Guilty or Not guilty?

“Guilty or Not Guilty”

The Gospel is easy to understand when we simplify it to the question of whether or not we are guilty and how does the guilty get made not guilty.

Our guilt should be easy to understand.  Scripture is very clear  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”  Romans 3:23.  We are all guilty.  We all have broken God’s law.  We have lied, cheated, stolen, loved other things more than God.  We have All sinned.  So this means we are all guilty.  So since we are guilty how do we get declared NOT guilty?

Now is where the big divide comes with many religions and Christianity.  Many take the path of good works while Christianity takes the path of Christ.  Let me explain.  If you follow Islam you are to follow the 7 pillars of Islam, pray so many times a day facing Mecca, and you can be made not guilty.  And this is the way it is for many religions.  Do good.  Help others.  Be kind to your fellow man.  You good can outweigh your bad and you can be right with God and declared Not Guilty.  But we can’t outweigh our bad with good because we are still guilty.

Think of it this way when is the last time you saw someone declared not guilty because they had done good things.  Even in our system when we let people out on “good behavior”  they still are guilty of the crime.  The only way they are NOT guilty is to be Pardoned and only the President or the Governor can do that.

So we go along the way trying in our own power to do something we cannot.  “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 6:23.  Jesus came and died in our place so we could be declared NOT guilty by trusting in Him.

This is simple.  The Good News about Salvation is simple, but for many it eludes them because they are trying to earn what they can never earn.  They are trying to be NOT guilty when the verdict is in and only Jesus can stand in their place and give them a pardon.

So who are you trusting to be declared NOT guilty?  Are you depending on your good to outweigh your bad or are you trusting Jesus?

There is only 1 way to be declared NOT Guilty – JESUS.

Pastor Ed