Tag: repentance

Is faith too simplistic?

Some may protest that the Christian message is too easy: is all you have to do to have access to eternal heaven, to believe in Jesus? Is that what Jesus meant when he said, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”? Just believe in Jesus – is that all?

While that appears quite simple, you need to think a bit more: you can’t just decide to believe in something without taking it seriously as true. In fact, faith means trusting in the truth of what is said. And if we consider a speaker to be not serious and trust-worthy we just can’t believe all he says.

On the other hand, there are those who think that becoming a Christian involves a whole lengthy study of all the aspects of deep theology which, like the principles of Buddhism, require considerable effort to really grasp. Of course, when we deal with God almighty we may expect there are issues that cannot easily be understood. Then some would say, “Don’t bother trying to understand – just believe”. That option, however, errs on the side of the simplistic and misunderstands what’s involved in truly believing. 

What we need, for a clear and real kind of faith, is to find the happy medium between the simplistic on the one hand, and the hyper-complicated on the other. What’s necessary in order to have faith that saves the soul? What exactly is that sincere faith in Christ that leads to a real conversion to Christ?

Essentially three things:

  1. To know the basic facts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
  2. To realise that these facts call for a personal response
  3. To make that response in a commitment of repentance and trust in Christ which is formulated in a prayer.

Let’s think those three things through.

First, the Bible itself says, “How are people to believe in him of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10.14). Obviously, in order to believe and trust in Christ, we must know who he is and what he has said and done. That’s why the Gospels were written. John ends his account of Jesus’ life saying, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name” (John 20.30-31). Becoming familiar with the Gospel records of Jesus’ life is therefore basic to believing in him. Such biblical information does not necessarily lead to faith, but it is essential to know the Gospel facts about who he was, what he said and particularly, that he died to save us. 

Secondly, Jesus’ teaching calls us to “come to him” (Matthew 11.28), to “trust in him” (John 14.1), “to follow him” (Matthew 4.19), and to “love and obey him” (John 14.21,23). He consistently teaches that his followers must commit to living in a real relationship with him, their risen Lord and Master. He insists there needs to be a turning from all evil and a decision to live a new life following him.

Thirdly therefore, faith in Jesus shows itself by turning in prayer to Jesus, asking him to come into our lives as our own personal Lord and Saviour, promising to put away all sins that he disapproves of, and to live the rest of our lives as his faithful followers.

If you haven’t done that yet, maybe now is the time. 

Clive Every-Clayton

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God is not just a theory

Sometimes believers and apologists for the Christian faith give the impression that you can argue others into having faith. They compare the poor arguments of scientific atheism with their proposing the Christian faith and want to show that the Christian “theory” is more plausible than any other.

While there is truth in this, it may have the result of leading the unbeliever to conclude that Christianity is just another theory, which sooner or later will be shown to fall short of what is required. In other words, the whole discussion remains at the level of argument and speculation. But this is not the way Christianity truly functions, because it is not just a philosophical position, setting forth the theoretical existence of God as its basis. No – Christianity has as its unique basis in the historical life, teachings, death and resurrection of the extraordinary historical person, Jesus, the Christ, i.e. the Messiah, the incarnate Son of God.

The ministry of Jesus was totally unique in the history of the world. The work of “evangelism” that Christians are committed to do consists not of arguing for the truth of the Christian faith but of announcing the historic facts of Jesus’ life and ministry. There is profound truth in the expression: “Christianity is Christ”. The life and teaching of Jesus Christ is a phenomenon of world history which calls for assessment. Everyone should know that his life and ministry occurred – indeed, two thousand years ago exactly his feet were walking on our planet. 

When you examine other religions, you find that they may make reference to historic events, but their teachings are ultimately man-made propositions about God (or the gods) and what the divinity demands. They offer supposed rewards in the next life, particularly for those who obey their moral requirements. They claim that these commandments are specified by their gods, and that those who obey them will enter the equivalent of heaven. That positive final destination is held out to those who faithfully obey the laws laid down by that religion.

It appears there is a sensitivity in the human soul that responds to such hope-giving teaching; so everywhere there are devout people who do their best to follow the path set out, hoping that their recompense will be great beyond death. However, those who made those religious promises did so before they died, and were ultimately as ignorant of the after-life as all the rest of us. Their promises were unfounded.

