To quicken, to make alive. Before we come to Christ we are actually dead. We are dead in sins. That is how serious sin is. Little do we realize how bad a state the soul is in before they receive God's salvation. Little do we realize also, how great a transformation takes place when Jesus Christ comes into our lives. He sends His Spirit to take up residence within our innermost being. This is enough to make anyone shout. If you ever wonder what makes some people praise God and shout in their church services, this is it. We become new people and the old is gone.

Just a reminder that it takes time for a new believer to bring forth fruits, so this is just a word of caution, not to expect perfection the minute someone comes to Christ for the first time.

The bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. This is the reason we are in that state. We were born into sin since the fall of Adam and Eve even if we do not do anything that society considers wrong. We are sinners because of being born into the human race. We all need God's salvation plan to redeem us from sin and back into fellowship with our God. That is why Jesus came. Jesus is actually God in the flesh.

God came to us through His Son, Jesus Christ who paid for our sins by His death on the cross. If we accept this, we are saved, if we reject this, there is no other way to be saved. If there had been another way, Jesus Christ would not have had to die on the cross in such a cruel way. He died that we might be saved. He was resurrected also and we also will be resurrected on the day appointed.

Before we receive Jesus we are in bondage to sin. We cannot overcome the lust of the flesh. Our very minds are corrupt. There are all kinds of sexual immorality that is destroying our society. Many claim that they were born the way they are and that God made them that way. God surely never meant for any of us to be born in any condition that would eventually destroy us as individuals and as whole nations and cities but since sin entered into the world through Adam's sin we have been born into the human race in a lost condition.

We are all in bondage under the power of sin. Sexual immorality of different kinds is just one of the many weaknesses and sins we are subject too in the flesh. God never intended for sexual sins to dominate the human race. Through Jesus Christ we can be free of that type of sin or of any type of sin. So whether or not the someone bound by a sexual desire that is harmful to children like pedophilia, is born with the inclination for some strange reason or becomes that way later is not relevant. It is still sin and they can overcome through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Sin shall not reign over us if we come to Christ by faith. Some of us may have a weakness toward the love of money and greed becomes so strong we are tempted to steal. To some their weakness may be drug and alcohol addiction. None is so great that we can't be forgiven and healed through the power of the Holy Spirit that comes through faith in Christ.

God had mercy, God had grace and we are saved if we repent of sin and receive God's gift of salvation. It is a gift and we cannot earn this by just doing good deeds or by being a good person.

None of us can boast of our own goodness to obtain salvation. We are saved by the mercy and grace of God.

God made this wonderful way for us through Jesus Christ. Power to overcome sin, power to become a new creature and the power of eternal life with a new body that never dies.

After coming to Christ we then do good works to glorify God and because the desire is within us to do good things. A true believer in Jesus Christ will not want to sin. He or she may be tempted but continuing steadfast in faith and fellowship with God will enable us to overcome the temptations.

Gentiles or non-Jews were without any hope of salvation before Christ. The gospel was first brought to the Jewish people because of the covenant with Abraham. We had no hope of being saved. Through Jesus Christ, however, salvation comes to the Gentiles as well as the Jews.

The condemnation of the law given by Moses, is done away with in Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled the law as a perfect, spotless sacrifice. He was sinless and paid the supreme sacrifice for all our sins, both Jew and Gentile. Jesus kept the law in all points enabling Him to be a pure sacrifice for our sins. By having faith in Him and acknowledging that we have sinned and we need a savior, we become born again and become a child of God.

Through the death of Jesus on the cross, the enmity or hostility of the law is cancelled. Our sins are cancelled out and cannot be held against us. Through Jesus we become free from sin.

Now that same saving faith brings us back to God and we have access to Him by His Spirit. No more do we need a priest or prophet to intercede on our behalf, we can go to God ourselves.

Faith in Jesus makes us part of the household of God and part of the same building as the apostles and Jesus Himself.

• Ephesians 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
• 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit dwells within us and enables us to live for God when before we had no power to do so.

This is so great folks. Why do we hold back and refuse such a great gift of free salvation. This is for a child or adult, a man or a woman, this is for every race and creed. This is for every religion because it is more than another religion, it is the gift of eternal life. -DC