Here are seven universal problems that only Jesus can solve:
1. Separation from God.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 6:23)
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience– among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
(Ephesians 2:1-3)
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds”
(Colossians 1:21)
2. Spiritually dead in sin.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
(Romans 3:23)
“even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–”
(Ephesians 2:5)
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses”
(Colossians 2:13)
3. Enemy of God.
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
(Romans 5:10)
“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”
(Romans 8:7)
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds”
(Colossians 1:21)
4. Slave to sin.
“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”
(Ecclesiastes 7:20)
“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.'”
(John 8:34)
“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.”
(Romans 1:28)
“They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.”
(2 Peter 2:19)
5. Blinded by Satan
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
(2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
6. Unable to understand anything about God
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”
(Proverbs 14:12)
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
(Isaiah 55:8-9)
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
(1 Corinthians 2:14)
7. Unable to live for God’s pleasure.
“Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.”
(Psalm 143:2)
“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
(Isaiah 64:6)
“What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.'”
(Romans 3:9-12)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
(Ephesians 2:8-9)
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
(Hebrews 11:6)
Is there any other savior from these seven? No. There is only one savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.
M Pulczinski says
May 15, 2013 at 5:16 amThank you for putting this together. Since the weekend I have been helping a young man to understand what it is that he is missing. He was raised a Christian but has not understood what it is to be under the slavery of sin. I will share this with him.
Barbara LeFevre says
May 15, 2013 at 8:15 amChris~
Thank you for today’s offering. It is always good to remember just what we were delivered from and just Who did it so that our hearts are ever thankful to Him and ever humble before Him.
God bless you always~
Barbara
Tess says
May 15, 2013 at 10:41 amWonderful post Chris. Such a blessing.
🙂
Jim says
May 15, 2013 at 7:11 pmYa Jesus Christ is the KeY isn’t he?
God is the author of the Bible.
Jesus Christ is the subject of the whole Bible.
The more we learn about Jesus Christ, who he really is–We understand more about God–and who WE are.
The more you can tell others about Jesus Christ and more you can tell others about God. Therefore you really come to an greater understanding who you are in Christ and the POWER you really have.
God can only give for what He is–think about it.
So this gift with in you, how much POWER does it have, what are you capable of, or how much potential power do you have?
I guess we would get all different kinds of answers would we, why?
Back to the original question, Who is Jesus Christ?
Was Jesus Christ which was a human just like us, powerful? Yes. So are you, all we have to do is keep digging in God’s Word and find this understanding, so, so, so we can apply it and reap this POWER that we already have.
For example, If you have 1,000,000 is the bank and don’t know it, how can you reap it? The potential is there, but can’t apply.
Being spiritually is the same, if you have this power in which God gave you and don’t know about it, how can you simple reap it.
The more you can tell others about who Jesus Christ is, the more your going to understand your POWER with in you. ok
God Bless, remember to speak Gods Word.
Jim
Jerry S. says
May 18, 2013 at 6:04 amHere are some GODLY principles from the whole WOG of ‘sowing and reaping”;
Job 4:8 HNV
Psa 126:5 HNV
Ecc 11:4 HNV
Hsa 10:12 HNV
And especially…Luk 12:24 HNV, no striving on our part required. HE provides from HIS abundance and by HIS good measure as HE sees our need, not how we see our wants. Jim, stop striving and trust HIM. HE is faithful; we are not, which means we will fail HIM and ourselves if we strive for it, period, end of thought on the subject.
Luk 6:38 HNV, “give” Jim, not “receive”.
Eph 1:5 HNV, we become submissive slaves to HIS will, not our will. We give up our own will freely as a “bond servant” (look it up). I do not find this message in what you write.
J.
Barbara LeFevre says
May 20, 2013 at 4:33 amJim~
I had posted two comments about your view of how we receive blessing from God on the May 2 blog. I don’t know if you read them, but I am going to repost one of them. As Jerry has been trying to show you, your thinking does not align itself to God’s Word in this matter. Here are some of my thoughts to add to his:
You left some “bullets” out of your formula for blessing, success, and power:
* “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if [there be any] wicked way in me” (Ps. 139:23-24) so that I may repent of anything that offends You, holy God, that might be preventing my prayers from being answered.
* “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10), O Lord, that my thoughts and desires align themselves to yours.
* “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth” (Lk. 11:2).
* “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Lk. 22:42).
* “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Cor. 10:5).
Here are a few verses to remember when our unselfish prayers and prayers that are just not in our best interests are not answered the way we want by our Sovereign God who has a far more glorious purpose for us than our health, comfort, and success. It is our sanctification.
* “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Pro. 3:5).
* “For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD” (Is. 55:8).
* “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (II Cor. 5:7).
* “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
* “That he might sanctify and cleanse [the church] with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:26-27).
Part of our sanctification is the removal of ourselves from the human thinking that insists that God is somehow obligated to bless us if we adhere to a list of actions, even faithfully, because not only is this not true, it leads people to the false assumption that if they don’t receive all the blessings that YOU have promised in your posts, then there must be something wrong with them, that they just don’t have enough faith, something else that is not true. The difference, as God showed me from my days in Mormonism and as a Christian, is that people put their faith in their faith and not in God.
There is one glaring omission from all of your posts on blessing. It is the phrase, “Thy will be done” (Matt. 6:10, 26:42) as Jesus Himself taught and modeled. If this phrase is not the foundation of every prayer request, no matter how unselfish it may be, then it is not of God. I pray that you will consider what Jerry and I have written because these biblical truths cannot be ignored.
Have a blessed day~
Barbara
Jerry S. says
May 21, 2013 at 5:28 amJim, additional verses to consider from todyas Oswald Chambers~
Mat 6:25 HNV
Mat 6:33 HNV
J.