Romans Chapter 5:8-10

You know, when you get into a human conflict, you can, there's ways to either resolve it or to run from it. And you get in a conflict with your boss, you can quit your job. Not always a thing to do. We've gotten to the mentality now that if you conflict in the marriage, just run. Get a divorce.

Don't try to work through it. But with God, where are you going to run? He's everywhere. Some of you, praise God, have run into here this morning, and God is trying to speak to you. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David Magee. We can have peace with God, or we can be at war with Him. We make the choice. Today is the day of decision as Pastor David continues through Romans 5 with his teaching, Peace.

Here's David Magee. Look at verse 8. A treasure. But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is an amazing part of it. It's not, hey, you know, if you start making your way towards God, if you do this, if you do that, if you do catechism, confirmation, this and that and the other, then God may begin to love you.

No, no, no, no. That's not what this is saying. God loved us long before we did any of that. He made the overture.

He initiated this whole thing. Not when we were doing well, but while we were still sinners. Understand, too, because we've actually confused the language, and some people get confused about this, and I've actually heard people say, well, in order to, and understand, and I'll explain it fully, in order to come to God, you have to repent before you come to God. You know, friend, you can't repent apart from the supernatural spiritual power God gives you. In that moment, as you come to Him, you believe He is, and there's a sorrow in your heart created for sin. But to think that you can repent apart from Him, friend, you can't do that.

And actually, we've changed that word. Now we think that means to quit sinning. Repent means to quit sinning. That's not what it means. In the original Greek, it means to change your mind or to change your direction, literally, to come to God. Not to fix everything. Not to work all your problems out and then come to Him. Because when we tell the world that, they get this misconception of, well, I'll have to quit doing this and quit doing that, and then I can come to God.

No, no, no, no, no. Come to God while you're still sinners. Because, friend, think of it. If you need to quit sinning before you come to God, when will you come to Him? We've just built a wall in front of the cross. The Bible says why we're still sinners.

He died for us. So we come to Him, God begins to do something in our heart, begins to change us from the inside out. See, even in that notion of saying, well, you've got to repent in order to come to God. Yes, you do have to change your mind.

Yes, you do have to change your direction. But you know what? You come to God, then your behavior changes.

Not before. And we say, hey, you've got to change your behavior. We've just made God inaccessible. We don't want to do that.

We don't want to do that. Jesus died so that He could be accessible. You know, when you really like somebody, maybe you give them, I don't know, flowers or chocolates or a gift or something. And if you really, really like them, love them, maybe you give them a diamond or something expensive. Think about what Jesus did. It wasn't chocolates. It wasn't flowers. It wasn't a diamond.

It was something much, much more. John 15, 13 says this, greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. So you can tell what something's worth by the price others are willing to pay for it. In other words, if you're curious about what something's worth, you know, go on eBay and you can figure out, well, people are paying this for it.

That must be what it's worth, roughly. God was willing not to give chocolates or flowers or diamonds or money. But paid the ultimate price for you Himself.

So the price that He's placed upon you is a very high one. God must love you a lot in order to do that. The life lesson here is God has shown His love for you in the most powerful way possible. God has shown His love for you in the most powerful way possible. When Jesus died on the cross, what He was saying to us is, I love you.

I love you. This Romans chapter five, verse eight, this is a key verse in the book of Romans and also in the Bible. As a matter of fact, it's part of that Roman road that we've been talking about, that some verses going through Romans, because Romans is kind of unique in the sense that you can take from somebody from not knowing the Lord to knowing the Lord within this one book. Romans 3.10, 3.23, if you don't have these in your Bible or have them written down somewhere, you need to jot them down because the Bible says that we need to be prepared to give to every man an answer for our Christian hope. So if you don't know how to walk somebody through this or don't know these verses, I would encourage you strongly to write them down. Romans 5.8, the verse we're looking at here, Romans 5.12, 6.23, Romans 10.9 and 10. Sometimes I put in Romans 10.13 as well. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I would encourage you to mark these down and walk somebody through them. If somebody says, hey, I think I'm going to heaven because I'm a good person, say, hey, you know what? Would you mind if I opened my Bible and shared with you what the Bible has to say about that and take them down the Roman road?

Even if you have the verses memorized, sometimes it really helps to open your Bible and to walk through. While we're still sinners, ungodly, look what this is saying. Jesus loved us when we were unlovable. We were unlovable.

