having completely paid the sin debt, but of its power over sin.
Also, in an attempt to help get them started in an understanding of the battle they had just entered into between their new life in Christ, and their old life in Adam.
When I asked this individual 'so, now what happens when you sin?' they responded with "well, Christ died for my sins, so that means I am forgiven."
But then a smirk came over their face, much like that cartoon cat's "Sylvestor" whenever he spots his dream meal "Tweety Bird."
At which point they asked me "Wait, a minute; that means I can live anyway I want; right?" that smirk still on their face.
But when one knows the Word, rightly divided (Genesis thru Revelation in light of Romans thru Philemon) such moments do not produce the panic of "I tawt a taw a puddy tat!!!"
Rather, clarity - not only as to what one is actually dealing with, but as to how to handle such moments - is the result.
I recall thinking 'okay, they get it. Just on a handful of passages, they have been able to see that the Cross has paid for their sins. But this is a brand spanking new believer; time for some mind renewal as to their new life in Christ.'
So I took them to Romans 12:1-2, and then basically related to them that their response had been out of what those two passages assert is next after points 1-6, above.
From there, we turned to...
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
And said to them 'this right here, in Romans 6 begins to address the kind of moment you have just experienced...'
Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
I explained to them that their question about living anyway they wanted just because, where sin abounded, grace did abound much more, was basically the issue of how they had been used to looking at things prior to their new life in Christ, interjecting itself into their new life because that old viewpoint had long since become a habit.
'This is much like when you first move a light switch from a location on the wall you have been used to, to a new location; the first few days, you do what?' I asked.
"I keep reaching for where it used to be" they replied.
'Same thing' I said 'you have a new life now; time for some mind renewal...'
We explored some of that, and parted company...
But that is basically the Simplicity of both the Gospel of Christ and of the Life of Christ in the New Believer.
Romans 6:7 "For he that is dead is freed from sin."
