Who can say, “I have made my heart clean”?
You, Lord, look down from heaven upon us children of men, to see if any understand, any seek You. We have all turned aside, we have together become corrupt . . . none does good, no, not one. We in the flesh cannot please You, God. To will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. I am like an unclean thing, and all my righteousnesses are like filthy rags; I fade as a leaf, and my iniquities, like the wind, have taken me away. Your Scripture confined all under sin that Your faith promise in Jesus might be given to me. God, in Christ, You reconciled the world to Yourself, not imputing our trespasses. . . . If I say that I have no sin, I deceive myself, and the truth is not in me. If I confess my sins, You are faithful and just to forgive me my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness.
Thank You, Lord God, for cleansing all my unrighteousness through Christ Jesus.
PROVERBS 20:9; PSALM 14:2–3; ROMANS 8:8; ROMANS 7:18–19; ISAIAH 64:6; GALATIANS 3:22; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:19; 1 JOHN 1:8–9 - Dr. David Jeremiah Life-Changing Moments with God
Read these Scriptures as Dr. Jeremiah personalized them again.
WE all at some point in our existence make self assertive claims that we aren't guilty before God or mankind. That we haven't done anything to warrant God haven't a problem with us. That we are good people. We care about ourselves and others. We don't do this, or that. We keep to ourselves. Every explanation possible to say that God should let us into Heaven and not send us to Hell.
Ever move from one city or town to another? Ever notice that your first act or one of them is to file a change of address?
Well to stake a claim of Heaven as your address you have to meet the requirements for entry. Attempting to show up at the gates of Heaven without meeting those requirements sends you to the only other place to go. Hell.
There's but one requirement for entry to Heaven. Salvation in Christ Jesus. Believing in God isn't enough. Believing in the God of the Old Testament alone isn't enough. Wasn't for the Pharisee's and Sadducee's, won't be for you either.
Jesus became the way to Heaven by living a sinless life. No one can make that claim but Jesus. He was crucified and died on a cross. Millions can say they died that way. Only Jesus ever came back from the dead 3 days later. Only Jesus satisfied the requirements of His Father concerning sin.
Only Jesus became the key to the gates of Heaven.
Your "good" will never be good enough.
Your "good" actually is considered filthy rags.
You are born guilty. It's lying to people at funerals by saying they were good people, that they are in a better place who never were saved, that perpetuates wrong ideas of salvation.
There's countless trillions of people in Hell who considered themselves "good", who still don't understand why they are there.
Without Jesus as your Savior, you, my Dear Reader will not see Heaven.
Without His forgiveness of your sins, your sins remain.
All your "good" amounts to nothing.
I sometimes think of that thief on the cross that Jesus said would be with Him in paradise. He came to Christ by way of the cross. Nothing at all besides belief in Jesus and His righteousness, in His coming Kingdom to stand on. He had no opportunity nor time to do anything for God but to obey in believing in the Son of God to save him.
I also think of the other thief. The one who didn't. They show up, one in Paradise the other in Hades, each likely able to see the other. The one in Hades who didn't believe, didn't look to Jesus seeing the one who did. The story told by Jesus says that this is what was to be expected. One side seeing the other.
The one who didn't believe nor cry out to Jesus would forever be separated from Jesus because of his unbelief.
If you are still thinking that you have time. That you can "give up" your life and come to Christ before you die, when you're done "living"...don't count on it. It isn't giving up living. Your idea on what living means and God's idea aren't even close to being the same thing.
One second separates you from Heaven and Hell as your forever address. Everyone who ever had lived or is living or who will live has only Heaven or Hell to see one second after they die.
One second.
One second changes your future in the here and now.
One second means the difference between you having a healthy heart and a heart attack.
One second means the difference between you having a safe drive to work and a fatal accident.
One second means the difference between you breathing and not.
Letting your personal arrogance stand between your life being lived your way and what you can have after coming to Christ takes one second to resolve.
There is only time to change your address in the here and now.
"But I have to give up..." what? What's so important to hold onto that you would rather spend your future existence in torment and pain? Denying Christ Jesus as your Savior will guarantee you spending eternity in torment and pain. Refusing His free gift of salvation for any reason will guarantee your address will be Hell.
You cannot possibly live a "good" enough life to remove the sin of your life. You were born in sin. It's in your DNA and the only way to cure you of it is only through salvation in Christ Jesus alone.
People honestly get lied to a lot at funerals. Lied to about the lives that are reflected upon. Lied to about what kind of person they were. Seriously lied to about where they are now if they didn't have Jesus as their Savior. Nobody who dies without Christ Jesus is in a better place. Hell is not nor will it ever be a better place. Lies are told at funerals about people to make those still living feel better about themselves. All it takes to never see Heaven is a single lie. A single sin.
You, my Dear Reader, need to be sure that Heaven is your home. You need to be sure that Jesus is your Savior. That He has forgiven you and taken away your sin, as the Bible says, removing it and remembering it no more. That's the only way to be sure that your address has changed.
The funerals of believers are different. They are seen as a home-going. They are going to their new home with Jesus. Made for them by Him. Not because of their merits or their righteousness but His.
Funerals for believers are sad only because we will miss them and long to be with them again...knowing that we will see them again if we too are believers.
Good gets you nowhere with God.
Good deeds get you nowhere with God.
Good living gets you nowhere with God.
Raising good children gets you nowhere with God.
Without Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord...you have gotten nowhere with God.
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