A simple decision.
Hebrews 9:28
28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (NIV)
It is so simple that it’s complicated. Salvation by faith. Simply believing in Christ as our Lord and Savior is the one requirement for salvation. Of course, if we truly take this step of faith, it will play out in our life, but the gift of salvation is received with a simple decision.
With one decision, all of our sins are wiped away. When I consider all that I have done in my life, I struggle to reconcile one decision to follow Christ as enough to qualify the deletion of all my sin.
We struggle with this leading us to attempt to earn salvation by being good. We don’t say this out loud because most of us have been taught from the beginning that salvation comes by faith. But we see our struggle when we sin and refuse to forgive ourselves for what we have done. We become our own judge and jury. Some are serving a self-imposed life sentence of guilt and shame though we declare with our words that we are forgiven. But how can one simple act of faith rub out all my sin…forever.
To comprehend this, we must go back to the Garden of Eden. What God did there seemed harsh and cruel, but as we meditate on His purpose, we see the grace that makes salvation so simple.
When Adam sinned, God allowed the spirit of death to enter into mankind, not just Adam and Eve. Their children did not choose to eat the forbidden fruit, yet they were born with a natural propensity to selfishness and sin. Suddenly, they were in a battle for their own soul because of a decision they never made. We see the effect quickly when their firstborn murdered his little brother in jealousy. It seems like an act of injustice for God to allow death to enter all of us when none of us made the consequential choice of taking the forbidden fruit.
Then, Christ comes and we see the grace of God. Because the Lord allowed the spirit of death to enter into all of humanity through one man, He is then justified to forgive all the sins of humanity through the righteousness of one man.
Because God can undo through one man, Jesus, what was done by one man, Adam, we only must make that simple decision and our sins are forgiven. He was sacrificed once to take away the sin of the world.
Prayer: Lord, help me to live into this grace and stop beating myself and others up for not being perfect. Amen.
