From rome, italy. Michael w. Smith will be joining me in just a few minutes. Hes put together a very special music team. You say, franklin, why are you in rome . Well, jesus was born in the roman empire. He ministered in the roman empire. In bible times, rome was the center of political, economic, and military power. Rome ruled the world. Jesus had many encounters with roman citizens. One in particular was a centurion. He had a friend, a servant, who was deathly ill, and he asked if jesus would heal him. And jesus said, ill go, and the centurion said, no, you dont have to. Jesus said i will go and youa dont have to, just say the word and my servant will be healed and all you have to do and say the word. Another roman was pilate, the governor. Jesus had been betrayed. The jewish elders were jealous. They were afraid of him. They plotted his murder and they turned him over to pilate because they couldnt crucify him. Only the romans could do that. Pilate examined jesus. He said, i find no
jesus said, that which is born of flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the spirit is spirit. jesus told nicodemus, you got to be born again. there are lots of religions in this world, a lot of religious people, but religion in itself cannot save you. people say, well, i m a baptist, or i m a methodist, or i m a presbyterian, or i m a catholic. religion cannot save you. being a member of this or that can t save you. you have to be born again. we have a problem and, you see, that problem is sin. and the bible says, all of us have sinned and come short of god s glory. the bible says, therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin and thus death spread to all men because all have sinned. god s word tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of god is eternal life through jesus christ, our lord. sin separates us from god. oh, what is sin?
there in the ground his body lay light of the world by darkness slain then bursting forth in glorious day up from the grave he rose again and as he stands in victory sin s curse has lost its grip on me for i am his and he is mine bought with the precious blood of christ no guilt in life, no fear in death
here in the love of christ i stand in christ alone who took on flesh fullness of god in helpless babe this gift of love and righteousness scorned by the ones he came to save till on that cross that jesus died the wrath of god was satisfied for every sin on him was laid here in the death of christ i live
well, lying is a sin. when you say, well, i haven t lied. (chuckles) well, you re lying right now. murder, adultery, stealing, dishonoring your parents, coveting, taking god s name in vain. not keeping the sabbath is a sin. all of us are guilty. there s no one who can keep god s law. so therefore, we cannot be saved. you cannot be saved, or experience the new birth, by observing the law because we re all guilty. we were born into sin. when your mother conceived you, you were born into sin when you came into this world. when the first man and woman, adam and eve, disobeyed god, at that moment, sin came into the world and infected the entire human race. we re all guilty. it s like a cancer of the human soul that has affected the entire human race. so, what is the new birth? it s spoken of throughout the scripture. the bible says, i ll give you a new heart and i ll put a new spirit within you. do you want a new heart? you turn to christ. do you want a new spirit? turn to christ.