Trey Harper
Have You Been To Jesus?
Have you been to Jesus for His cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? What does that even mean?
God created man in Genesis 1. Two chapters later Adam and Eve have eaten the forbidden fruit and sin enters the world. Yes, Eve ate first but we all get to deal with the problems that have come about because of that disobedience. In Romans 5 it says that sin came into the world because of one man (Adam). Now sin is everywhere and effects everyone. …all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a free gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith…” (Romans 3.23-25)
1 John 1.10 says, “if we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.” See? God tells us plainly that we need Jesus to save us from our sins. God sent His only begotten Son into the world to save it! Jesus can make us pure and clean. Through His blood we can be washed, sanctified, and justified. Thankfully, the blood part is handled by God and we are washed clean in baptism (Acts 22.16). That same verse tells us that baptism is how we “call on His name”. And everyone who calls on His name will be saved! (Romans 10.9-13)
Have you called on the name of Jesus? Have you been to Jesus for His cleansing power? Perhaps someone told you that all you had to do was pray a prayer and you would be saved. That is not what the scriptures we just looked at said, though. In fact, Saul (who would later become the apostle Paul) prayed for three solid days. He prayed without eating any food or drinking any water in an effort to show God how serious he was (Acts 9.9-11). The praying did not save him. He asked, “What shall I do, Lord?” and was told in Damascus he would be told what to do. (Acts 22.10-16) What was he told? “Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name”. So, I ask you, like Ananias asked Saul, “why do you wait?”