Ephesians 2:5, Romans 8:10  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Yesterday I ended by asking you what choice do you have. Today I show you the only two choices you have. You are either dead in your sins or alive in Christ. That’s it, no other choices.

This fact infuriates those who oppose God. This one verse has created more hatred against Christians than any other.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Christianity is viewed as an exclusive club that only a few may join by invitation only. The truth is simple and they fail to believe it. John 3:16 say whosoever believes. Whosoever is an all-inclusive term, denying none who believe, having made that choice to live in Christ. Many chose not to move into this neighborhood. They are not denied entry, they just refuse to move.

Those who refuse are the walking dead. They love the show but do not see themselves as the walking dead. It is a fantasy show and they look at Christianity as fantasy. Christianity is not a fantasy, it is not a vain attempt. Christianity fulfills the law of love, it fills the void in our hearts and extends that love to others in need.

No one wants to be told they don’t love. The issue here is not that they cannot love but that if the love of God does not abide in their hearts, they cannot agape love. God’s perfect love is the purview of God alone. Any love we can show without God in our hearts is not agape love.

Romans 8:20a, Jeremiah 17:9 For the creature was made subject to vanity, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

These two issues are tied together but it is difficult to see. Original sin separated mankind from the love of God in our hearts. This left a void that only God can satisfy. Sin entered in but like a cancer consumes the heart of man rather than nourishing it.

Vanity in Romans 8:20 is to be defined as emptiness as to results. A vain attempt is a failed attempt, it does not accomplish the goal that it has set out to accomplish. Nothing man does for himself will ever fill the emptiness of a heart designed to be fill with God’s love.

Psychiatrist will often use the phrase “How’s that working for you?” If the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over expecting different results, then only change can bring about a different result. Changing sins will not bring about a different result to fill an empty heart, it is still sin.

The difficulty for the lost is in admitting that emptiness is not of their own making. We try to fill that emptiness with things, activities, lusts, food (yes even food), and none of those things can fill the emptiness created by the absence of God’s love. “I must be doing something wrong, so I need to try something else” becomes our anthem without understanding what is missing.

The desperate heart of Jeremiah 17:9 begs for someone to change the results without understanding it is being consumed by sin. Someone has to explain to the lost that there is a diagnosis and a cure.

Surrender to God and let Him into your heart.

For many who are lost that makes no more sense than killing cancer by filling the body with poison, but if that is what it takes to be cured, then what choice do you have?