It's Your Choice

Three men met at the end of a pier on a New Jersey beach. One is an average guy, fishing off the end of the pier. One is a homeless alcoholic, just wandering around. The third is an honorable man, well respected in the community. Suddenly, the alcoholic runs and jumps off the pier landing five feet out into the water. The fisherman yells, “What are you trying to do?” The alcoholic yells back, “I’m trying to jump across the Atlantic Ocean!” The fisherman sets his pole down and says, “Watch me! I can do better than that!” He runs, jumps, and lands ten feet out into the water; twice as far as the alcoholic. The healthy and wealthy third man says, “That’s nothing! Watch this!” He backs up the length of the pier fifty feet, makes a mad dash to the end of the pier, jumps, and lands twenty feet out into the water, four times as far as the first man. If we witnessed such an exhibition we would think these men were fools for attempting the impossible – jumping across the Atlantic Ocean! But people trying to earn their own salvation are even more foolish. God cannot be approached by man on the basis of man’s own moral goodness. I’ve heard it said many times, “I’m a good person. God will accept me into heaven.” That statement shows a lack of understanding of the grave nature of sin and the absolute holiness of God. If we could be so good to deserve heaven, salvation would be owed as a debt rather than be received as a gift (Romans 11:2-6). Isaiah wrote: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” A person may look moral, when compared to others, but when compared with Christ, all fall perilously short, “...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” (Romans 3:23). We all need grace. The next verse reads, “...and are justified by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Many do good things for others and demonstrate a high level of morality; however, there is a big difference between morality and righteousness. Righteousness is defined and revealed by a righteous God and seen in His Son (John 17:25; 1 John 2:1; Hebrews 4:14-16). To be righteous means that we are innocent or faultless in God’s sight. On our own, this is not possible (Romans 3:10). The only way to stand innocent in the presence of a righteous God is to be forgiven and declared righteous by faith in God (Philippians 3:7-9).We are only accepted because we trust in the righteous work He did and submit to what He requires (Ephesians 1:4-10; Hebrews 5:8-9).When one realizes this, he is on his way to receiving the free gift of God, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). We have all been given the choice of being in comfort and peace with Jesus in heaven throughout eternity, or being with Satan and his angels in torment, separated from God for eternity after our life on earth has ended. Given that choice right now of spending eternity in Heaven or Hell, which are you choosing? It is very easy to say we want to go to heaven to be with Jesus, but the very things that enable us to get there are choices we do not make in life. Our eternal destiny will not be decided by a “once-and-for-all decision” made at the judgment seat of Christ. That choice is made day after day by the decisions we make throughout life. As a baptized believer I have clothed myself with Christ (Galatians 3:27) and I must do my best to present myself in a Christ-like manner (Philippians 1:27-28). Then, God will see me as His righteous adopted son.