While looking through an old bible I used to take to Sunday school, I came across a gospel tract that listed some verses from the book of Romans. I later learned that these verses were often call the Roman’s Road.
The first two verses explained that I was a sinner.
Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Sin is what separates me from God. It is my rebellion against Him that causes the breach in our relationship.
Romans 5:12 explains the depth of this problem.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
I am not a sinner because I sin. I sin because I am a sinner. Adam being the father of the human race and the first man to sin has now passed the sin nature to all mankind. My sin is a problem that has to be dealt with.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Just as disobedient children have to be punished by their parents, disobedient people are punished by God. God’s holiness will not tolerate our sinful condition. The person who dies in his sinful state will go to hell and be tormented forever.
Where the holiness of God issues a debt, the love of God offers a gift. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Forgiveness of our sins, salvation from our sinful state and a home in Heaven for eternity is given to us by God through His Son Jesus.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, died in my place. He paid the penalty for every sin I would ever commit. He suffered the punishment that was due to me.
The final ingredient is faith.
Romans 10:9, 10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Putting our faith in Christ is how we accept God’s gift. There is no man, no religion, no church, no denomination and no amount of good works that will overcome our sin debt. It is Jesus and Him alone that gives us eternal life. Faith in anything other than Jesus is misplaced faith.
I accepted God’s gift by faith and expressed it through prayer.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Whosoever meant anyone including me. Calling upon the Lord is done through prayer. Shall be saved means saved from my sin, from Hell and to Heaven.
I prayed something like this: Jesus, I believe and confess that I am a sinner. I realize that I deserve to go to Hell, but I don’t want to go there. I believe that you died on the cross to pay for my sin. I ask you to please forgive me of my sin and give me a home in Heaven when I die. I’m putting all of my faith and all of my trust completely in you and you alone to get me there. Thank you Jesus for dying for me. Amen.
That was it.
It was understanding:
- I was a sinner in need of forgiveness.
- Jesus died in my place so that I could have forgiveness.
- I put my faith in Him and what He did to obtain that forgiveness.
It was a decision of my heart to look to Jesus to do for me what I could not do for myself.
If you’ve never done this personally, you can do it right now. In fact, if you’ve never prayed and asked Christ to forgive you and save you, you should do this right now.
Joel Stiff's Adventure 