Week 11 - Saturday

Christ Died for Sinners

For while we were helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

What kind of people does God save? Some think that He saves people who are good. They might say God saves those who do the most good deeds or who commit the least amount of sins. But that's not how it is at all. God saves those who are ungodly. He saves the people who know they are sinners. When Jesus was on earth, the Pharisees complained that He was spending His time with people who were sinners; people like tax collectors and prostitutes. Upon hearing their comments, Jesus replied, "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 2:17). Why would Jesus say something like that? Doesn't He want righteous people to be saved? It isn't that Jesus has anything against good people. Jesus wants people to be good. The problem that Jesus has with people who think they are good is that they don't feel they need to be saved. Even people who do lots of good deeds, still sin and because of their sin they are still separated from God. It isn't until a person realizes they are a sinner, that they will come to Jesus to be saved from their sin. Another thing a person must realize is that they cannot save themselves. They must recognize they are helpless. That's why Jesus said "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3 NIV) One thing that characterizes little children is their helplessness. They are totally dependent on someone else to provide them with what they need. It's the same way with us and salvation. The fact is that we are sinners. The penalty for sin is death and eternal separation from God. Nothing we could ever do can change that. All of our good deeds can't erase even one of our sins. When we die, our death won't pay the penalty for our sins either because we are so polluted by sin ourselves. Our dying will be nothing more than our getting what we deserve. It will be just the rightful destruction of one more sinner. For us to be saved from our sins there has to be a better sacrifice than that. We need someone to help us. Someone who is more righteous than we are must die in our place.

Imagine that a really good person was innocent of a crime but they were condemned to death anyway. What if this person was really a righteous man, someone who always did what was right and devoted their life to helping others. How many people do you suppose would trade places with him and give up their life, so that the good man could live? Probably not very many. There are some who would but most people wouldn't. What about you? Would you give up your life so that a person who was much better than you could continue to live? Now stop and think what Jesus did. In His case the situation was reversed. Jesus was the one who always did what was right. Yet He gave up His life; not to save someone more righteous than Him but to save filthy, rotten sinners. People like you and me. That's how much God loves us. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Thank God that our salvation does not depend on our goodness. Thank God that our salvation depends on His love for us.

Readings for today: 1 Tim. 1:15; Eph. 2:1-5; Titus 3:3-5; 1 John 4:9