Here, Jesus is in a class by himself, for after his death by crucifixion, he rose from the dead and continued to teach for another forty days before returning to heaven where he had come from. Jesus is also unique in his teaching that he had come from God in heaven in the first place. And on two occasions, the Gospels relate, God spoke out audibly from heaven affirming: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 3.17, 17.5).

Clive Every-Clayton

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Sin can be forgiven

This perceptive word was written in the Gospels: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5.21). It’s great news to know that God is in the business of forgiving sin.

This is especially the case when considering sexual sin. Most people are aware of the Ten Commandments, one of which prohibits adultery. Adultery is remarkably common, as is fornication (sex outside of marriage) and various other forms of sexual activity condemned by Jesus under the general term “sexual immorality” which he listed among various other sins (Matthew 15.19). These sins arouse a particularly deep feeling of guilt which is hard to shake off. 

The “Good News” that the Gospel of Christ brings, is that “All the prophets bear witness to Jesus, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10.39). Forgiveness of sins can be received! It can be yours because of the Lord Jesus Christ: he “bore our sins in his body” on the cross, so that we sinners might be forgiven. The early Christian preachers declared: “Through this man, Jesus, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is justified [i.e. declared legally righteous] from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13.38-39). God’s forgiveness clears our slate, makes us acceptable at the great Day of Judgment, and opens the way to heaven. 

This is the promise of the Word of God himself. The very first Christian proclamation, given by the apostle Peter seven weeks after Jesus had died and risen again, ends with these words: “Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. To be forgiven there are three essential conditions: to repent, which means to turn away from all sin, and the Holy Spirit is given to make that possible. The second condition was mentioned in the previous verses, to “believe in the Lord Jesus”, which means to receive him as your Lord, Master, Saviour and Friend, and to become one of his followers. The third condition was to be baptised in the name of Jesus, which means to make a public stand as a Christian, committed to obey Jesus as Lord.

In other words, you can’t expect to get God’s forgiveness with your right hand while continuing to sin with your left! You have to be honest with God. Forgiveness is free – you don’t have to earn it by any special pilgrimage or fasting or deeds of mercy. You do, however, have to decide with God’s help, to change your life around, to repent and give up your sins – which is not easy, but God’s Holy Spirit will help you if you pray sincerely in Jesus’ name for God to forgive you. He will be glad to answer that prayer!

Then, however heinous may have been the sins you have on your conscience, they are all wiped away by God’s grace. God promises: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be whiter than snow” (Isaiah 1.18), and “Your sins and your iniquities I will remember no more” (Hebrews 8.12). God’s forgiveness is mediated through his word of promise written in the Bible. He is a God who “forgives iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34.7). If we fulfil the conditions, he will fulfil his promise.

Maybe you will want to turn to him in prayer right now? He is right there close to you: open your heart to him.

Clive Every-Clayton

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You are loved

One of our most fundamental needs is to be loved. Oh the joy of knowing you are loved! You can put up with anything if you know you are truly loved. How our heart hungers and longs for love! “Love is (almost) all you need”. But a plaintive song in “Half a Sixpence” laments, “Where is love?” How many hearts are burdened by lovelessness! We appreciate any kindness shown to us, but oh! the deep personal longing to love and to be loved! And what anguish when relationships break up and love is lost!

One of the huge blessings of the Christian faith is to know that God loves us, and it is uniquely satisfying because his love is eternal, faithful, strong, forgiving, never-ending. God’s love starts in eternity past – before the creation of the world: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” he says. What comfort that gives the believer! “Underneath are the everlasting arms”: his love enfolds us in a warm eternal embrace.

How do we know? Jesus came from “the bosom of the Father” to tell us, and even to show us how great is his love. The Bible tells us, “God is love” (1 John 4.8) and love radiates unceasingly from God as the warmth radiates from the sun. As the children’s song says, “You can’t stop God from loving you”!

