John 8:21-24 (NLT)
Later Jesus said to them again, “I am going away. You will search for me and die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going.” The Jewish leaders asked, “Is he planning to commit suicide? What does he mean, ‘You cannot come where I am going’?” Then he said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I say I am, you will die in your sins.”
Most people wish they could hear a word from God but they don’t want to hear this one. Jesus said, “You will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am who I say I am, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).
Sin is more than what we do, sin is who we are. “I was brought forth in
iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalms 51:5). Sin is part of the nature we received from Adam’s disobedience and now the curse of sin plagues the entire human race. But in the fullness of time God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to become the sacrifice for the sins of mankind by taking all sin upon Himself and dying on the cross in our place. Three days later, Jesus resurrected from the dead and He is alive
forever more.
In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Religion says all roads lead to God and that as long as you are sincere, God will understand. But Jesus said there is only one way to God, and that is His way, through His Son, Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice of His blood on the cross.
What about all the other religions? Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.” It is possible to be sincerely wrong. Unless you place your faith in Jesus Christ, you will die in your sins. This is the truth. “And the truth will set you
free” (John 8:32).
Lord Jesus, I believe you are the truth and the one way to God and I receive by faith your sacrifice for me.
Dialog discuss: Pocket change is what ever is found left lying around. Is your spiritual journey reinforced with regular fillips, or is it more like so much “pocket change?” What do you think of Rick Warren’s following comment? To live rise above “pocket change spirituality” you must have habits that allow the Holy Spirit to meet you and flow into and through you on a regular basis. Habits are routes along which God has placed Holy Spirit refreshing stations. Rick Warren