There is one thing that stands between a person and eternal life – sin. And no matter how hard any of us try, we cannot do anything about it. It takes a humble and honest heart to admit that the word of the Lord is true, that there is no good in a man that could ever make him worthy of eternal life. This is the reality that we find ourselves in. We are paralyzed by the corruption of our nature such that even the best of what we do is tainted by sin. We are powerless to make it otherwise. We can certainly make a lot of other things about ourselves at least temporarily better. We can do things to make people think well of us. But all of that finally means nothing against the just wages of our sin – eternal death. We have sinned against Almighty God by doubting His Word, boasting of our own righteousness, despising the Means of Grace, worshiping all kinds of false gods. He would be right to condemn us to an eternity completely separated from Him and any of His goodness. Instead, the Son of God has also become the Son of Man so that He might endure His own just wrath and suffer our condemnation. Jesus stood and walked among sinners so that He might obtain for us the one thing that would save us from eternal death – the forgiveness of our sins. By offering His life in place of ours, we have been raised from the death of sin. We have been given new life, eternal life, His life. And He has given this authority to His Church so that all who are paralyzed by sin might be restored to God through those simple but costly words, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” I look forward to seeing you this coming Lord’s Day.
Pastor Ulmer