Unlimited Access To God
The offer:
Often in counseling, I come across people that believe that they must live
up to some standard for God to receive them. The problem is that they either
lower God's standard so that they may obtain it, or they see God's true
standard and declare that it is impossible to obtain access to Him.
The offer is free because no one through his best efforts could
do enough good to offset the bad that he has done. "As it is written,
There is none righteous, no not one: There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God" (Romans 3:10-11). Since man can
not reach God by his own efforts, God had to make a way for him.
The price for sin (disobeying God) is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus, God's
Son, came and lived a righteous life of obedience to the Father. However,
he willing paid the price for us. Jesus paid the price for our access to
God by giving his own life in our place upon the cross. Therefore, God
offers to us free access to Himself and heaven. "But not as the
offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one (Adam)
many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift of grace, which
is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many" (Romans 5:15).
We can do nothing to earn or maintain access to God. Paul concluded, "Therefor
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law"
(Romans 3:28).
Offer good only for a limited time:
Some people look at their lives realizing, that they have failed, but excuse
themselves by saying, "Well, I will do better in the next life." Some religions
teach that man is in the process of evolving from one level of life to
another. However, these man-made philosophies are contrary to the truth.
The truth is that we live this life, die, and stand before the creator
in judgment. "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after
this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).
Other people say, "Well, I will wait until later and receive God's offer."
However, there is no guarantee that we will be alive tomorrow. Jesus told
the story of a rich man who waited. Jesus said, "But God said, unto
him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee" (Luke
12:20a). This may be the last day either of us are alive on this earth!
If you have not received your access to God, do it now.
Our access is through faith in Jesus:
Jesus declared, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh
unto the father, but by me" (John 14:6). Jesus is the only access
that we have to God! Faith is the key that unlocks the door, but Jesus
is the door. Jesus said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter
in, he shall be saved . . . ." (John 10:9). Furthermore, Luke records
the words of Peter in the book of Acts saying, "Neither is there salvation
in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Paul also wrote, "That if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved"
(Romans
10:9). By making a personal faith commitment unto Jesus as our Lord,
we have access to the Father. Remember that today is the day of
salvation.
Unlimited access:
Sometimes Believers wallow in self-pity, rejection, and spiritual poverty
because they don't understand that they have unlimited access to God. One
may think, "Surely, God will not hear my prayers of repentance because
I have failed so often." Others think that God has more important things
to do than to be concerned about their lives.
Unlimited access means more than just going to Jesus and getting
a ticket to heaven to be used when we die. Jesus said, "I am come that
they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John
10:10). We receive new life wen we commit our lives to Jesus, but
Jesus wants us to receive a life that flows over the brim of the cup. The
Word says there is not only salvation, but there are also "things that
accompany salvation" (Hebrews 6:9). Jesus said that they Holy Spirit
is to show us our inheritance with him (John 16:14-15). Paul wrote, "For
all the promises of God in him (Jesus) are yea, and in him Amen,
unto the glory of God by us" (II Corinthians 1:20). Jesus explained
that the promises were like grain that a farmer would take out of his barn
(the Bible), both out of the Old Testament and out of the New Testament
(Matthew 13:52).
For us to be able to receive all the promises, we must have unlimited
access to God. Paul therefore writes, "Therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom
also we have access by faith unto this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:1-2). Furthermore, it does not
matter if we are Jews or gentiles: "For through him we both have access
by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18). The Word of God says,
"Let
us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
For whatever need we have, we have unlimited access to the Father by
faith in Jesus to meet that need. Jesus boldly declared, "And in that
day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever
ye ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked
nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full"
(John
16:23-24).
Simple Examples
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If we need forgiveness:
-
I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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If we need physical healing:
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I Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the
tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose
stripes ye were healed.
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If we need wisdom:
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James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
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If we need the power of the Holy
Spirit:
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Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit
to them that ask him?
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If we need emotion healing and
freedom:
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Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach
the acceptable year of the Lord.
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If we need prosperity:
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Luke 18:29-30 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There
is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children,
for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this
present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
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If we need direction for our lives:
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John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me:
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If we need comfort:
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John 14:17-18 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless:
I will come to you.
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If we need strength:
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Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me.
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If we need willpower.
-
Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will
and to do of his good pleasure.
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If we need courage:
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II Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
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If we need hope:
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Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of
the glory of his inheritance in the saints."
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