I have always been told, as I am sure you have too, that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true at all. We wish for things. Oh, if it were only true. I was also told that promises without action are just empty words. Don’t be sold a bill of goods.
W.C. Fields said “Never give a sucker an even break.” You get the point. We want to believe something to be true and we might even go to ridiculous lengths to try to prove it to ourselves. In my youth, that’s how I looked at the promises of the Bible.
My sense of justice says that the bad guys should get locked up and I have often fantasized about giving someone the proper beating they deserve. It’s really difficult to put up with everybody else’s flaws. If I were in charge, there would be some changes. Ya right.
God sees terrible behavior from us and wants to forgive us
God has His own view on all those flaws in human character and my way of dealing with them. His ways are counter to mine, and I dare sway yours too.
He looks at disgusting human behavior and sees a person in need of forgiveness and salvation. Instead of taking somebody behind the woodshed, He wants to take them to the foot of the Cross. He has given them His son… Jesus.
God forgives us even though we do not deserve it
I am not deserving of salvation or forgiveness. There’s just too much history. But the Bible says I can be forgiven, no matter what I’ve done. If I’m really honest, I have to admit that whatever the record says, I am guilty as charged.
The Apostle Paul, the guy who wrote most of the New Testament, but also the guy who personally killed many Christians, asked in the Book of Romans, “Who shall save me from this body of death?”
He admits he’s a rotten guy. But Jesus chose him to be an evangelist. Jesus forgave him. Too good to be true, right? What did he do to catch a break like that? Well, nothing. Jesus chose him. He reached out to him and gave him to opportunity to join God’s family of believers and deliver to Good News. Paul did not earn this privilege. He didn’t buy it. It was given to him.
Salvation seems WAY to easy?
Like many people, I have wrestled with the idea that just because I can confess my sins and ask for forgiveness, it will be given to me. Confess my sins, yes, that is a good thing, Accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, repenting and opening up my heart to God is all fine, but is it too good to be true? Sounds too simple… too easy?
The key to understanding this offer of eternity in heaven is to come to grips with my own inadequacy and realize that I can do nothing to reverse the punishment that has already been ordained. Jesus paid the price. He offered His life on the cross.
Paul said that “the wages of sin is death,” and Christ died to pay the bill. Paul then said that the gift of God is eternal life THROUGH Jesus Christ our Lord. This has to be too good to be true. Is salvation really that simple? A child can understand it. Say you’re sorry and let Jesus be your forever friend, to put it in a child-like way. Simply stated, that’s what the Bible promises.
We must have faith to be forgiven by Jesus
We also have to exercise a measure of faith. It is by faith that we are saved, not by our actions. Is that justice? Yes it is, because in God’s justice rich people can’t get off Scott-free just because they have the money to buy their way out of trouble.
It is justice because God IS justice, perfect justice. Paul explained that what we could not do for ourselves, God did. Too good to be true? What promises made in the Bible have been proven to be a lie? None of them!
God’s track record in bringing prophesy to pass is flawless. For believers, Jesus comes to life in their hearts and minds. He is a living, breathing Savior, who shows Himself in remarkable ways in people’s lives. I can’t prove this to you. I’m only telling you that the Bible ISN’T too good to be true, because it is the absolute truth.
The greatest news man has ever received is the Good News of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s God’s word. I’ll leave it at that.