Most people think that God would love them if they were really, really good people, but they know they aren’t so they’re afraid God is against them. But Jesus teaches us that God even loves people who he calls sinners. Jesus’ self-giving on the Cross, for us unworthy sinners, is the great demonstration of how much he loves us. “God proves his love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5.8). “Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15.13). “I am the Good Shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10.11). God has shown how much he loves you by sending his Son to die on the Cross, so that through his sacrifice your sins may be forgiven, and you may be welcomed into a loving relationship with him forever.

The amazing thing about God’s love is that you do not have to earn it. You just have to believe it and turn to him, opening your heart to receive him as your Lord, your Saviour, and your Friend.

This is how Jesus stated it: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3.16). God’s love is a giving love: he gave his Son up for us; the Son gave up his life for us; on that basis, God is eager to give you eternal life as a “free gift” (Romans 6.23) if you will come to the risen Christ and receive him. “He who has the Son, has eternal life” (1 John 5.12).

How do you receive Christ? You do that by praying to God, right where you are; he hears you as you tell him you are sorry for your sins, you are turning away from them, and you want him to come into your heart to make you a true child of God. He will answer, because he loves you and desires to save and forgive you. If you are sincere, you will see how he answers that prayer, changing your life profoundly as you become a follower of Jesus.

Clive Every-Clayton

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New Year resolution

Some atheists may react when I say that they miss out on the most important reality in the universe – God. Yet if God is really there, an objective all-powerful Creator, it stands to reason that wisdom would require us to take that fact on board. That, of course, presupposes the “if”.

I don’t want to rehash the evidence for God’s existence this time. I’d rather encourage people to think, at the beginning of this New Year, whether they need to make some adjustments to their way of life.

I don’t know if it has every occurred to you (as it did to me only a short time ago) that at the beginning of the Gospel record written by Mark, he quotes two extraordinary statements which deserve a moment’s reflection. He quotes in the first 15 verses of his first chapter, two challenging calls, made first by John the Baptist and then by Jesus.

The Baptiser came “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1.4). A few verses further on, we read, “Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time is fulfilled’, he said. ‘The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news’” (Mark 1.14,15).

These two pioneer revivalists proclaimed the same requirement, laying on their listeners the same obligation: “Repent!” To repent means two things: change your mind, and change your way of life. In other words, both Jesus and John the Baptist proclaimed as their first message, that their listeners (probably quite ordinary Jewish people living in Palestine) had to change their ideas and adjust their way of living.

This was a message given to normal good-living religious people. But the presupposition of both preachers was that their audience had “got it wrong” both intellectually and morally; and they needed to change.

It may surprise you to know that this is still the first emphasis of Christian preaching today. It assumes that all people – all listeners – have got it wrong and need to be corrected, reformed, changed by divine truth. This change must take place on two levels – first one’s thinking, and then one’s living. In other words, Christian proclamation, following Jesus’ lead, insists that all people must change: their opinions are wrong and their lives are not blameless.

Now this is quite humbling. To be told you’ve got it all wrong and need to rethink your philosophy of life is a challenge to our pride. Maybe that’s why the Gospel message is not more eagerly received. We don’t like being told we are wrong. We hold to our religious ideas even though we may not have spent much thought acquiring them. But Christianity comes with a messenger out of heaven saying our human ideas are inadequate and need correction.

Christ brings fresh news – Good News – about our relationship with God: he loves us and wants to embrace us in a permanent harmonious relationship which will be a great blessing to us. But to get there we must take on board our need to rethink our ideas of God: Jesus brings unique truth about God that we would never know without his coming. We do well to listen, to read what he says in the Gospels.

And as we do, we will hear him say, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5.32). We are called to stop any unkind, selfish, evil, disobedient behaviour, and start a new life opening our hearts to Christ. This is Jesus’ call for you at the beginning of this New Year.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Already saved? So why not sin?

The believer may count on the promises of the saviour, that he is saved, forgiven, and has eternal life: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5.24). The believer who is justified by faith in Christ is accepted by God as righteous and needs fear no final condemnation in God’s ultimate judgment. 

So one might wonder: why not therefore sin as much as I want, since I am justified and accepted at God’s final judgment? This question has its full answer in the teaching of the Bible. 

