His Way is the Only Way

Living with David is never dull. David believes that things must be done a certain way. For example, David will not turn his television off unless it is on channel 9. I don't know what's so special about channel 9, but that's the way it is. We have tried encouraging him, cajoling him, threatening him, but if it's not on channel 9, the television will not be turned off. That's the way David is programmed, and we have gotten used to it.


My husband Rich has related that to how God is. We try to do things out of order or in our own way and God insists on things His own way. Salvation is a great example. Many people try good works or baptism or even giving money to a church to earn their way to Heaven. No matter how many good people do those things, God has never, and will never change His way to Heaven. God's Son paid the price, and if we don't accept His gift, we don't go to Heaven. We can try to cajole God, we can try to reason with God, but it doesn't matter. It's God's way or no way.

God's way means we must realize and acknowledge that we are sinners. Some of us sin more often that others, but we all sin. Romans 3:10 says, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one." We tend to think of sins as big (murder) and little (a "white" lie), but God sees sin as sin.

Just as I earn a wage (paycheck) for working at my job, there's a wage for my sin... eternity in hell. The Bible says in Romans 6:23a, "For the wages of sin is death; ..." An eternity in hell is one wage I don't want to receive, nor do I want anyone else to receive.


Thankfully, the story doesn't end there. God has paid our sin wage for us. In Romans 6:23b, the Bible says, "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Jesus Christ, God's Son, is perfect (sinless). He came to this earth, lived for thirty-three years without sinning even once, and died a horrific death on the cross as our sin wage. His holiness allowed Him to suffer our sin payment for us. The love God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son has for us is totally overwhelming. Romans 5:8 says, "But God commandeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."


Not only did Jesus die as our sin wage for us, He rose from the dead after three days. We have the opportunity to have a LIVING God save us. Throughout history, many people have died for their friends and for a cause in which they believed; but none of them have risen from the dead. Our Saviour was strong enough to bear our sin, die for us AND to live again. The Bible says in Revelation 1:18, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." I want a Saviour who can conquer (have the keys of) hell and death!

I am amazed at how much Jesus would endure for me. But the truth is, all of His suffering and pain, and even His victory would be futile if I didn't accept His gift of salvation. I love my husband very much. Say I wanted to buy him the perfect gift. I spend days thinking about what he might like, I spend hours going from store to store to find just the right color and size. The big day arrives and I hand him his gift. If Rich does not take the gift from me, all of the effort and planning that was put into that gift wouldn't mean much to him. Rich must take the gift from me to receive it. Salvation is the same way. God the Father and Jesus the Son spent eternity planning, preparing and purchasing our salvation, but it is up to us to accept the gift. In the Bible, John 1:12 says, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."

Salvation is accepting the gift of forgiveness and pardon from Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Bible says in Romans 10:13, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Calling upon the Lord means that you are trusting in Him and the price He paid to take you to Heaven, nothing else. I think everyone should try to live a good life, but living a good life won't take you to Heaven, only faith in Jesus Christ can. I think we should all try to help those less fortunate than we are, but that won't get us to Heaven. The Bible says in John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

If you want to go to Heaven when you die to spend eternity with God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son, why don't you ask Jesus to save you right now? You may say something like this,

"Dear God, I know I've sinned and don't deserve to go to Heaven because of my sin. I do believe that Jesus Christ, Your Son, was perfect and that He died to pay my sin wage. I know the only way I will ever get to Heaven is by trusting in You and only You to take me there. Please forgive me of my sins and come into my heart. Thank you for being a living Saviour and for saving my soul. Amen."

God tells us in I John 5:13, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." If we believe on the name of the Son of God (Jesus), we can KNOW we have eternal life. I KNOW that 4 + 4 = 8; always will be. I also KNOW that I have eternal life because I have believed in Jesus.

Just as having the television on channel 9 brings comfort and security to David, following God's way brings comfort and security to us. Our God is constant and faithful and we don't ever have to worry about Him changing His mind. Once we have asked Him to save us, the Bible says in I John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." What a wonderful promise!