B. R. Hicks

Christ Gospel Press

P. O. Box 786

Jeffersonville, Indiana 47131-0786

http://www.christgospel.org/

Publisher: Christ Gospel Press

P. O Box 786

Jeffersonville, Indiana 47131-0786

© Christ Gospel Churches Int’l., Inc., 1990

Revised 2010

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

All souls have been born in sin. None is righteous before the LORD.

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:... They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one... For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:10,12,23).

I.   God Has Relief and Remedy for Sinners.

We are sinners by conception. We are sinners, shaped in iniquity. We are sinners by birth, and we are sinners by deed.

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me (Psalm 51:5).

God’s Word declares that human beings are conceived in sin. Ever since Adam-male and Adam-female, first sinned in the Garden of Eden, all human beings have been born in sin. From the Garden of Eden, sin was intermingled within the human spirit, soul, and body at conception. Consequently, every person is born into the world with a sinful, corrupt nature, which is wretchedly degenerated from the LORD’s original creation of purity and innocence.

From our birth, the sinful snares of death are in our body; the sinful seeds of corruption are in our soul, and the sinful stain of defilement is in our spirit. This is the original sin that we inherited from our forefather and foremother, Adammale and Adam-female, who transgressed God’s Commandments in the Garden of Eden.

What are the consequences of being born in sin? It means that every person’s soul has been removed from the Fire of God’s Presence. This is the reason for the universal human feelings of being lost, cold, and alone until one finds Jesus Christ as his or her Saviour.

God has provided a Remedy for fallen mankind’s sinful condition. But, first, each person must recognize and acknowledge that he is a sinner, just as God’s Word says. Every person is a sinner by conception, a sinner shapened in iniquity, a sinner by birth and by deed.

The word iniquity means perversity. Thus, the very fiber of a person’s being is twisted by an evil inclination that causes him, apart from God, to always resist right; to always be obstinate and disobedient; to always be stubbornly contrary; and to always be persistent in his errors and faults.

II.   We Are Sinners by Deed.

The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; (Psalm 58:3,4).

From birth, the first four workings of the corruption of sin in the human being are manifested by lies, anger, rebellion and an obstinance that proclaims, “I will not!”

A.   Young Children Speak Lies.

At a young age, all human beings begin to speak lies and to bend their tongues like bows for manipulation and deceit. Little children soon tell lies to excuse their faults or to obtain what they want or to commend themselves in a false way. Lies are a dishonour to the God of Truth. Tongue sins are some of the first transgressions that peopel commit against God’s Name and Nature. A person’s innate evil inclination soon compels even little children to speak lies or to shoot their words like arrows, as they express their lies, anger, rebellion, and obstinance.

B.   A Newborn Child Soon Expresses Anger.

Little children also soon display their anger, which is like the poison of a venomous serpent. Anger is innate and destructive. The cure for this poisonous anger is found only in the LORD Jesus Christ. Even little babies manifest their corrupt anger when their wills are contraried. Anger is venomous and harmful not only to one’s own emotional well being but also to others upon whom it is poured.

C.   Small Children Express Rebellion.

From the beginning of their lives, this inherent, evil inclination works within little children, who manifest rebellion by refusing all kindness and reason that are offered to bring them to a better frame of mind when things do not go their way. They are like the deaf adder that stops its ear. Soothing, right words are spoken in vain when the spirit is filled with the corruption of rebellion that has stopped the ears.

D.   Children Display Obstinate Adherance to Their Own Wills; They Say: “I Will not!”

Because children are firmly fixed in their wills, they refuse to yield to any remedial measures. Neither persuasion nor arguments move them to yield. Fixed in their own selfish purpose, they cling stubbornly to their resolute wills.

God’s Word reveals the blindness of sinners, which leads them always to believe that they are right in all things.

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 16:25).

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

The end of sin is death. Though man’s sinful way may seem sweet and pleasant, the bitter end is dreadful death. Just as wages are due to a working servant, so are the wages of death due to a lost sinner.

III.   God Has a Living Remedy for Sinners.

To pay for man’s sin, God’s Divine Love gave His Only Begotten Son to die on the Cross of Calvary.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Christ Jesus’ great propitiation for our sins on the Cross is God’s evidence of His Love for us. It pleased the Father to give His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for the redemption and salvation of all penitent souls. God provided an Everlasting, Living Remedy for all sinners, through the suffering and Death of His Only Begotten Son.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Jesus Christ is God’s Gift of Living Bread from Heaven.

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:51-54).

Jesus Christ gave His Flesh and Blood on the Cross of Calvary for man’s sins. Through His suffering, crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus has provided Resurrected Bread and Drink for penitent sinners. Christ’s resurrected Blood has obtained our eternal pardon from sin, our acceptance with God, and our adoption as the sons of God. Through Jesus Christ, we have access to God’s Throne of Mercy and Grace.

IV.   The LORD Jesus Christ Gives Penitent Sinners Relief from Sin and Guilt.

Jesus gladly receives all penitent sinners and souls who come unto Him.

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out (John 6:37).

It is an eternal relief to know that if we openly confess, with our mouth, the LORD Jesus Christ as our Saviour and believe in our heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved.

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 (Romans 10:9,10).

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (I John 1:9,10).

The confession of our sins is the means by which we obtain deliverance from the guilt of our sins. God is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all sin when we repent and confess our sins and accept the cleansing Blood of Jesus Christ for them. What a blessed relief to be set free from the burden of sin and guilt!

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God (I John 5:11-13).

What a peaceful relief to have the blessed assurance of our salvation, according to God’s Holy Word. If we believe God’s Word and the Witness of His Son, we will be confirmed in our confidence that God hath given to us Eternal Life, and that Life is in His Son, Jesus Christ.

B. R. Hicks