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Jaw. lf you've broken even one
poi nt of G od's law- and you
have- you a re guilty! " For whoso–
ever shall keep the whole law, and
yet offend in one point, he is guilty
of all. For he that said, Do not com–
mit adultery, said also, Do not kili.
Now if thou commit no adultery,
yet if thou kili , thou art become a
transgressor of the law" (Jas. 2: 10-
11).
You must obey all of God's law,
a ll Ten Commandments! The pen–
alty of disobeying them, of sinning,
is death! "For the wages of si n is
death" (Rom. 6:23)-not life in
hell fire . God means it! You must
ask him for forgiveness for what
you've done!
God's merey leads one to repen–
tance. "Repent [change] ye there–
fore, and be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out, wben the
t imes of refreshing shall come from
the presence of the Lord" (Acts
3:1 9) .
lt 's time for all to repent-to
change- to stop breaking God' s
law. The apostle Peter wrote: "The
Lord is not slack concerning his
promise, as sorne men count slack–
ness; but is Jongsuffering to us–
ward, not willing that any sbould
perish, but that
al/ should come to
repentance"
(Ir
Pet. 3:9).
But how many reading this mes–
sage are willing to change their way
of life, and begin living life as God
wants us to, for our own happiness
a nd well-being?
You can. You can admit to God
your sins. Be willing to acknowl–
edge that you have been wrong,
that you have been guilty of break–
ing God 's righteous command–
ments, bis guidelines on how we
should have been living. Tbe firs t
four commandments show us how
to respect God, and the last six
commandments show us how to
express lave to our neighbors.
God is mercifu l and desirous
that we come to a willing, repen–
tant attitude of mind . He wants to
forgive. N atice Psalm 103:8-14:
"The Lord is merciful and gra–
cious, slow to anger, and plenteous in
merey. He will not always chide: nei–
ther will he keep his anger for ever.
He hath not dealt with us after our
sins; nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. For as the heaven is
high above the earth, so great is his
10
merey toward them that fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our trans–
gressions from us. Like as a father
pitieth his c hildren, so the Lord
pitieth them that fear him. "
You must claim God's merey by
being willing to take the steps Peter
admonished all to take: " Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in
the name of J esus Christ for the
remission of si ns, and ye sha ll
receive the gift of the Holy [Spir–
it]" (Acts 2:38).
Establishing Right Living Habits
Not only must you repent–
change-stop breaki ng God's
law- you have to establish the hab–
it of obedience to God's way of
life.
Jesus was once asked what to do
to gain eterna) life. " Good Master,
what shall
1
do that
1
may inherit
eterna! life?" (Mark 10: 17, Jast
part). J es us a nswer ed: " Tho u
knowest the commandments, Do
not commit adultery, Do not kill,
Do not steal, Do not bear false wit–
ness, Defraud not, Honour thy
father and mother" (Mark 10: 19).
In other words, the basic Christian
platform is based on God's Ten
Commandments.
Any future protection depends
on genuine righteousness- which
is keeping God's righteous law (see
Psalm 119:172). If we again slip up
and sin, we can ask forgiveness, and
God will forgive: " My little chil–
dren, these things wr ite 1 unto you,
that ye sin not. And if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
And be is the propit iation for our
sins: and not for ours only, but also
for tbe sins of the whole world"
( 1 John 2:1-2). And,
" If
we con–
fess our sins, he is faithful and j ust
to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteous–
ness" (1 John 1:9).
Our intent and desire must be
centered on God's way of life. We
must not t urn away from that basic
atti tude.
Heed the words of the prophet
Ezekiel: "Therefore, thou son of
man, say unto the children of thy
people, Tbe righteousness of the
righteous shall not deliver him in
the day of his transgression; as for
the wickedness of the wicked, he
shall not fall thereby in the day that
he turneth from his wickedness;
neither shall the righteous be able
to live for his righteousness in the
day that h e s inneth" (Ezek.
33:12).
Christians are to be doers, not
j ust bearers: " But be ye doers of
the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves" (J as.
1:22).
Jesus un equivocall y tells us:
"Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word tbat proceedeth
out of the mouth of God" (Matt.
4:4). And God's Word is recorded
in t he pages of the Bible. We're to
live by it!
There ls No Other Way
There is no other sure way to pre–
pare for world events. Your
future-physical protection and
eterna! salvat ion-depends on seek–
ing God and asking his forgiveness.
We must come befare our Creator
with deep, sincere, heartfelt repen–
tance wbenever we sin. And we
must strive with al l diligence to
maintain a right att itude and godly
life, obeying what we're com–
manded in the Bible.
These s teps are simple, but you
need God 's help. Ask for it. Maybe
you have never prayed befa re. Nev–
er mind, now is the time to begin.
Seek God. Open the pages of
you r Bibl e a nd get acquainted
with the scr iptures. Take these
steps and God wilt begin taking
special notice of you . Says the
Creator o f a ll : " For all those
things hath mine hand made, and
all those things have been, saith
the Lord : but to this man [or
woman] will J look, even to him
[or her] that is poor and of a
contrite spirit, and trembleth at
my word" ( lsa. 66:2).
Heed this message and the other
warnings in the pages of this maga–
zine. You may be counted among
those mentioned in the book of
Revelation who are promised pro–
tect ion during the momentous
times ahead.
"Because thou hast kept the
word of my patience, l also will
keep thee from the hour of tempta–
tion [trial ], which shall come upon
all the world, to try them that dwell
upon the earth" (Rev. 3:10). That
is an absolute promise. o
The PLAIN TRUTH