SIMPLICITY

“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is the message concerning faith that we proclaim:  If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:8b-10

That's it! That is the gospel in a nutshell. Why do we as humans make it so hard? Why do we still strive at our salvation when God has made it so easy for us to come to Him?

Mankind has always taken the hard way. We have disobeyed God; we have walked away from Him; we have made idols of things, instead of believing in the One Who created us. And all along God has been patient with mankind because He knows our faults and failures.

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jer 17:9). The heart of mankind has always craved "self." We are rebellious by nature. We want things our way, so we make up idols and "religions" that promote "self" over our Creator. God never wanted anything else than for mankind to love Him and have fellowship with Him. But we made up our own ways of coming to Him instead of taking His simple way. JESUS!

"Religion" is a way of appeasing God, we think, but isn't it really a way of appeasing ourselves? If we do enough things on our checklist, maybe God will accept us. If we follow certain rules or say enough prayers, maybe God will accept us. The truth is "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23). The bottom line is WE CANNOT EARN OUR WAY INTO HEAVEN. The only way is to do it God's way. And that way is the simple truth that we have to believe in our hearts that Jesus is God. He was born to die for the sins of mankind, but we have to accept that precious gift for ourselves. We have to believe that He rose from the grave and is seated at the right hand of God in heaven. And we have to declare with our mouths JESUS IS LORD! It is in the believing in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross of Calvary and resurrection from the dead that we are saved! So, today, if you do not know Him, repent of sin, and accept His free gift of salvation. HE IS RISEN!