First, as I wrote in the previous post, the justification of the one who repents and believes in Jesus remains intact. God has promised it and we can count on him. Jesus in the verse already quoted promised “he will not come into judgment”: the ultimate salvation of the true convert is assured.

Two factors in our experience confirm this truth for us: first, at conversion, we repented and made a commitment not to sin any more. We obviously cannot stretch out our right hand to receive God’s forgiveness while our left hand continues committing all kinds of sin. We are saved from sin – not only from its punishment, but also from its grip on us. We dedicate ourselves therefore, as sinners forgiven by grace, not to betray God’s kindness. Rather, motivated by gratitude for our salvation, we will honour our commitment to follow Jesus as our master and Lord by doing his will, overcoming temptation and refraining from sin.

The second factor is vital in this: no-one is justified by faith who is not also, at the same time, born again by the Holy Spirit. They are both operations of the same conversion experience. And being “born of the Spirit” is a life-changing dynamic, as the Holy Spirit comes to make his dwelling in our hearts, and there proceeds to the work of purifying us. He gives new aspirations for a holy life, new love for God and a desire to please him. The Holy Spirit communicates the presence of Christ within us: the result is that we no longer desire to sin, but rather to obey and please our saviour. This is, in fact, the deep reason why the true believer does not continue in sin. The believer who experiences this has reassuring proof that the Lord Jesus has indeed saved him.

So God justifies you by granting you full legal forgiveness and a status of being accepted as righteous before God; he can do that because he also gives you the Holy Spirit to energise you in the way of holiness with new desires and new power to conquer sin. You have to commit to continual repentance, of course, taking a stand against all sin in your life. You will understand progressively what that entails, but conversion involves the decision in principle not to displease your Saviour. He has called you to be his disciple, he has called you to holiness, and your growth in Christian living involves further repentance of whatever sinful deed the Holy Spirit reproves you of.

Having said that, we are not totally delivered from sin in this life; there will always be a struggle between the old sinful pre-Christian nature, the “flesh”, and the nature renewed by the Spirit: hence the call and the promise, “Walk according to the Spirit and you will not fulfil the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5.16).

Clive Every-Clayton

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What does salvation mean?

The Bible makes clear that everyone needs salvation, and it is wonderful to know that “By grace you have been saved, through faith” as the apostle Paul writes to believers in Ephesians 2.8. The Bible word “salvation” summarises a number of spiritual blessings that every believer receives from the moment he is touched by God’s saving grace. 

Notice three things of importance in that quote from Ephesians. First, you “have been saved”; salvation has happened to you if you have repented and believed in Christ. It is no longer something you have to seek after or try to obtain. The verb is in the past tense: you have been saved, or as Jesus put it, you have “passed from death to life” (John 5.24). Secondly – the reason for that is that God has blessed you “by grace”. That means without you having to deserve it. God is so kind, he grants salvation freely by pure grace to those who could never deserve or merit it. Paul adds in Ephesians 2.9, “it is not because of works, lest anyone should boast”. So, thirdly, salvation is by faith, the faith that receives Christ as Saviour and Lord. Saving faith is not merely believing some facts; it is entrusting your life and your eternity into the hands of the Lord Jesus, beginning a new life in relationship with him. It is called “saving faith” because by that commitment or conversion a sinner is saved from sin and its consequences.

What does salvation mean, then? It means the believer, counting on Jesus’ promise, may know that he has become a child of God, that he has eternal life; he is saved from being eternally lost at the judgment. He is now reconciled to God, in good relationship with God. Salvation sums up all that and more: specifically the forgiveness of our sins is an important part of salvation.

When we are saved we receive the full forgiveness of all our sins. God wipes them all away. Furthermore, the Lord declares the believer in Christ to be acceptable to him in the day of final judgment. We are saved from the eternal negative consequences of our sins – we are free from condemnation. We have been saved from hell. 

The technical word for this is “justification”: “Since we have been justified by faith,” Paul writes in Romans 5.1, “we have peace with God”. We do not have to fear final rejection at the judgment day; we are accepted in Christ. We live our Christian lives therefore not in order to be saved from that judgment, but because, by God’s grace, we are already assured by his word that we are saved, justified, accepted as righteous, and free from ultimate divine condemnation. This is no small blessing!

