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Man Cannot Save Himself by Good Works
Job 9:2 I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? Impossible to be justified with God without going through Jesus Christ. No matter how good a man it he is not just with God. Job 25:6 4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a
woman? This is the true state of man before God. We stand unjustified and condemned. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We are all in a lost condition and in need of a savior. This is why not everyone comes to Christ for salvation. They do not see their need for salvation. They think that they are righteous and good enough without any need of repentance. The emphasis on self-importance and self-esteem is really dangerous. It eliminates any need for God. As a result there are so many lost. In order to be saved and have eternal life, one must recognize, "I am a sinner," "I need Jesus to take that sin away." Psalms 143:2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. The Psalmist recognizes his need for God and need for a savior. He recognized that he was too weak and powerless to keep from sinning on his own. Human nature is very weak. Jeremiah 2:22 22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. We can be clean outwardly, dress in the finest clothes and be neat as a pin yet be ugly, dirty and full of sin in our inward being. Only the blood of Jesus Christ has the power to cover completely our sin and wash it away so that it is remembered no more against us. Jesus Christ makes us free from sin. Romans 1:23 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that
they are without excuse: This shows that originally all men knew of the existence and power of God. Mankind turned away from that knowledge about the same as they are doing today. They became vain and imagined many things. They started substituting idols, beasts, images and other things in place of the real true God. They forsook God for idols. Many nations today are too educated to actually worship images but they have idols of other things. Anything that that we love more than God or esteem more important than God is an idol. Education is a good thing yet today education is esteemed higher than the worship of God. Emphasis is placed on education much more than on the bible, church or the worship of the Lord. How many would rather watch a sports event than go spend time in prayer with the Lord? Do we hurry up and get our daily prayer and bible reading out of the way so that we can do look forward to spend quality time with the Lord? Our attitude should be, "I can't wait until the next time I meet the Lord in my prayer closest." "I can't wait until I get home so that I can study the scriptures again." "I wish Sunday would hurry up so that I can worship God with fellow believers of like faith." If we seek first the Lord our lives will start to be fruitful. We will get into less trouble and probably get sick a lot less. Romans 3:20 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. When we discover what the law says, it does not save us, it shows us how serious our sin is. It shows us the need for a savior to save us from sin. A person who is in a lost condition and hears the word of God preached should immediately feel convicted. The preaching of the word will convict the sinner and let him know that he is a sinner in need of salvation. He is not left without hope. The next part of the gospel is to tell the sinner that he can be saved and have eternal life when he repents of sin, turns to Christ and trusts him to be Lord of his life. He then becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus and the sin is washed away to be remembered no more. Simply turning over a new leaf and trying to live a good life and doing good works will not save the soul apart from Jesus Christ. Doing good is not enough to save us. We need to receive Jesus Christ and his forgiveness before we can be saved and have eternal life. Galatians 5:6 4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye
are fallen from grace. If we trust in anything else to save us then we will not be saved. Only faith in Christ to save will count. No matter how good we try to be if we are trusting in that goodness to save ourselves we will be lost. If we try to keep the whole Law of Moses to save ourselves we will be lost. We need Christ to receive victory over sin. All have sinned at one time or another unless of course it is a baby that has no knowledge of right or wrong. This is why the gospel has to be preached to the whole world. They cannot be saved unless that hear and receive the gospel. Those that forbid the preaching of the gospel in certain countries are dooming their citizens to eternal death without God.
Excuses will not save Genesis 3:12 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. When God confronted Adam about his sin of disobedience by eating of the forbidden fruit, instead of repenting and asking forgiveness, he passed the buck. He tried to excuse himself and blame Eve for his sin. How many of us have had children who do the same things? Instead of saying, I'm sorry Mom and Dad I did wrong, they will most likely try to excuse their action and avoid taking the blame for it. Exodus 32:24 24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. Aaron made a golden calf when the people pressured him into making an object of worship. When Moses confronted him with this sin, he did not repent but made an excuse. 1 Samuel 13:12 Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. King Saul also made an excuse for doing sacrifices contrary to the plan of God. All he had to do was throw himself upon the mercy of God and repent.
1 Samuel 15:22 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. 22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. Samuel shows that God is pleased more with obedience rather that many sacrifices. Just hear, receive and obey.
1 John 1:9 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. To make excuses leaves the sin inside of us, to confess and ask forgiveness cleanses the soul. Admitting, sincerely apologizing, and coming to Christ for cleansing is the way to salvation. True confession though is not being sorry that we have been found out but being sorry that we sinned against God.
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