Right with God: 2008

God is Holy, therefore His law demands perfect holiness.

For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves ... You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. (Leviticus 11:44-45)
He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not [merely overlook] your transgressions nor your sins. (Joshua 24:19)
No one is holy like the LORD, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God (1 Samuel 2:2)
The LORD is in His holy temple, The LORD's throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup. (Psalm 11:4-7)
Be holy, for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:16)
Without [holiness] no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14)

God is Holy, therefore God hates sin.

You shall not bow down to [false gods] nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (Exodus 20:5)
For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You. (Psalm 5:4)
God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day. (Psalm 7:11)

God is Holy, therefore sinners cannot stand before Him.

The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. (Psalm 1:5)
The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. (Psalm 5:5)
Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. (Psalm 24:3-4)

Mankind is sinful. Sin is a violation of God's law.

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4, KJV)
All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. (1 John 5:17)
I would not have known sin except through the law.(Romans 7:7)

Mankind is sinful. Sin makes true peace impossible for unbelievers.

The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." (Isaiah 57:20-21)
Woe to those who devise iniquity (Micah 2:1)

Mankind is sinful. All have sinned.

all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)
As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one." (Romans 3:10-12)

Mankind is sinful. Sin makes the sinner worthy of death.

The soul who sins shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4)
Sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. (James 1:15)
For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)

Mankind is sinful. Sinners can do nothing to earn salvation.

We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)
By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight (Romans 3:20)
A man is not justified by the works of the law ... for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. (Galatians 2:16)

Mankind is sinful. Sinners cannot change their own sin nature.

Though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me," says the Lord GOD. (Jeremiah 2:22)
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil. (Jeremiah 13:23)
The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7-8)

Mankind is sinful. Sinners are therefore in a helpless state.

It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27)
There is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12:2-3)
God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ (Romans 2:16)
The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:8)

Who is Christ and why did He come? He is eternally God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:1-3)
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9)

Who is Christ and why did He come? He is LORD of all.

He is Lord of lords and King of kings (Revelation 17:14)
God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36)

Who is Christ and why did He come? He became man.

Being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:6-7)

Who is Christ and why did He come? He is utterly pure and sinless.

[He] was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15)
He "committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth"; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously (1 Peter 2:22-23)
He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. (1 John 3:5)

Who is Christ and why did He come? The sinless one became a sacrifice for our sin.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
[He] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:14)

Who is Christ and why did He come? He shed His own blood as an atonement for sin.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7)
[He] loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood (Revelation 1:5)

Who is Christ and why did He come? He died on the cross to provide a way of salvation for sinners.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24, NASB)
It pleased the Father ... by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)

Who is Christ and why did He come? He rose triumphantly from the dead.

[Christ] was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4)
[He] was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification (Romans 4:25)
I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

Who is Christ and why did He come? His righteousness is imputed to those who trust Him.

You are in Christ Jesus, who became for us ... righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30)
...That we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21)
To him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness ... God imputes righteousness apart from works (Romans 4:5-6)
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith (Philippians 3:8-9)

Who is Christ and why did He come? Because of His imputed righteousness, He freely justifies all who trust in Him.

[We are] justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24)
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)
Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. (Romans 5:9)
A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16)
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (John 5:24)

What does God demand of sinners? God calls sinners to repentance.

I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!" (Acts 17:30)
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out (Ezekiel 18:32).
God ... commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).
Repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance (Acts 26:20). That verse speaks of meritorious works, but it indicates that the inevitable fruit of true repentance is a changed life (cf. Matthew 3:7-8)

What does God demand of sinners? Repentance is a heart-turning in Faith, and not an external action or work.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

What does God demand of sinners? God calls sinners to repentance.

[Turn] to God from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. (Ezekiel 14:6).
Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin (Ezekiel 18:30).
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD (Isaiah 55:7).

What does God demand of sinners? Follow Jesus.

If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23).
No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62).
If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. (John 12:26).
You are My friends if you do whatever I command you (John 15:14).

What does God demand of sinners? Trust Him as Lord and Savior.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31).
if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

Count the cost thoughtfully. Take up your cross.

Jesus repeatedly stated that the cost of following Him involves a willingness to sacrifice all.

Come, take up the cross, and follow Me (Mark 10:21).
Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul (Mark 8:34-37)?

Count the cost thoughtfully. Be prepared to follow Christ even to death.

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life (John 12:24-25).
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it; lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish"? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:26-33).
Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to "set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law"; and "a man's enemies will be those of his own household." He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me (Matthew 10:34-38).

Urgency of trusting Christ

Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men (2 Corinthians 5:11).
God ... 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 (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:6-7).

Outline from Successful Christian Parenting by John MacArthur