RIVER CITY CHURCH

In Genesis 3, the first humans, Adam and Eve unleashed sin and death into the world by wanting to be sovereign themselves. As a result, they became separated from the Author of Life – dead in their sin. Scripture tells us that since we're Adam and Eve's descendants, we are born in sin... AND we choose it! We have God's revealed will right in front of us (in the Bible), we are able to see his eternal power and divine nature (in creation) and we have purposely refused to seek him, honor him, or worship him as he is due. The paycheck for sin is death – death to our relationship to God and to others which, carried on into eternity, results in eternal suffering and judgment apart from the mercy and goodness of God.

In that sinful state, scripture tells us we are spiritually dead. Dead people cannot do anything to resurrect themselves. Salvation is not about "becoming a better you" or "living your best life now." It's not found in self-help, self-discovery, or self-anything. There is no excuse or argument you could make for your sin that will hold up in the courts of heaven, no amount of "becoming a better person" or "let me explain my situation" that would be able to bring you up to God's standards of holiness and righteousness. Salvation must come from somewhere else. Someone else. "But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The good news of Jesus is that he didn't ask you to get your act together before he decided to pay the penalty for your sin – it would never have happened! Without your permission, God lovingly stepped in and acted by sending His own Son, Jesus to take the penalty for sin (death) and the consequence of sin (separation from God) by dying a cruel, lonely death.

If Jesus stayed dead, though, no one would be saved. If the story of Jesus is a story about a nice guy who had an unlucky death, we all still face the ultimate enemy (physical death) and lose. But that's not where the story ends. Dead and buried for only 2 nights, Jesus was raised to life again by his Father, and appeared to over 500 people in 6 weeks time. If Jesus' death was the payment for sin, then his resurrection means God accepted the payment and rose Jesus back to life which in turn does two things: 1) it proves Jesus was who he claimed to be, and 2) it makes dead-in-sin sinners now righteous (and spiritually alive) as their record of sins is removed! With that payment, God transferred us from the kingdom of darkness (sin, evil, death) into the kingdom of the Son he loves (Jesus). God didn't need to wait for or ask anyone's permission before doing this. He did it of his own free will out of love, because he knew it was the only way to redeem sinful humanity.

Every major world religion teaches that you can't know if you've done enough to "get in" until you die. Christianity teaches that you can confidently know before you die, because we are saved by the good that JESUS did, not the good we've done. In other religions, you work hard and hope you get in. The good news of Jesus is that, when you've trusted his life, death, and resurrection for your salvation, you don't have to wait to get in – You ARE already in! The good works come AFTER salvation, not before. We are saved by grace! Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.” That’s a big statement! But another big statement is, “anyone who believes in me will not perish, but have eternal life.”  Anyone! It’s all-inclusive… unless you think you're doing just fine on your own and don't need a savior. But "if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. If you refuse this salvation, you still stand under the crushing penalty and consequence of sin (death, eternal judgment).

Acts 2:28 says, "Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the hearts and minds of those who have called on Jesus for salvation. This is monumental, because His presence in you is your downpayment, your guarantee that you are no longer dead in  sin, but alive in Christ. He convicts, comforts, encourages, protects, and strengthens us as we begin to follow Jesus in a process called "discipleship." It's the idea of being an apprentice, where we spend the rest of our lives growing more and more like Jesus. Talking like him, walking like him, acting like him, thinking like him, so that when the world sees us, they see Jesus is still alive and still at work in the world. On our Next Steps page, you'll find helpful resources for everything from baptism to Bible reading and prayer, as well as a list of gospel-teaching churches around the world you can look into.