There is a lot of talk about peace these days, but much of it is just talk. The primary problem with the peace this world offers is that it is only external. In spite of the talk, wars and fighting continue. Of course, peace between nations and neighbors is highly desirable.

Even with external peace, the soul is often in a condition of unrest – because of sin and doubtfulness about the eternal future. When the Lord Jesus gives peace, it eliminates the fear of eternal judgment, because He promises and gives eternal life. It also eliminates the feeling of guilt of past sin, because He takes it away – never to be seen by God again.

Some religions offer some type of peace – but it is a deception. What good is it if your mind is at a temporal peace but you still go to Hell because your sins are not forgiven? That kind of peace may offer a temporary salve of the conscience – but sin is not erased. Consider this verse: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts. 3:19). This verse promises that if you will turn from sin in your heart to God and ask Him to save and forgive you because of what Jesus did for you on the Cross, He will blot out (erase) your sins. This can give you peace with God.

Once the sin issue has been taken care of, then the promise of the above verse in John can apply to you. You will be able to have peace beyond anything this world offers – even being calm in difficult situations. This kind of peace is the peace of God.

Do you have this kind of peace today?

There are many today claiming to be or have the way to God. Because of spiritual darkness in the world, most people are confused and uncertain about their future – but there is no need for it.

You see, there is only One Who came down from Heaven to save mankind. His claim was verified by His powerful miracles, His words, and by those who were closest to Him.

The Bible prophesied His coming centuries before and declared that He would fulfill many detailed prophecies. They were so detailed that it would be impossible to predict them or even to deliberately fulfill them.

All religions teach that man must earn his way to Heaven. Because Jesus came to die for our sins, and He could only do this if He had no sin. He even invited others to point out His sins if they could – and there were no takers – not even from the religious leaders who hated Him! (John 8:46 “Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?”)

Because His life backed up His words, and so did His miracles, He proved that He was indeed “the way, the truth, and the life.” This was not just a declaration of a wish – it is the truth – that all must heed if they want to see Heaven (“No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”)

What does He require for salvation? He wants you to turn from sin and, in faith, ask Jesus to be your only Savior. He said: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Have you asked Him to be your Savior? If not, why not do it today?

God has always wanted to bless His people. He loves to see His people happy and enjoying their relationship with Him.

The world will never understand what a blessing it is to have your sins forgiven, your name written down in the Book of Life, and be sure that Heaven will be your Home when you die. You can also enjoy fellowship with Him and have your prayers answered. While on earth, there will be some trouble, but God can help deliver you out of them.

The Lord never makes anyone a robot. He leaves every believer with the power to choose. If you walk according to His Word and by His Spirit, you can have the blessing He wants to give you.

On the other hand, if you choose to stay in your sin (check up on your salvation: God makes true believers “new creatures” who enjoy doing the will of God – not perfect, but growing), and know that God will not bless you. Your blessings will dry up, and God will work against you (the curse).

Someone may say: That is the Old Testament and God does not work that way anymore. The truth is He does not change. Yes, we are under grace and forgiveness can be quickly obtained. Still, there is such a thing as chastisement (see Hebrews 12 – New Testament).

In conclusion, like the verse says: “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day.”

Which way will you choose – to obey carefully or not?

In the above verses, there are several things that can be seen that must be considered to answer the above question. They are:

1. Jesus had earlier asked the disciples if they had swords. They declared that they had two.

Here, after Peter cut off a servant’s ear, Jesus tells him to put the sword away. This indicates that they could have fought, and with miraculous power – could have resisted this mob. But Jesus was not interested in their resistance for His sake – or anyone else’s.

Jesus did not say this because He was a pacifist. No, later He will come and take vengeance on those gathered against Him at Armageddon and then remove all unbelievers!

2. Jesus challenges them with a thought: “Don’t you know that I could even now call 12 legions of angels to protect Me and destroy My enemies?”

This was more than wishful thinking. The wording makes it clear that even at this moment He could have called them – and they would have come. It must be remembered that in Hezekiah’s day, one angel killed 185,000 soldiers in a single night! He refused to call them that He might go to the Cross as planned!

3. Jesus neither encouraged a riot against those arresting Him, nor did He call any angels. Why? Because He came to die for the sins of the world. He came to save men, not to destroy them.

Because He loved the world and was not willing that any should go to Hell (John 3:16), He made salvation easy. He simply wants people to turn from their sins (disobedience to God as given in the Bible), and trust on Christ to save them when they ask Him to: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). 

I have the privilege of talking to many people about spiritual matters. It is amazing to me, with Bibles in most homes, how few people there are who have actually read it through.