Justification abolishes our guilt before God. Forgiveness clears our conscience from all that might accuse us. It’s all gone; our salvation is assured, so Paul uses the past tense when he writes to his colleague, “God saved us and called us to a holy calling” (2 Timothy 1.9). And note, he calls us to a holy life.

You might be thinking, “If my final salvation is assured, I could commit any sins I want, because I’m already justified”. Interestingly, Paul saw that response coming: “Shall we continue in sin, so that grace may abound?” His answer is categorical: “By no means!” (Romans 6.1, 2). For as God saves, forgives, and justifies us, he also calls us to holiness, giving us the Holy Spirit to transform us into saints! My next post will explain that more fully.

Clive Every-Clayton

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What is repentance?

In upcoming posts I shall show how God responds to the believer – all the blessings he showered upon you when you believed; but before that, there’s one more aspect to what’s involved in opening your heart to Christ in faith: you also make a decision to repent. This decision may or may not have been accentuated in your thinking, but it is part of the Christian commitment of faith and conversion as announced by the first apostles: “Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3.19).

Coming to Christ involves and leads to a profound change of life. We come to him for forgiveness because we are sinners. We will consider later what that forgiveness is, as it is important to understand it. But it is obviously illogical to expect to receive forgiveness of our sins while we continue to sin as much as we want! We must play fair! “Sin no more” was Jesus’ way of putting it (John 5.14, 8.11). 

So as believers ask Christ to save and forgive them, they also commit to repenting, which means turning away from sin, to follow Jesus and obey his teaching.

It is good, wise, and proper that you should tell the Lord in prayer that this is indeed your decision; you will need (and obtain) his help to overcome the pull of sin that we all feel.

Repentance is involved therefore in your decision to follow Jesus. It means taking a stand against all evil in your life. It may well take time for you to understand that you are habitually falling into sins of thought and desire, but the amazing and wonderful thing about receiving Christ in your heart is that his Spirit begins to pin-point those areas, habits, sinful reactions, and deeds that you are used to doing without your conscience complaining. But the new presence of Jesus within you alerts you when you do things that displease him. This means that new converts, to their surprise find all of a sudden that they are not as good as they thought they were. This can be disconcerting, but don’t worry – it’s quite normal. It is how God begins (and will continue) to clean up your life.

So initial repentance at conversion must be followed by regular self-checking and confessing to God and repenting before him of any sin you may become conscious of having committed. The more conscientious and honest you are in your heart before God, the better your life as a Christian will proceed. I can scarcely emphasise that enough!

You don’t have to confess all the sins of your past life, because conversion wipes them all away: they are “blotted out” (Acts 3.19). But it is helpful to realise that you are called now to a new life.

“Sin no more” is, of course, an absolute high standard, and no Christian reaches it perfectly in this life. The important thing is that our heart’s commitment is henceforth not to sin, but rather to live a life that Jesus would approve of. And that’s a whole life-long programme!

We do, however, benefit from God’s gracious help. He gives us the Holy Spirit when we receive Christ by faith. Jesus comes to indwell us by his Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the third member of the divine Trinity, is the Spirit of Christ and it is thanks to his ministry in us that we are changed to become more like Jesus.

So, welcome to your new life, learning to follow Jesus and “walking according to the Spirit” (Galatians 5.16).

Clive Every-Clayton

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Everything hinges on

Everything hinges on one key decision.

As you struggle with the profound existential issues that overwhelm the sensitive soul; as you think through what could be the real purpose of your life; as you wonder if there’s a God who could possibly help you; as you resist the temptation to put an end to it all – there is one key decision that confronts you.

You don’t have to go on a long pilgrimage; you don’t have to follow a three-year university course; you don’t have to master some obscure concepts, and you don’t have to pass some test of endurance. 

You have to be humble, open to be taught that the life-philosophy you hold dear may well be wrong. You have to realise that no atheistic worldview can offer you the serious answers you seek. You have to consider not “religion”, but rather God himself, because whether you realise it yet or not, God has demonstrated his existence in coming by a historic incarnation into this world: Jesus Christ is the proof that God exists, and if you do not know that yet, a thoughtful reading of the four Gospels recounting his life, his teaching, his divine claims, his miraculous ministry, his atoning death, and his triumphant resurrection will lead you to conclude that God has indeed sent his divine Son into the world to give us the answers we seek.  Jesus said he “came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19.10); human beings without Christ are lost. He is the key we need to be “saved”.