Sometimes we still try to be unlovable. I have cacti at home. That's like a lot of cactus. You call them cacti. I don't know who made up all those rules, but anyway, we've got cacti. And I used to have one that was, he was an ornery little cactus because you wouldn't, you know, most cactus you brush up against and you know, and they'll release their thorns, their spikes into you.

This one, I kid you not, he had like this heat seeking sensitivity and you could just get close to him and he would release the spikes. My brother found that out and he said, why do you have that plant? But anyway, you know what? Sometimes we're like that cactus. God tries to come close to us and we pull back just like trying to pet a snarling dog. How often do we do that?

More often than I care to think about. Not only do we occasionally act like cactuses with spikes or cacti with spikes, we're called to love a world of cacti. That's what God has said. Go love people. Go love the unlovable. Go pray and be a blessing to those that hate you and persecute you. Not go love them until they hurt you or you figure out they've got spikes and then run as far as you can.

No, love the unlovable. God has shown his love to you and he wants you to show his love to others. But you have to get firmly in grasp this concept that it wasn't something in you God saw. He just simply loves you, not based on your performance.

He just loves you. This verse ties back into such a key verse and they're very similar. John 3.16. And we've heard this so many times that we don't even pay attention to the words anymore.

But let me ask you to pay attention to the words. For God so loved the world. This world? Absolutely.

With all the cacti? Absolutely. The bad people? Absolutely. That he gave a bunch of rules and regulations. And no, that's not what it is. He gave his only begotten son that whoever flies right and acts correctly doesn't spit or chew or smoke or go to the girls that do or whatever that thing is.

That's not what it says. That whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. We forget that it was love that drove Jesus on. God so loved that he gave. What did he give? He gave his son.

You don't want to talk about trying to hug a cacti. Jesus was here to save humanity, the human race. And look what we did.

And before you say, well, that was actually the Jewish people or the Roman people. No, that was your sins. You and I all played a part in his execution. But he kept going. He kept going. They kicked him out of his hometown. A friend betrayed him. The religious people said he was filled with demons.

The center said he was guilty. The son of God. Still, he kept going. Why did he keep going?

Love. His love drove him on because he would rather go through hell for you than go to heaven without you. When you think about what he did and what he offers us, it's simply amazing. God's done all the active.

It's his work. God loves. God gives. We believe. We live. That's it.

That's what he offers us. If you believe in me, you'll live. But we try to complicate it.

Well, it's not just simple. You can't just believe and then just come. I mean, even when I was talking about repentance, I know some of you and your upbringing and you're going, oh, no, no, no, wait now. Don't be saying like that. If you be talking like that, you start talking like that, then just everybody would be wanting to come to Jesus. Yeah.

Wouldn't that be horrible if that happened? Jesus is available with his hands outstretched. Not saying if you don't act better. He's saying come to me. But again, what do we do? Well, you've got to fix it outside before you can come to God. You've got to quit doing this, that, and the other. And then once you work all that, then you come to God.

You know what we're doing? We're fixing the outside instead of the inside. God says, no, you come to me just like you are. I will begin to change you from the inside out.

And see, because we put the focus on the outside, what happens? Well, if I tell you you've got to look a certain way and you can't look a certain way, what are you going to do? You're going to pick up a mask and wear it, aren't you? Absolutely.

And what's happened is because of that, the church has been a breeding ground for hypocrites. Why? You've got to wear that mask.

Literally in the Greek, that's what it means. Somebody who wears a mask, who wants to pretend something on the outside is happening when it's not happening in here. How does it happen in here? You go back to this and understand that God loves you and your goodness cannot earn God's love. Your badness can't drive him away. But you know what? You can reject it. You can reject it. You can hear somehow. You can hear about this love and about this incredible Savior and what he's done and what he did for you and say, eh, no thanks.

One of the 12 did that, didn't he? Judas, a heart that would reject the sacrifice of a Savior. I wish a lot of things on you, friend. I sure don't wish that kind of heart on anybody. But you can reject it. You can hear about this love and reject it.

