AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL WHO SEEK THE TRUTH
Dear friend in Christ:
If you are seeking the truth, be assured that I was once in your place. There was a time in my life when I was actively seeking answers to my deepest questions, but did not know where to look. Although I had been raised in a Christian home, Satan was somehow able to keep me from understanding what my church was teaching. As a result, even though I attended church regularly and thought that I was doing all the right things, I felt an inner emptiness and hunger for peace with God.
One of the ways that Satan
blinded me, was by making me think that
what the Bible
said was deep and mysterious. Because of that delusion, when I read the
Bible I
did not look at what the words actually said. Instead, I looked for
hidden
meanings and mysterious truths that I hoped would give me the peace I
so
earnestly desired. Therefore, one of the big breakthroughs in my life
came when
God showed me that the message He wanted me to get from His Word was
not deep
and mysterious, but was plainly stated. It was the plain meaning of the
words;
the meaning that is obvious to anyone reading the text.
One of the Bible passages
that God used to show me that truth was 2Corinthians
God has not given us His
truth in the language of the philosophers and scholars of this world,
but in
the language of shepherds, farmers, fishermen, and tentmakers. And, the
central
core of His message is history. The Bible gives us a history of the
world, from
creation to the time of Christ. At the same time, it also tells us the
spiritual significance of that history in words so clear that they need
no
explanation. The central message of Scripture, the message of sin and
salvation, the message of God’s love for mankind and His promise of
forgiveness
and eternal life in Christ, is plainly stated for all to see.
The Bible begins with God’s
own record of how the universe, including this world and everything on
it, came
into existence. At present, Satan is attacking that record as never
before.
Therefore, it is important to realize that God has told us that He made
everything in six days, and even added a lineage of the generations
from Adam
to Abraham, because He does not want us to be deceived by those who
claim that
the world is “millions of years old”.
Instead, He wants us to know that we are
His creation.
That He created us without sin. And, that the sin and suffering we see
in the
world is here because of sin, not because God made it that way. God did
not
want Adam to sin, and He does not want us to sin. On the contrary, He
intended
from the start for us to live in fellowship with Him, as His dear
children.
However, because our first parents were deceived, and sinned, Satan
gained
dominion over us, as it is written, “sin entered into the world by one
man, and
death by sin” (Romans
The Bible tells us that God created man in
His own
image, “in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians
The Bible tells us that
Christ’s conception was a miracle of God. And, because of that miracle
Mary was
still a virgin at the time Christ was born (Matthew 1:23, Luke
1:26-35).
Moreover, because of that miraculous birth, Christ was born as the
sinless Son
of God, both true God and true man (Isaiah
Furthermore, because Christ
was without sin, He was able to take our place under the law, and die
in our
place, so that through His death we might have eternal life. That is
what the
Bible means when it says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his
only
begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but
have
everlasting life” (John
We don’t understand how this takes place, God doesn’t tell us. But, He does tell us that Christ’s death was the sacrifice that atoned for our sins. And, because He died in our place, forgiveness and salvation is already there for all who look to Him trusting in His sacrifice to take away their sin. We need to place our faith in what He did, not in what we do. We need to believe that our sins are washed away by His blood. As it is written, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us of all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Christ not only died for our sins, He rose
again the
third day in victory over sin, death and the grave (1 Corinthians
15:1-3). His
resurrection is God’s own testimony that He has accepted Christ’s
sacrifice on
our behalf. And, because God has accepted that sacrifice, Christ could
say, “I
am the resurrection, and the life: he who believes in me will yet live,
even
though he is dead. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die”
(John
Forty days after His resurrection, after spending time with His apostles and being seen by over five hundred witnesses, Christ ascended into heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of God the Father making intercession for us (1 Peter 3:22, Romans 8:34). Nevertheless, the Bible makes it clear that He will return in glory to judge both the living and the dead. And, when He returns everyone will be judged, everyone must account to Him for all their evil thoughts, words and deeds. However, although no one will escape the judgement, all who trust in Christ will escape condemnation (Romans 8:1). For all who trust in Him have God’s own promise that, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness // and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us of all sin” (1 John 1:7,9).
God
has given us His law in order to show us our sin and need of the
forgiveness
that Christ obtained for us (Romans
Therefore,
if you are sorry for your sin, and ready to embrace God’s promise of
forgiveness in Christ, you might pray this prayer:
O Almighty God, merciful Father, I, an unworthy sinner, confess unto You that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed and deserve only Your condemnation and wrath. But I am sorry for my sin, and believe your Word when it tells me that Christ took my sin on Himself, and paid the penalty for that sin. And, I pray that you will forgive my sin for the sake of His bitter suffering and death, and be gracious and merciful to me a poor sinful being.
God’s word to David when he repented, and to all who repent, is, The Lord “has put away your sin.” Because Christ died for our sins, we have God’s own promise that there is, “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus // For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one who believes.” (2 Samuel 12:13, Romans 8:1, 10:4.)
Now having said this
I want to
make it clear that there is no forgiveness apart from Christ (Acts
Gary Ray Branscome