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            A basic truth: No one is right with God until they make their decision to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross to forgive their sins and convert their heart.  Romans 3:10-12 ”It stands written, ‘There is not one righteous man.  There is not one who is really wise, nor one who is a diligent
seeker after God.  All have turned aside from the right path; they have every one of them become corrupt.  There is no one who does what is right—no, not so much as one.’"

            Everyone is lost because of sin—until some power or Person would commute our death sentence.  Romans 3:21-22 ”But now a righteousness coming from God has been brought to light [manifested] apart from any Law, both Law and Prophets bearing witness to it—a righteousness coming from God, which depends on faith in Jesus Christ and extends to all who believe.  No distinction is made.”  The Person is Christ; the power is from God, and His plan is for us to make a decision to place our faith in His atonement for sin.

            No one is excluded, so everyone could be saved, if they would choose to believe.  Romans 3:23-25 ”For all alike have sinned, and all consciously come short of the glory of God, gaining acquittal [justified freely] from guilt by His free unpurchased grace through the deliverance which is found in Christ Jesus.  He it is whom God put forward as a Mercy-seat [as a sacrifice of atonement], rendered efficacious through faith in His blood.”

            It is critical that we know what that sacrifice for sins means.  Jesus said, "If you trust [believe] me, you are really trusting [believing] God who sent me.  For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me.  I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the darkness” John 12:44-46.

            Eternal life is directly linked to a believing faith in Christ, but our trust must be kept on the atonement of Christ.  God will always love us, and He sent His Son to die on the cross for us, but the decision to believe on, and to trust in, what that atonement provides, is for us to make.

            Adam and Eve were the only two people on earth, but when they decided to rebel and disobey the Word of God, they plunged the world in a lost condition with a sinful nature.  Since that time, everyone is born with a fallen sin nature that does not want to trust God in faith for anything—that must be changed to a converted divine nature that will trust God for everything in this life.

            From the moment of birth, the seed of sin matures, and begins revealing itself in pride, self-reliance, resentment, anger, and rebellion against God.  No one is able to change this condition by their own effort, or in their own strength.  Romans 5:12 “Sin came into the world because of what one man did, and with sin came death.  This is why everyone must die—because everyone sinned.”

            The prison guard asked Acts 16:30-31 ”What must I do to be saved?”—and was told, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."  To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, means to trust in obedient faith on the shed blood of the cross—by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—not trust on some other plan, pill, or prescription because you believe it will help you. 

Jesus is the only One who can forgive sins, change our heart, heal our body, and save our soul.  1 Timothy 2:5 ”For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”

            The only scriptural way to be delivered from sin, healed of oppression, and saved from death, is to offer a perfect blood sacrifice to God.  Since only Jesus was perfect, then only He could make a perfect offering.  Someone had to die, because the penalty for sin is death Romans 6:23.  Only Jesus was qualified and only God could approve of the offering for sin—which He did by raising Jesus to life.

            The apostle explained 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 “that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  Everyone is imperfect and guilty, but Jesus was perfect and not guilty, so He paid the price for our sins.  Now a choice to trust in His sacrifice must be made on our part—before He can save us from sin.

            Jesus said that we must be reborn, for a righteous standing with His Father to be re-stored.  This new beginning gives us a new desire to trust God in faith for everything in this life.  A real rebirth takes place when a real repentance is made—and we start to believe in faith on the atonement of Christ—to change our heart, heal our body, protect us from harm, right all injustices, and provide what we need each day.  This new creation 2 Corinthians 5:17 changes us from living to please self, to living to please God.

            This new attitude of faith in Christ means we are grieved about the old ways of the sin nature, and are now joyful about the new ways of the divine nature.  “Godly sorrow brings [produces] repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow [finally] brings death” 2 Corinthians 7:10.  If our repentance is real, we will stop throwing stones and start saying prayers.

            If we will place our faith on God for health, healing, protection, provisions, justice, good judgment, and all other issues, we would also trust Him for our salvation.  The old way of not believing God has been crucified with Christ, so our new way of trusting God in faith is the new plan.  Hebrews 9:14 “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

            Faith is required, but faith is more than saying we believe—it must be an acting faith that truly believes and trusts God—for health without prescriptions; for physical healing without drugs; for financial needs without stored cash; for responding to injustices without pressing charges; for protection without belts, helmets, or insurance; for divine guidance from God’s Spirit, and for every other life issue where dependence on something is involved or required.

            To go from a lost in sin condition, to a saved by grace position, we need to trust in faith on the shed blood of Christ.  Romans 5:1-2 “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”

            For Jesus to recognize us as His followers, we must be living a personal life of trust on the sacrifice for sin He made for us.  Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  Those who were not doing God’s will, because they were not trusting in faith on the atonement for sin He made for them, were called “evildoers” 23.

            Everyone needs justification—which is God as Judge saying that we as sinners are acquitted.  When we place a trusting faith in the sacrifice of Christ, we are vindicated.  John 5:24 "Whoever hears my word and believes [continues believing] him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”  God credits our account and writes paid in full. 

            We are Romans 3:24 “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  Jesus paid the debt, so the gift of grace is free.  25 ”God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”

            Being forgiven ourselves includes our forgiving others, and trusting God every day for every thing.  Anyone who truly believes God, and understands what the atonement of His Son did for them, will trust Him in faith.  They will meet circumstances of life as His Word says—placing insults, injustices, and wrongs in the hands of the righteous Judge 1 Peter 2:23.

            God wants us to trust Him in faith, and to obey His Word by faith, so we should get started and begin asking God for spiritual light.  It could be a financial need, physical healing, forgiving someone, or any issue—but following the Word of God, enables us to really know God.  Understanding how to trust God in faith is only through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 2:14.

            Noah was righteous before God because he believed and obeyed His Word.  Since God cannot change Malachi 3:6; James 1:17, He will consider anyone else righteous—if they will believe and obey His Word in faith.  Those who were lost in the flood were those who refused to believe God in faith.  And those who will be lost the next time will be those who refuse to repent and trust God in faith.

The shed blood of Christ is sufficient to atone for the sins of the entire world—but the people in the world will have to believe God and trust Him in faith.  Malachi 3:18 ”You shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him.”

            Everyone is guilty, but if anyone will repent, and place a trusting faith on the shed blood of Christ, they will be forgiven, and given the gift of the Spirit to inspire faith to trust God as Bible believers did.  Our faith in God must increase and endure through every test to enter His kingdom.  Revelation 2:10 "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

            Jesus was specific about maintaining a trusting and believing faith on Him.  Mark 10:15 "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child; [anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith] will by no means enter it."