By: Erlinda Mejia-Olson
ROMANS 3:20-24 ~ "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
Prior to 1998, I was under the law of my so called "religion". I was a devout one. I was more than willing to do what my old religion had taught me to do, so my sins could be forgiven. Lengthy, repetitive prayers and sacrificial penance, I had to perform, to wash away my iniquities. I used to kneel long hours while praying with these beads and infront of these statues which couldn't hear me. I was told to believe that I was going to Heaven when I die because I was baptized when I was a baby, that by obeying the Ten Commandments I found a favor in God's eyes.
A lot of things had been told about salvation. If I had died believing all the things my old religion had taught me about salvation, then I am in Hell right now.
When I was eleven years old, a classmate of mine had witnessed to me about salvation by Jesus Christ alone. She saw how hard I tried to be good and true to my church, to my religion, that it placed a heavy burden in her heart just by watching me. I didn't know better, and out of my pride and so called "righteousness of my own", I shut Marnie off. After we graduated in elementary, we parted ways and never saw each other again.
Fifteen years later, I found a relationship and not a religion. I found my salvation in Jesus Christ alone. In Christ, I found a Personal Relationship with the True and Living God—who hears me, who communicates with me, who can relate to every human pain, grief, fear, and need; who convicts and transforms human lives; and ultimately, who unconditionally loved me and died for me! Now when I look back, I thought of Marnie. I now understand and see how God has led me along the way and prepared my heart to accept His simple plan of salvation—His Gospel (death, burial, and resurrection) through the finished works of the His Son Jesus Christ. Though Christ death on the Cross has almost been 2,000 years ago, but His death became the greatest story ever told and the only story that saves souls and transformed lives. The Word of God opened my eyes and my heart to see and believe in the Truth that there is no other way to Heaven except through Jesus Christ (John 14:6) plus nothing (means outside of self-merited efforts, sacrifices and man-made religions and rituals).
I praise the Lord for the power and the beauty of His salvation. Now that I am saved, and has been changed, I now desire to serve my Lord. To love Him. To obey Him in His Word.
God's salvation through Jesus Christ alone is the greatest gift God has ever given to mankind, for those who receive it. For if we have to abide with the Law of the Ten Commandments, then no one can enter Heaven by their own merits unless you are perfect and free of sin and error. But no one is without sin and therefore subject to God's condemnation. The Scripture says: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23).
ROMANS 3:20-24 ~ "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
Prior to 1998, I was under the law of my so called "religion". I was a devout one. I was more than willing to do what my old religion had taught me to do, so my sins could be forgiven. Lengthy, repetitive prayers and sacrificial penance, I had to perform, to wash away my iniquities. I used to kneel long hours while praying with these beads and infront of these statues which couldn't hear me. I was told to believe that I was going to Heaven when I die because I was baptized when I was a baby, that by obeying the Ten Commandments I found a favor in God's eyes.
A lot of things had been told about salvation. If I had died believing all the things my old religion had taught me about salvation, then I am in Hell right now.
When I was eleven years old, a classmate of mine had witnessed to me about salvation by Jesus Christ alone. She saw how hard I tried to be good and true to my church, to my religion, that it placed a heavy burden in her heart just by watching me. I didn't know better, and out of my pride and so called "righteousness of my own", I shut Marnie off. After we graduated in elementary, we parted ways and never saw each other again.
Fifteen years later, I found a relationship and not a religion. I found my salvation in Jesus Christ alone. In Christ, I found a Personal Relationship with the True and Living God—who hears me, who communicates with me, who can relate to every human pain, grief, fear, and need; who convicts and transforms human lives; and ultimately, who unconditionally loved me and died for me! Now when I look back, I thought of Marnie. I now understand and see how God has led me along the way and prepared my heart to accept His simple plan of salvation—His Gospel (death, burial, and resurrection) through the finished works of the His Son Jesus Christ. Though Christ death on the Cross has almost been 2,000 years ago, but His death became the greatest story ever told and the only story that saves souls and transformed lives. The Word of God opened my eyes and my heart to see and believe in the Truth that there is no other way to Heaven except through Jesus Christ (John 14:6) plus nothing (means outside of self-merited efforts, sacrifices and man-made religions and rituals).
I praise the Lord for the power and the beauty of His salvation. Now that I am saved, and has been changed, I now desire to serve my Lord. To love Him. To obey Him in His Word.
God's salvation through Jesus Christ alone is the greatest gift God has ever given to mankind, for those who receive it. For if we have to abide with the Law of the Ten Commandments, then no one can enter Heaven by their own merits unless you are perfect and free of sin and error. But no one is without sin and therefore subject to God's condemnation. The Scripture says: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23).
