Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Devotions: Futile Attempts


No man can by any means redeem his brother
Or give to God a ransom for him—
For the redemption of his soul is costly,
And he should cease trying forever—
That he should live on eternally,
That he should not undergo decay.

Psalm 49:7-9 New American Standard Bible (NASB)


It is futile for us to try to pay for the debt of sin. It is absolutely impossible. We could never do it for ourselves or for another person. There is no way, humanly possible, for a person to avoid death or hell. That is the point, with man it is impossible, but with God all is possible. Not only that, but it can only happen through and by God. It is only through a saving faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God that any can escape the penalty due for our sin. And that faith has to be individual. We cannot believe for another person, only ourselves. It is a single-person-only coupon, not to be copied, duplicated or reused. We each have to have our own, and it has to be genuine. It must be a true faith that results in a transformation of the heart, not a mere intellectual acknowledgement. Before Jesus came to earth, all humanity lived under this over-arching futility, the desire to be saved from eternity with no way of achieving it. No amount of fortune, success, good deeds, etc. can save a person from the inevitable. With Jesus, that escape became available to all who will accept His offer. Are you counting on something other than Jesus to save you or someone else? Will you accept His offer to take the place of futile striving?

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