He Paved the Only Way

Isaiah 64:6-8 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our Potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.

Colossians 1:13-14 tells us, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." God has made it abundantly clear that there is not one single person alive or who has ever lived, who has been able to earn their way into Heaven. The verses in Isaiah not only applied to Israel, God's people, but it also applies to all of us today. All our works of righteousness are like filthy rags to God. Why? Because we are all born with a sin nature. It is for that reason that Jesus came and laid down His life. He purchased us with His Blood. He paid our sin debt, and when we repented, and called on His Name, by faith, He gave us eternal life. We were sealed by the Spirit, and we were pulled out of the darkness, snatched out of Satan's family and adopted in God's family. We who were once in darkness now dwell in the light of Christ Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Ephesians 2:10 tells us, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Again, we must be reminded of what Isaiah said about our works of righteousness. Works done with the intention of gaining favor with God and earning our own salvation are garbage (to put it plainly). Only works done by the grace of God, in faith, as a result of knowing that our salvation is in Christ, are the only works that have any heavenly worth. We do what we do in appreciation for what Jesus did for us, knowing that we already have all the favor we'll ever have with the Father because of what the Son did. The bottom line is that God is not interested in our religiosity. Our rituals mean nothing. God wants our hearts and He desires that we lay our lives on His altar as living sacrifices, to do the good works He ordained for us to do long before we were even conceived. The only acceptable works are those done in Christ, because He was the One who was the Perfect Sacrifice, the Perfect Lamb, who gave His life and translated us from darkness to light. Praise be to our Judge, Lawgiver, Savior, Lord, and King, who paved the only Way available to make us acceptable to the Father.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Romans 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Romans 10:13).