How To Be Shocked Into Salvation

“And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him
eating with the tax collectors and sinners,
they said to his disciples,
‘How is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?’
When Jesus heard it, he said to them,
‘Those who are well have no need of a physician,
but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous,
but sinners, to repentance.’”
Mark 2:16-17

Notice that Jesus called the sinners “sick and in need of a physician.”

Is sin a sickness?

Where does sin come from? How did we become sinful?

When God created our first parents he put them into a perfect environment. They were created perfectly healthy in body, soul, and spirit. But they were approached by Satan, the enemy of God and mankind, who suggested to them that what God had said to them was not true. They listened, and at his prompting they disobeyed God and brought sin into the world. God had placed Adam in authority over the whole earth, but when he brought sin into it, the entire creation came under the curse of death, just as God had warned. From that day on, death would reign over all life including plants and animals, every living thing would now be subject to the death principle. And all who would descend from Adam and Eve would be born spiritually dead, inclined to sin, separated from God.

The sin nature is obvious from early childhood. Put two young children in a room with toys, and inevitably there will be a conflict over one or another of the toys. Sin is seen very early in life, pushing, shoving, crying and demanding one’s own way. That is the nature of a human being from birth. To some extent, that nature can be subdued as people grow and learn what is expected in society, but the sin nature will always be there and Satan will take advantage of that and lead people into all manner of temptation, and with succumbing to temptation, the consequences come too, which will only lead to more sin.

There is not a human being who isn’t by nature a sinner. There isn’t a sin nature that doesn’t bring on terrible consequences. It affects the rich and the poor, the famous and the lowly, the “nice” and the surly, it is common to all.

Jesus came into the world to bring the remedy. He came to be the atonement for the sins of mankind, bearing in himself the judgment for sin on behalf of all who would receive him. But the only way to receive him is to face the truth about oneself and to acknowledge one’s sinfulness.

The most deadly of all sin is pride, and that is the one thing that will keep most away from Christ, for many believe they are “good” and not in need of someone to save them.

Pride is indeed a sickness, it’s the most lethal of all sicknesses, and the only remedy is one that most are not willing to bear. Perhaps the most difficult thing a person can do is to acknowledge that he is not “good” in God’s eyes even though he is “good” in his own eyes, and that sickness is fatal.

Jesus was approached at night by a religious man, a leader among the Pharisees, a “good” man who wanted to know more about his message but didn’t want to be seen coming to him, so he approached him under the cover of the night. Jesus didn’t descend into argument with him. He told this religious man straight out that he must be born again! He expected him to understand from the Scriptures that mankind is born in sin and therefore would have to be born again. Jesus didn’t mince his words, he came right to the point, “You MUST be born again!” (John 3:7). Then when the man had a problem with that, Jesus asked him, “Are you a teacher in Israel and you don’t know this?”

The sin nature cannot be trained, it won’t go away under the niceties of being brought up in a “good” home. In fact, it could be said that it’s harder to bring a “good” person to salvation than to bring an evil one, because the evil person won’t have a problem acknowledging his sinfulness, while the pride in a “good” person can be the one thing that prevents him from being saved.

If you have never considered yourself “sick” with sin, if you were brought up in a “good” home, if you have gone far in the world to achieve what you desired through good education and hard work, there is a very real danger that your goodness and achievements will keep you from salvation. If you consider yourself “good,” take this challenge and ask God to show you what’s really in your heart. It might have been so covered over by adapting to social mores that your sin might be unrecognizable to you. Ask God to show you. And be prepared to see what you never thought you’d see. Be prepared for a shock. Something that just might shock you …right into salvation.

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