FROM SINNER to SAINT

FROM SINNER TO SAINT

 

This is an interesting journey from being born as a "sinner" from our mother's womb, to becoming a "saint" by being "born again" by the Spirit of God. One of my favorite scripture passages that explain this process is found in the letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church he had founded in the city of Ephesus. Read (Eph 2:1-10) for the details, which in the NLT version of the Bible has the heading "made alive in Christ". Paul begins in verse one "Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins". He continues through verses two and three to explain who is the cause of us being sinners, "the devil—the commander of the powers of the unseen world. He is the spirit that is at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else".

 

Then in verse four Paul starts out with "But God is so rich in mercy, and He loves us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that we have been saved!) For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus". Paul continues in verse eight with "God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago". I consider this passage of scripture to be one of the best in the Bible to explain the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom in only 10 verses.

 

Thank God for Paul who was known as the "Apostle to the Gentiles", and for the "mysteries" of God that were revealed to him (Eph 3:1-13), and recorded for our benefit. My observations of the average church attendee would indicate that they don't know the truth of the plain simple gospel message, probably because they have listened to "another gospel" that eliminates that fact that we are all sinners (Rom 3:9-21) and have believed in a "false gospel" like the church in Corinth (2 Cor 11:1-4) and in many churches today. A so-called gospel without repentance and the truth of what Jesus did for us on the cross, He is our one and only Savior from sin!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                               08/05/13