I would encourage you not to do that. Thank you for listening to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. We'll return to David's teaching in just a moment. The tragedy in Benghazi, the bombings in Boston, and the current unrest in Egypt are all vivid accounts of terrorism. Each time an event like this occurs, it often causes us to respond with fear. But it doesn't have to because God knows your future and you can too. With David McGee's teaching entitled, Know Your Future, Be Immune to Terrorism, you'll come to understand the realities of radical Islam while rejoicing in God's promises for your future.

Don't allow fear to consume your life. Instead, find hope with this month's special offer, Know Your Future, Be Immune to Terrorism. Know Your Future is available as a CD or DVD and is our gift to you when you call today with a donation to Cross the Bridge Ministries. It's because of your continued faithful support that we're able to broadcast across the nation with the life-changing Word of God.

To help support Cross the Bridge and receive your CD or DVD copy of Know Your Future, call 877-458-5508 or go online to CrossTheBridge.com. Now let's return to Pastor David's verse-by-verse teaching in the book of Romans. Verse 9 says, Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through Him.

Look at that, much more. What are we justified by? By our good works, by our church attendance, by this, by our given, by wearing suits and ties, by His blood, by His blood alone. The blood of Jesus Christ. Not the blood of bulls, not the blood of sheep. Can't be justified by those things, but by the blood of Jesus Christ Himself.

He shed His blood for us. Look at verse 10. For if we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. Much more, here's another much more, there'll be five, I think, in this chapter. Much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

See, verse 9 says, Much more than, verse 10, Much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. What do you mean, for if when we were enemies? I wasn't an enemy of God. Oh yeah, you were. Before you came to Jesus to ask Him to forgive you of your sins, you were an enemy of God. Let me go one step further. If you're here today and you've not accepted Jesus as your Savior, you're an enemy of God.

Not because of Him, but that's your decision. You can be at peace with God. Or you can be the enemy of God.

See, somehow we've gotten in this, and I actually heard a preacher, I love watching, teaching and stuff. Preacher this weekend, I heard him say, well, you know, we're all children of God. No, we're not all children of God. That's not what the Bible teaches. Jesus Himself, in John 8, He's talking to these guys and He goes, you know what? You are of, in a very seeker sensitive way, He said, you are of your father, the devil.

Pretty strong words, isn't it? John chapter 1, verse 12 says, As many as believe in Jesus are able to become sons, children. But those who don't believe in Jesus are at war with Him and are not His children.

You need to understand that. Now, friend, if you want to be at war with God, that's your choice. I would strongly encourage you not to be at war with God. One of you is going to get worn out and lose.

It's not going to be Him. And yet, I don't know if it's fear of rejection or what, but some choose to continue to be at war with God. You need to understand that with Jesus, it's not like it's hot or cold. In the book of Revelation, He talks about, you know what? If you're lukewarm, they did a nice thing in the King James and they said, I'll spew you out of my mouth. I think the new King James takes a little more accurate approach and says, I'll vomit you out of my mouth. I don't want you lukewarm.

What would you describe yourself today? Hot, on fire, passionate for the Lord, or lukewarm? He loves you, and He'll love you if you're on the fence or on the wrong side of the fence. But basically, you're at war with God. Matthew 12.30 says this, He, and this is Jesus speaking, He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad. I'll give that to you in the New Living Translation. Anyone who isn't helping me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me.

It's pretty strong words, isn't it? Let me ask you a question. Are you gathering? Are you scattering? It says there's no fence setting. If you're on the fence, you're scattering.

If you're forming, you're gathering. See, if you know Jesus as your Savior, your soul is no longer at war with Him. You're on the right team.

But are you helping Jesus in His cause? Jesus, you love me so much. I'm mesmerized.

I am filled with amazement at your love, and now I just want to go tell other people. It's awesome. The Bible sets it up, the whole thing, kind of in a military fashion sometimes. We're called to a battleground, not a playground.

And imagine if somebody came up to me and said, hey, I'm in the military. Well, great. Which branch are you in? Well, I'm not really in a particular branch.

Well, what do you mean? Well, who do you report to? Well, I don't really report to anybody.

Well, how do you get your orders? Well, nobody tells me what to do. That's why I joined the military.

I got sick and tired of people telling me what to do. So how does that work? You're not part of the army if you're not reporting for duty and active. As a matter of fact, imagine how that would go in a battle. You know, hey, we're going out, we're going to do battle.

Okay, well, I'll go out and do that. I'm going to kind of do my own thing over here. How's that battle going to go?

