Dead People, Live!

John 5, Jesus said, "I assure you, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. And I assure you that the time is coming, in fact it is here, when the dead will hear my voice- the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live." Ravi Zacharias, "Jesus didn't come into the world to make bad people good- He came into the world to make dead people live."

I must address a conversation that I had last night. I was discussing my prior life with someone and they said, "You know that God was with you, even when you were living the way you were. You don't have to be good for God to love you." How I have struggled with this exact thought. Yes, I know that God loved me when I was deliberately living in sin, but I have issues with this thought as well. "Do we keep on sinning so that grace may abound?" No, once we know the truth, we are to turn to the truth, and stop living as we did before we knew the truth.

I knew God loved me, for I would hear Him calling me, even while I was driving to the club. But, had I chosen to live in that life, I would have chosen death. He would not have been able to forgive me, because I had chosen the world, instead of Him. "Those who have done good will rise to eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to judgment." Death was the life I was living, before I chose to change. There is no life, in living in sin. I was choosing death. God loved me, that is why He came and died for me. It was a choice that I had to make, to accept His free gift of life. I am different now, because of His love for me. I am different now, because I choose life. I am different now, because I choose to follow Christ, instead of the world. He paid the debt that I owed, so that I could live.

Jesus never healed someone, then told them to return to their old way of living. He said just the opposite, "Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse my happen to you." I had a choice to make. Trust me it was not easy, but He helped me the whole way through the change. I could still be living with the dead. I could have very easily, ruined the life that He was trying to give me. He did it for me, but at the same time I had to choose His help.

He gave me the opportunity to start new, even with a new marriage, but I had to choose to make it a living one. For the first year of my marriage with Jason, I was struggling with all of the despondency of the past. I was a broken, vile, defiant woman. I turned all of my pain towards this man, who was here to help me heal. He hadn't done any wrong towards me, but he caught the wrath of my pain. He was not perfect, the first year was torture for both of us. Jason was like most all men, he hid in watching sports. He could not fix my broken heart, so he turned off his emotions. We were both choosing death. I was in another failing marriage. Both, Jason and I, had to decide to live with Christ. My baggage was more overt, but both of us, did bring our own hurts with us into our marriage. Christ was with us, but we were choosing bondage. We were not living free as He had intended.

Christ saved me, when He died on the cross. I cannot tell you the exact moment that I accepted that salvation. I can tell you, that when I chose to live for Him was when I was set free. In both marriages I was choosing to live in sin. One marriage was more obvious, but both were dead. I cannot tell you exactly when I accepted Christ's Salvation. I cannot tell you, exactly the time in my life when I was saved, for I always believed in Him. I can tell you that now I live. I can tell you that I was dead, but because of Christ I now live. I had to choose to act according to His will and in this I found life. "Jesus did not come come into the world to make bad people good- He cam into the world to make dead people live." I choose life, every day I make this choice.