What God did to each of us
Because sin separates us from Holy God, God Himself had to do something to remedy our “no-win” existence. God condemned us all to Hell because of sin. Yet because He loved us so much, He then provided a way to forgive us of all our sin (John 3:16-17) and make us ready for Heaven.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Without a holy intervention by God, we are all God Damned. That is why God came down to earth – essentially: to intervene on our behalf… to undamn us. So you are still damned, unless you’ve been undamned through Jesus.
The Undoing God…
God is the God of “undoing”. When we accept Him with sincerity and truth, it is THEN that He “undoes”….
* He un-does our damnation.
* He un-does our sinfulness before Him.
* He undoes our unworthiness before Him, the Holy God
* He un-does the shame we feel because of our sins.
The Great “undoing”
That is a lot of undoing.
He is so much more powerful than sinfulness. God takes care of sinners. The death of Jesus as our Perfect Substitute Sacrifice is what gives God the legal ability to undamn us. God did that legally for the Courts of Heaven in order to officially “undamn” us, thus preparing us for our entrance into the eternal Kingdom of God.
Creator God started this planning – way before the foundation of the earth (John 17:24; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20). That is how thorough God is with His creation.
He knew we would sin, seeing as how He created each of us with “free will“. So He prepared The Way for getting right with God. Jesus said “I am the way….” Nobody else. No other man. No other religious leader. I am.
Make up your mind
It is up to each of us to decide: Will I believe this Jesus?
“I am
the [only] Way [to God]
and the [real] Truth
and the [real] Life;
no one comes to the Father
but through Me.”
– John 14:6
*See John 14:6 in all English translations
Throughout history God has had a plan to save us from His condemnation. Since we are sinful, He provided a way to forgive us through His legal system. “How” God would actually forgive us was the mystery of the ages. But finally, through Jesus – the mystery of the Gospel has been revealed.
– Source: Approach God with a true and sincere heart
Down through the ages, salvation by God was a mystery – until the Messiah was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:23-25; Luke 1:34-35), and laid in a manger in the city of David, under a star “in the north”, just as predicted in the Old Testament by prophets of old.
– Source: The mystery of the Gospel has been revealed
What did God do? He gave us Jesus!
Jesus was born a man, actually a “Godman”, being both God and man, in order to provide God with a substitute who would take on His condemnation – for us. When we accept that substitutionary sacrifice made by God, He then can legally set us free from His sentence of eternal death, and give us eternal life. That is un-damning us! Hallelujah!
In this fallen world we are either (1) legally damned or (2) legally forgiven:
Legally Damned – Legally Forgiven
One must believe in the name of Jesus to be saved
Based on Jesus substitutionary death, the Courts of Heaven can legally proclaim freedom to all who believe on the name of Jesus. One must believe in the name of Jesus to be saved. Have you believed? Are you on the road to God’s Home Heaven?
Believing “in the name…” 1 means you believe in “all that Jesus Christ is and does“
– Source: Believe in the Name of Jesus
What God does to prepare you for Heaven
Written to true believers in Christ Jesus, this simple passage of 1 Corinthians 6:11 lays-out what God did to each of us at that moment in time when we first believed. Wow! What He did!
God did very specific acts to us, on our behalf, thus making us viable for His Holy Kingdom. Have you been made “viable”? 2
11 And such were some of you [before you believed]. But you were washed [by the atoning sacrifice of Christ], you were sanctified [set apart for God, and made holy], you were justified [declared free of guilt] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God [the source of the believer’s new life and changed behavior]. – 1 Corinthians 6:11 Amplified version
The NASB states it simply:
“Such were some of you; but
you were washed, but
you were sanctified, but
you were justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and [a]in the Spirit of our God.”
– 1 Corinthians 6:11 NASB
What God does to prepare us for Heaven
He washed me. He sanctified me. He justified me. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
In other words:
- Washed: He thoroughly washed away all the stains of sin from my heart.
- Sanctified: He “set me apart” to be 100% His , and His Holy Spirit is now continually working in me non-stop to bring me more and more, little by little — into conformity with His will.
- Justified: He forgave my sins to such a degree that I now stand before Him positionally — “just as if I had never sinned”.
Prepared by God
THAT is what God does to prepare everyone of us – for Heaven. We are prepared “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”, and “in the Spirit of our God”. Have you been prepared by God?
Viable in God’s Holy Kingdom?
God does a lot of work in us to make us viable.
Are you capable of living in a holy environment?
Have you been given new life so as “to be normally capable of surviving outside” this world?
Are you capable of working, functioning, or developing in the holiness of God?
Salvation is a God thing
We totally cannot save ourselves. Without God doing His work to us… forget it! There is no satisfying God without the forgiveness Jesus provided through His death on the cross. Jesus put it this way: You must be born again – reborn from above.
God has to change you – or else you remain the same, lost and under His condemnation. Yes, He is The Damning God! But He is also forgiving.
If you are in the flesh only — you are toast (meaning). In other words: Flesh and blood absolutely cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Have you been truly born again?
A Simple View of Life
This is basically what the Bible says about man, sin and salvation.
- Man is unworthy of God in His Holiness.
- Sin has brought us under the condemnation of God.
- God forgives through Jesus, by His Holy Holy justice.
- Without Jesus, there is no salvation.
Me when I die — still in my sins: (based on 1 Corinthians 6:11)
No washing – no cleansing.
No sanctification – no holiness for a Holy God.
No justification – no declaration by God freeing us from guilt in His Courts.
No Jesus, the Godman – “no nothing“: none of this happens.
No “Spirit of our God” in us – no “new life“, no “changed behavior”.
Personally? I like this scenario the best: Me when I die, forgiven. If you do accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, then you too will have a sparkling clean soul – and be ready for Heaven.
Quite a clarifying word of the Lord, from Paul the Apostle.
20 You were bought with a price
[you were actually purchased
with the precious blood of Jesus
and made His own].
So then,
honor and glorify God
with your body.
– 1 Corinthians 6: verse 20
FOR MORE:
Unrestrained sinful, sinful humans
God forgives sins by His Holy Holy Justice
Entrance Granted Into the Eternal
Approach God with a true and sincere heart
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty
Only God’s Way Leads to Himself
Flesh and blood absolutely cannot inherit the Kingdom of God
God and Man have free will with which to make a choice by
Bought with a price – the blood of Jesus
The Promise of God
Growing into our natural new life in Christ
The non-stop work of God inside you and me
Being 100% given-over to Jesus
Being faithful, little by little
Heaven is where – earth is behind us
God’s Fantastic Home – for those who follow Him
Have you “come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God”?
Following the Jesus who was not God
About Being Apostate… following “another gospel”
About Evidences for faith in Jesus
Footnotes
- See BibleGateway list of references to: “the name of Jesus“.
- Definition of viable
1a. capable of living. “A viable skin graft.” ” A viable offspring.”
1b of a fetus : having attained such form and development of organs as to be normally capable of surviving outside the uterus a 26-week old viable fetus
1c. capable of growing or developing viable seeds viable eggs
2a. capable of working, functioning, or developing adequately viable alternatives
2b. capable of existence and development as an independent unit: “The colony is now a viable state.”
3a. having a reasonable chance of succeeding: “A viable candidate.”
3b. financially sustainable: “A viable enterprise”.
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