Jesus is able to save you from your ignorance, for he is “the light of the world” (John 8.12). He is able to reveal to you how much God loves you, for “God so loved the world (including you) that he gave his only Son (Jesus) that whoever (including you) believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3.16). He is able to enter your life by his life-giving Spirit, as if you were born again into a completely wonderful life in relationship with the God who loves you; he is knocking at the door of your heart, eager to come in and forgive all your failures and sins, and renew you in a life that has real meaning and purpose.

Millions the world over have experienced this new life that Jesus gives; it is what corresponds to the deepest needs of our soul. Until we experience this, we are lost, confused and guilty, wandering hopelessly to no apparent purpose. Jesus can heal your inner being; he can save your soul; he can give you new life.

It all hinges on one thing. Surprisingly, one decision, clearly and resolutely taken, can lift you out of the darkness of despair and bring you to the joy of a real, harmonious relationship with God. One decision involving willingness to be made anew. One decision that you will hold to in the days to come. It all hinges on you calling upon the name of Jesus, opening your heart and saying, “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, the sinner; cleanse me from my sins; make me born again; come into my heart and be my Lord and Saviour; I will follow you with all my heart”.

This prayer of faith and commitment is the key to experiencing God’s loving presence, and proving to yourself that He is real, for he is eager to answer that prayer when it is sincerely prayed. Your wavering and doubting will be over; a relationship with God will begin.

Clive Every-Clayton

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What’s good about Good Friday?

Jesus told us to repent and to believe the “Good News” (which is what the word “Gospel” means). But we may well ask, what’s so good about this Good News? And why at Easter do we celebrate the day Jesus suffered the awful agony of his crucifixion, as “Good Friday”?

Jesus’ coming into the world should be seen as the greatest act of kindness possible for our holy Creator who is also our loving Saviour. Why? Because instead of intervening in human history to bring cataclysmic judgment for human sins, he came, Jesus affirmed, “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19.10). 

Now anyone with a sensitive conscience can see two things: they are not perfectly righteous, but rather guilty of many sins; and that before a holy and righteous divine Judge, they cannot say they have been so good as to deserve heaven. So facing the coming of the divine Son of God is a fearful prospect. Yet when Jesus did come into the world, he said, “I came not to judge the world but to save the world” (John 12.47).

In the Bible we read these astounding words with a universal scope: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1.15). I had to acknowledge that I was a sinner in God’s sight; but as I did so, I realised that therefore Jesus came into the world to save me. (And you can have the same assurance).

Jesus’ way of saving sinners can be considered in two stages: first of all, our sin has to be paid for, for we are guilty in God’s eyes. But the only way we can pay is in hell for ever – that’s what our sins deserve. But Jesus came in order to pay for our sins. He did this by suffering our hell, condensed in his infinite person as he suffered on the cross. The God-forsakenness of hell is what Jesus suffered as well as the physical horror of crucifixion, for as he bore our sin, he cried out, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?”

We cannot fathom the depth of what Jesus suffered, but the Bible sums it up: “He bore our sins in his body on the cross… Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 2.24, 3.18). Without our just punishment being borne out of love by our saviour, we could never be justly forgiven. That’s why Good Friday was Good News!

But then, to be forgiven and saved, every individual must appropriate it for themselves. It is not automatically given to everyone. The way to receive it is to repent (see previous blog) and to “receive Christ” as your personal Lord and Saviour. That’s what “believing in Christ” really means: not just believing that he existed, or that he came from God, though that is essential. But also believing that Jesus’ death on the cross paid for your salvation and that he rose from the tomb, showing God’s full approval of his saving work; and then coming in prayer to Jesus to ask him, “Come into my life and be my Lord and Saviour; I thank you for loving me so much as to die for my salvation; in return I will follow you and live for you and grow in faith to love and trust you more and more as I read your word”. You may count on Jesus to answer that prayer as you commit yourself sincerely to him.

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