Isaiah 64:4 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Yesterday I left you talking about condition and intent. I will address intent tomorrow but for today, let us address condition. The largest lie told by man is this; I am not a sinner. It is quickly followed by; I am a moral person. The reason those lies work so well in the minds of mankind has everything to do sin nature. Morality has nothing to do with sin and cannot erase nor correct sin nature.

Romans 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

It is not your fault that you were born this way. You were subjected to this sin nature unwittingly, without your knowledge or consent. That does not change the fact you were born with a sin nature. It is a condition you will have to accept without pleading innocence. To explain this in terms which make sense to a moral person, morality is an agreement by society to dictate what is moral and what is not. Because society changes, the standards of morality shift in accordance with societies views and needs. God defines sin and there is no bending of the standard.

Isaiah imposes a word often misunderstood, righteousness. Righteousness in a moral society only seeks to judge you according to being right with a moving target of what is right with a people who change on a whim. If you see righteousness as being right with God, that you have a right standing before God, then you are powerless to meet that perfect inflexible standard.

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

John 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

Yesterday I laid out your first gear demand of saving faith. If you are going to get engaged in Christ you needed to hear the truth. Ask yourself this, if you are going to enter into a covenant contract with a sovereign God who can and will execute the demand of the contract, don’t you think you should know what is expected of you?

Matthew 13:23a But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it;

Pain can be avoided in the execution of a contract if you have read all the fine print first before signing. Legally binding contracts only require your signature. If you have not read the fine print, that is not the fault of the offering party. It is not that Jesus did not make Himself clear on these matters. It is just your lawyer who read the contract for you didn’t bring up all the finer points because he was eager for you to sign the contract.

A pastor, evangelist, missionary, elder, friend, mentor or even a complete stranger who is telling you about this free will offer of salvation just might leave out words that would make you think twice. An offer of salvation without understanding is not a saving faith. Saving faith is truth in condition and intent. You have to face the harsh truth about your condition before you are willing to seek a way out. The second part, intent, has to do with accepting an offer for the way out. Not all offers are alike.