and you say, “but franklin, what do you mean by sin? “what is that strange concept? “we don t talk about that.” well, the bible says telling a lie is a sin. have you ever lied? of course you have. all of us have lied. the bible says all men are liars. it s true. stealing is a sin. and you say, “but franklin, you mean if i took a quarter “out of my mother s purse many years ago, does that count?” sure it does. we re all guilty. we have broken god s laws. adultery, any type of sexual relationship out of a marriage relationship, is a sin against god, and jesus took it even further. he said if you looked upon a woman and you had lust in your heart it s the same as committing adultery. murder is a sin, and jesus, again, took it even further. if you had hatred in your heart toward your brother, this is the same as committing murder. all of us are guilty. bearing false witness is a sin.
to our account, and if we can give money or build a building, or be kind to someone, go to church a few times a year that that adds to our account, and god will forgive us of our sins, and that it ll credit us righteousness. no. there s nothing that you can do. you see, it s only through jesus christ and him alone. the bible says, “it s by grace that you have been saved through faith. “it s not of yourselves. “it s a gift of god, not of works, lest any man should boast.” good works cannot save your soul. it s just can t do it, but god had a plan to redeem us, to buy us back. he sent his son from heaven to this earth to take our sins, to die on a cross for our sins, and by jesus christ shedding his blood for us he was redeeming our souls to god, but we have to be willing to accept it by faith. the bible says in john 3:16,
they said, “oh, he could save others. “let s see him save himself.” they taunted him, “come on down from the cross. if you re really the son of god. come down from the cross,” and jesus stayed on the cross. he was nailed to that cross, and while he was on the cross god poured upon his son your sins and my sins, the sins of mankind, sins past, sins present, sins future. that s us today. god laid upon his son the sins of mankind, and jesus died on the cross, shedding his blood, paying the penalty for you and for me. we re the ones that deserve to go to the cross. we re the ones who deserve death. jesus never sinned, never, not one time, and as a sinless person he was able to take our sins, and god accepted his death on the cross. his followers thought it was finished, he was buried in a tomb.
not honoring your parents is a sin. pride is a sin, and the list goes on. it only takes one, and of course, as far as god is concerned, we re guilty of all of them, because we are a lawbreaker, and we come under his judgment. there is a penalty to be paid for breaking god s law, and that is death, and we re under this death sentence from god. god is holy and just. sin separates us from god. it breaks fellowship with god. all of us sin. all of us fall short of god s standards, and the bible says in isaiah, “all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are as filthy rags,” the bible says. the bible says, “there is no one righteous, no, not even one.” so, what can man do? how can we be saved? many think that we can work for our salvation, we can do something good, and god will credit that to us,
“dear god, i m a sinner. “i m sorry for my sins. “i want to turn from my sins. “i believe jesus christ is your son. “i believe that he died for my sins, that you raised him to life. “i want to invite him to come into my heart. “i want to trust him as my savior, “and i m willing to follow him as my lord “from this day forward, forever, “and i pray this in jesus name. amen.” if you prayed that prayer, call this number. somebody would like to speak with you and pray with you. it s 888-388-2683. that s 888-388-2683, or you go to the website, billygraham.org.