people, but now we are God's people. Do you believe that the Word of God clearly teaches these things without any possible question whatsoever? Do you accept His verdict that your lack of perfection should bring judgment upon you? Do you believe that God sent Jesus Christ to bear the just penalty for your sins and that He now offers you His righteousness? If you do not believe these things you will be condemned to an eternity with out God forever. If you do believe them, God will remove your sin and enter your heart through the Holy Spirit. Your life will be trans formed and you will be made like unto the Lord Jesus Christ. It was Paul's supreme desire that He might become more intimately acquainted with the Lord, experi encing "the power of His resur rection, and fellowship of his suf ferings, be made conformable unto His death" (PhiIippians 3:10). There are many things that distin guish Christianity from all the var ious religions and cults around us. One of the most significant is the fact that He is still alive today. To know Him in a personal manner should be the greatest goal of any believer. The knowledge that Paul was looking for was experiential. He may have thought he may have known the Lord since he had fo calized all his efforts in persecuting the Christians. Having met Jesus on the Damascus road he was look ing for a deeper walk with the Lord in a full experience of appre ciation. Reading the depth of Paul's writings under the power of the Holy Spirit, one might wonder how he could possibly know them bet-
to us that we might be certain of our salvation. Hear one of the greatest evidences of all, "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of Cod is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of His Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar: because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son" (I John 5:9-10). God wants to be believed. Man at the very best is only partially reliable. The Lord is eminently trustworthy. Since God is perfect, anyone who fails to meet His standards deserves to be separated from Him forever. Such a principle is difficult for the non- Christian to accept, although it should not be. As an example, when it comes to medicine, no one gets upset at the United States government for making the requirements as strin gent and rigid as they may feel are necessary. The same is true with qualifications which are established in various professions such as a doctor or a lawyer. God has a per fect right to have His specific re quirements. The only difference between His demands and the de mands let us say of the state boards of medicine, is that no one has ever met God's standards apart from Christ (Romans 3:23). God also asks man to believe that He loves us in spite of our sins. In the person of Jesus Christ He has already acted to restore fel lowship between Himself and those who believe (Romans 5:8). On the basis of the atonement He can of fer us His righteousness entirely as a free gift. What a marvelous thing this really is. Before we were no
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