Not very well. Some of us are trying to fight a battle like that. We're trying to do our own thing. Instead of submitting to the lordship of Jesus Christ and letting him lead the charge, we want to do our own thing.

Friend, that's never going to work because you're not only not helping him to gather, you're scattering. I love you enough to say that. Early on in ministry, I asked this and it was really in hindsight, just a really arrogant prayer. But I asked Jesus, I said, Jesus, give me your burden for the lost. And the Lord in that still small voice, not audible, just in that still small voice, the Lord said, I can't give you my burden for the lost. It's what kept me on the cross.

You can't handle it. I said, well, Lord, just give me a portion. Give me a smidge of your burden for the lost so it can drive me on in ministry. And the Lord said, put your hand on your heart and feel your heartbeat.

I encourage you to do the same. Put your hand on your heart and feel your heartbeat. With every beat of your heart, a person who does not know Jesus on this planet is slipping into an eternity without him.

Every heartbeat of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every year of your life. Should that matter to us? It should drive us.

It should fuel us. Not by religious sentiment, but his love for us and our love for them. They are in a conflict with God. Friend, this is not like, you know, when you get into a human conflict, you can, there's ways to either resolve it or to run from it. You know, if you get in a conflict with your boss, you can quit your job. Not always a thing to do. We've gotten to the mentality now that if you conflict in the marriage, just run, get a divorce.

Don't try to work through it. But with God, where are you going to run? He's everywhere. Some of you, praise God, have run into here this morning and God is trying to speak to you. I've tried to run from God. I've, I've hidden in some dark places and dark corners. You know what I found? He was there trying to reach me, trying to touch me, not being afraid of trying to shatter the darkness and reach out to me.

You can't run anywhere. Second Corinthians says this, chapter five, verse 18 says, now all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God as God were pleading through us, be reconciled to God. That's our ministry.

Not the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of reconciliation. And what does it mean to reconcile? Because to settle or resolve a conflict, to settle or resolve a conflict, we have the opportunity, we have the calling, we have the empowerment to help people settle their conflict, not just in a marriage or a job, those are noble things, but with God himself. The power of God's word and his Holy Spirit can resolve the conflict between a person and God. And if you're listening and you're wondering, well, I'm not sure if I have peace with God, then you're at war with God, friend. In love, I'm telling you, you're at war with God. If you don't understand completely about Jesus and you've asked him to forgive you of your sins, you do not have the peace of God, you are at war with God. Now the awesome thing about this thing of being at war with God is you can make peace with God in an instant. This final life lesson is we can have peace with God or be at war with God.

We make the choice. So right now God has his hand extended to you saying, I want to be at peace with you. What will you do? The shame, the pain was his to pay and he did it.

And so while the pain and the shame were his, the choice is yours. If today you're listening and you're not sure of where you are with the Lord, not sure you've ever asked him to forgive you of your sins, right now God's hand is extended to you saying, come to me, I'll forgive you your sins. I'll begin to do a work in you.

I'll begin to give you the power to overcome those things that would hold you back. Or maybe, maybe today you've honestly said, you know what, pastor David, I'm not hot. I'm not passionate about my relationship with the Lord.

I'm probably more lukewarm. That can change with a simple decision of saying, God, you know what? I don't want to be grabbing the wheel anymore. God, I don't want to be the copilot anymore. I want you to be the pilot.

I want you to be the Lord of my life. Friend, that's not a one time decision. That's a daily decision. And if it's been a while since you've made that decision to really have God as Lord of your life, make it this morning. Make it today. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned. And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things.

Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name, amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. Jesus said He would not turn anybody away who comes to Him.

And He came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness, those who were sick, not the righteous. So congratulations, friend. You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If this was your first time praying that prayer with Pastor David, we would love to hear from you. Call us toll-free at 877-458-5508 to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Also, if you've been blessed by Cross the Bridge Ministries, would you consider supporting us with a financial gift? When you call with your gift, make sure to ask them about this month's special offer entitled Know Your Future, Be Immune to Terrorism.

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That's 877-458-5508. Or go online to crossthebridge.com. While there, take a moment to sign up for David's free email devotional or browse our large library of teachings. Again, our website is crossthebridge.com. Thank you for listening and we hope you'll join us again next time as we continue to Cross the Bridge.