Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6, NKJV)



In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4, NKJV)

He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. (Mark 12:27, NKJV)

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ... we are children of God, and ... heirs ... of God and joint heirs with Christ, (Romans 8:14-17, NKJV)

... He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, (Ephesians 1:4, NKJV)

If we ever expect to receive good things from the Father, we must come into His presence through the sacrifice of His Son. Only the Living can come before the Lord and expect good things; the "dead" (those seeking their own righteousness before God without regard to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ) can only expect eternal death, unless they repent. Those who claim to be alive must demonstrate freedom from death by being Holy. That doesn't mean that we exert considerable effort on our part to perform holy acts in an effort to appear holy, when in fact we aren't, but rather we become holy through the in-working of the Holy Spirit through the acceptance of the salvation provided through Jesus Christ (James 2:14-24; 1 John 5:3).

We don't need our own righteousness, because we have been given the righteousness of Christ, however, we do need to demonstrate agreement with the Lord by continually seeking to live holy lives before both God and men. Remember, the Lord wants to transform us into the image of Jesus, otherwise we have no rights before the Father: our lives are literally encased in Christ Jesus.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:1-5, NKJV)

Many people think they can simply come to the Lord to receive anything they desire, similar to Santa Claus, but the Lord God has definite standards for us to meet first: we absolutely must come in by way of Jesus Christ, who is the purchase price for our salvation (1 John 2:1-2, 4:9-10). If we choose to ignore the holiness of God and the sacrifice for our salvation, then we would need to be absolutely perfect in every thought and action throughout our entire lives (James 2:10; Matthew 5:27), which is probably impossible (Romans 3:9-19; Galatians 3:22).

But 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, NKJV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23, NKJV)

"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, NKJV)

Copyright (c) 2007 Jon Straumfjord