Christian Living

One Copper Penny

by Christopher Combs
09/02/24
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As we go through this busy life, it is full of so many distractions that take up our time, we seldom think about what happens to us after we die, about eternity. The Bible teaches that we are all born into this world as sinners. (Romans 3:23) "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;" In the book of 1 Corinthians, (1 Cor. 15:22) "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

We are all descendants of Adam and Eve, that's what it means, that we are "in Adam". Every human being is included in this. (Ephesians 2:8,9) "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the GIFT of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast." We cannot pay money to go to heaven, no works of any kind are accepted. Salvation doesn't cost anything, not even one copper penny.

Salvation is for all humans, it is a GIFT that God has freely given us. (Romans 5:15) "But not as the offence, so also is the FREE GIFT. For if through the offence of one (Adam) many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the GIFT by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."

Salvation from God is a GIFT; we don't pay anything for a GIFT. (Romans 6:23) "For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." God has done all the work for us, so all we have to do is believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid for all our sins, that He was buried in the tomb, and that He rose from the dead on the third day. We just have faith in God's spoken and written word and receive salvation. Faith is taking God at His word and trusting what God has spoken. 

Even if we break only one law of the Ten Commandments, then we are guilty of breaking all of them. (James 2:10) "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." As small children, when we first begin to talk, we manipulate our parents, tell lies, and disobey them. This is because we have inherited the "old sin nature" or the "Adamic sin nature". This old sin nature is passed down from Adam, through the DNA of all human beings. When we are born into this world, our programs have errors, and our "hard drive" is corrupt. We are born sinners. The categories of sin are (1) Mental Attitude sins (2) Verbal sins (3) Overt sins. If we are mentally angry with someone, or jealous of them, these are mental attitude sins. Or if we lust or covet something or someone, that is a mental attitude sin.

There is only one way we can be "saved" from this old sin nature and the many sins we have committed in our lives. (Acts 4:12) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." That name is the Lord Jesus Christ.
(John 14:6) "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." We require salvation. We need a Saviour. That Saviour is the Lord Jesus Christ. (John 3:17) "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

So how can we be saved and go to heaven when we die? The Bible says: (Acts 16:31) "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved." In (Romans 5:8) "But God demonstrated His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Here is the "gospel" message in (1Corinthians 15:1-4) "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you THE GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, (how you are saved) if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"

Life is very short compared to eternity, the short time we have here on earth is like a tiny grain of sand compared to eternity. "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." (James 4:14). In the book of Job, the oldest book of the bible, Job understood that when we die, we take nothing with us. (Job 1:21) "And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." (1 Timothy 6:7) "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." When we die physically, we cannot take anything from this world with us as we step into eternity. Not even one copper penny.