God has given to man a supernatural Book, one that reveals the truth about our existence, God, our future, and most important, how we can have eternal life and live with God forever. Many churches proclaim the passages every week to help people understand it. Also, many churches even encourage their people to bring their Bibles with them because they want the people to see that what they are teaching is really in God’s Book.

In the above verses, Jesus was talking to people who had the Scriptures and had memorized much of it. Yet, they were unwilling to believe what the Book plainly told them.

Many people are like that still today. Some even read the Bible but fail to accept its simple truth about salvation.

The great truth is that salvation cannot be earned. This is plainly stated in Ephesians 2:8,9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Note that salvation is the gift of God. Gifts are free.

The gift that God gave to give us salvation is the gift of His Son. John 3:16 says it very well: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Thank God, His Son Jesus, paid the full price for what we owe.

If you are not yet a believer, call on God in prayer now, asking Him to forgive you and save you – because Jesus paid your full price. Read the verse again in the paragraph right above this one.

God is a God of forgiveness. He loves to forgive those who come to Him and seek it. If He was not forgiving, no human would ever be accepted by Him for all of us are sinners: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

To show how much He is willing to forgive, and to show the greatness of His love, His own Son went to Calvary for us. He is willing to forgive and forget our sin if we show repentance. Repentance is simply having a change of mind toward sin and being willing to go God’s way. The type of sin does not matter.

The above verse says that God will do this “that thou mayest be feared.” This means respected and obeyed. If He were harsh and unforgiving, we could not love Him – because our failures would only bring judgment and damnation – “who shall stand?”

Sometimes, after being forgiven, we need to wait for His blessing and felt presence. If there is sin between you and God, remember His promise: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).

Christian, if you need to restore your relationship with the King of kings, come to Him today and get the forgiveness you need, and enjoy the fellowship with Him again. Wait no longer.

Now that Easter is past, some may wonder whether the resurrection is all that important. The truth is that all the teachings of the Bible are meaningless unless Christ rose from the dead.

God declared two very significant things in the Bible that affect our salvation. The first is that sin separates us from God – eternally. The Bible declares in Romans 6:23 that the “wages” [pricetag] “of sin is death” in Hell.

The second very significant thing that every person on earth must know is that only blood (death) can atone for our sin. God demonstrated this to Adam and Eve in the Garden when He provided them with skins – to cover them after they sinned and their own efforts to please God with leaves had failed. The Bible clearly declares this fact in Hebrews 9:22: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

These two Biblical principles mean that if people are ever to be accepted by God and allowed to enter His holy Heaven, then Someone must take our place and die for us. Only by a substitution could the sinner ever be allowed to go unpunished.

Jesus Christ became the willing Substitute for all mankind. Although sinless, He came to die for “the sins of the world” (John 1:29). He had to die if we were to go free. But if He never came back, it would be impossible to know that our sins were forgiven by God.

Jesus’ resurrection proved that God was satisfied with His death for us. Otherwise, He would have remained in the grave – and in Hell continuing to pay for our sins.

Isaiah 53:11 – written centuries before Christ, predicted that God would be “satisfied” with what Christ did on the Cross for us. The verse says: “He” [God the Father] “shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

Because Jesus Christ paid the full price of what we owe, all that is left is for us to receive His gift of forgiveness and eternal life. John 3:16 states it very clearly: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Have you called on Jesus to forgive and save you yet? Will you believe today before it is too late?

As we approach Easter, it must be remembered that Christ’s crucifixion was not an accident, nor was it an unexpected event in His life. Instead, it was the very reason He came to earth.

Jesus’ death on the Cross was predicted hundreds of years before He ever came. Isaiah 53 was written 700 years before Christ’s birth. David wrote Psalm 22 about 1,000 years before Jesus was born.

John the Baptist, in the text verse above, spoke these words at the very commencement of Christ’s ministry. He knew that Jesus came to be God’s special Lamb to die in our place. No other person could die for the sins of another and have their blood cover their sins in the eyes of God. The Bible declares, in Ezekiel 18:4, and again in verse 20 of the same chapter: “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

If we, as sinners, were to go free from the punishment of our sin, God would have to do it. Thank God, it is what He did through Christ’s crucifixion. He paid our full debt. And because He paid our full debt – there is nothing left for us to pay! It is why salvation is free to anyone. We can go free because of Jesus’ death and resurrection!

All that anyone needs to do to be saved from Hell is to turn from sin in your heart and believe on Christ’s payment for you. Although salvation is by faith, if you were serious about getting forgiven for your sin and disobedience to God, it is time to start living for Him and obeying the Bible.