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Category: Christian Crossroads Christian Crossroads
Published: 30 September 2019 30 September 2019

Let me tell you a parable.

Imagine you have been convicted of a serious felony and are now in a courtroom awaiting sentencing. The judge reviews your case and hands down the sentence – a $3 million fine or 30 years in jail. Well, you say, “Judge, since I don’t have $3 million, nor anything close to that, I guess I’ll take the 30 years.”

Just then a person you don’t know, have never met before, stands up in the rear of the gallery and declares, “I will pay the defendant’s $3 million fine, Judge.” So, you have a choice. Do you reject this offer and go to jail, or do you accept the offer and walk out of the courtroom free?

Rejecting that offer seems crazy, yet that is what most of the world does with Jesus’ offer of forgiveness. He paid our fine, so to speak, our sentence of hell because of our sin. He died so we won’t have to. He put our sins on Himself and took them to the cross. And, like the person in the back of the gallery, Jesus ransomed us while we were yet sinners.

That’s what Jesus did for you.

But, that gracious offer is not automatically applied to everyone. It is a gift – we did nothing to earn it. And, as we must accept a gift before we can make it our own, we must accept Jesus’ gift to make it our own. How do I do that, you ask? You believe in Jesus. You believe Jesus. Paul told the Philippian jailer, who asked the same question, believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.