Why Aren't You Satisfied?

Introduction

I am a born-again Christian, saved by the grace of God, in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, delivered from a life of sin and rescued by my Saviour from the future eternal wrath of God. I have Christ, with His completed work of salvation at Calvary, as my one and only Advocate and Defender on Judgment Day. That is all that God says I need for the salvation of my soul. I will not need to represent myself nor would it do any good to try to plead my case myself since God has judged all men to be guilty hell-deserving sinners.

If you are a Catholic, you have probably been told that you need Christ plus the 'fullness' of the Catholic church - which includes these things:

• being a member of the Catholic church
• baptism (Christening)
• the sacrament of communion
• the sacrament of confirmation
• the sacrament of last rites
• pilgrimages to Lourdes, Rome, etc.
• fasting
• ashes
• candles
• Mary the co-mediator and co-redeemer
• dead 'saints'
• prayers for the dead
• holy water
• the stations of the cross
• the sign of the cross
• the mass
• purgatory
• good works or good deeds
• church societies
• scapulars
• crucifixes, medallions, sacred heart pictures and other kinds of statues and images

According to the Bible, none of these things have anything to do with getting a person to heaven!

Where is fullness found?

If the fullness God wishes us to seek is not found in the Catholic church, then where is it? The fullness a true Christian is to seek is the fullness found in Christ alone: Col 1:19 - "For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;"

Fullness is found in Christ because His majesty and glory is inexhaustible:

Eph 3:8 - "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;"

Paul never preached about the fullness of Catholicism or any other "ism". He preached about Christ exclusively and narrowly:

1 Cor 2:2 - "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."

No one in the Bible ever preached Catholicism. Paul preached TO the church of Rome, not ABOUT the church of Rome, and that church was far different from today's church of Rome. In those days, believers met in houses not huge cathedrals.

Rom 16:5 - "Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ."

Many practices of Catholicism, including things mentioned in the list above, are patterned after pagan religions, not the Bible.

God is satisfied

God the Father is satisfied with just Christ alone. Why aren't you satisfied with the payment that God the Son (Jesus Christ) made for the sins of those He came to save? If you think you need any of the things listed in the introduction above, then you are telling God that you are not satisfied with the Christ of the Bible and you are not satisfied with God's salvation plan. You want a Christ who is not complete without a whole host of human inventions and traditions. But then you are on very dangerous ground because the Father says He is well pleased with the Son:

Mark 1:11 - "And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Why was the Father well-pleased with the Son?

The Son (Jesus) faithfully came into the world to lay down His life for lost sinners. The Son gave glory to the Father by his obedience unto death, so that by His sacrificial, atoning death, ALL the sins of many sinners would be COMPLETELY paid for:

John 17:1-2 - "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him."

What did Christ accomplish?

What exactly do you think that Christ accomplished at Calvary? Do you think that Christ did his 90% and you have to do your 10%? If that is what you think, then you are telling God you are not satisfied with the death of Christ on behalf of sinners. Just as Jesus died on the cross, He said "it is finished":

John 19:30 - "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost."

What do you think He was talking about? He was talking about the work of salvation for the souls of men - the work that only God could perform. Christ is not only the AUTHOR of a Christian's faith but also the FINISHER:

Heb 12:2 - "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

What do you think the price for sin is?

The payment God requires for sins is more than any mere mortal can ever pay. That is why God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, had to come to pay that price that only our eternal God could pay:

1Tim 3:16 - "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."

The Bible declares that it was the mercy of God to smite His own Son, to punish the innocent for the crimes of the guilty:

1Pet 3:18 - "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit"

Christ had to pay the equivalent of eternity in hell for everyone He came to save. Only an infinite God could accomplish such a thing.

At the cross an important transaction took place:

At the cross, Christ made the full payment for all the sins for all those who will ever get to heaven:

1Cor 6:20 - "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

At the cross of Calvary, all the guilt and sin of rebellious hell-deserving sinners was placed on the innocent Lamb of God:

John 1:29 - "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

The full fury of the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus Christ. We are not just talking about the temporal wrath of man.

Christ was the scapegoat, the innocent sin bearer being punished for the sins of the guilty. We don't help him to save us. He rescues people in spite of themselves.

Heb 9:28 - "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

Isa 53:5 - "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Whose cross is of any value towards salvation?

Do you think that if you carry your own cross you will receive a crown? Then you are telling God you are not satisfied with Christ. ... Christ carried the cross of those He came to save:

Eph 2:16 - "And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:"

Christ reconciled sinners to God by His death on the cross without any help from man whatsoever. His suffering and His sacrificial death was acceptable to God to purchase peace with God for the lost sinners whom God saves:

Col 1:20 - "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."

If Jesus did not carry your cross then you will indeed carry your own cross - for all eternity - in hell. That is the payment required for your sins. Yes it is. There is an infinite payment required for violating the commandments of an infinitely holy God:

2Thes 1:7-9 - "...the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power"

Do YOU obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ? OR do you obey a different gospel, the gospel that says Christ is not sufficient - a gospel that says a person needs Christ PLUS the things that Catholicism has added to what Christ has done for lost sinners.

Since when does God need or want your help?

If God plans to save you He does not need your help to get you to heaven. God is Almighty, all powerful. Why would He need or want your help or your cooperation? God says you don't know anything about His kind of perfect righteousness that is required for heaven, if you are still dead in your sins - because you don't see sin the way He sees sin. You don't think it is as bad as God says it is. You may think that God loves everybody and just hates the sin, but God hates sinners and He will send them to hell for all eternity someday if they do not repent:

Psa 5:5 - "The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity."

You may think that you are OK and that if you do 'your best' God will accept you into heaven but God says your self-righteousness is absolutely of no value towards saving your lost soul:

Isa 64:6 - "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."

God does not want help from His enemies and that is what He considers you if you are unsaved:

Rom 5:10 - "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."

God does not have a very flattering picture of an unsaved person:

Isa 59:1-4 - "1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity."

Rom 3:10-18 - "10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Man's righteousness is sin-tainted. His motives are all wrong when he attempts to earn favor with God by his own goodness. If you are yet unsaved, then you don't do good things out of thankfulness to Christ for saving your lost soul, because you don't think you are lost and you don't think you deserve to go to hell for your sins. Your understanding of God and His holiness is all wrong:

Rom 10:3 - "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."

God says that you have already done enough things to merit hell. You were born lost with a sin nature:

Psa 51:5 - "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."

Psa 58:3 - "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."

Eccl 7:20 - "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not."

You were born a sinner. You inherited the sin nature of Adam. And as a lost sinner you probably think God is someone whose standards are so low that He would pardon you on your terms. You look at your sins as if they are not that bad - at least compared to other people you know:

2 Cor 10:12 - "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise."

The Bible says that no one's own efforts can somehow undo all their violations of God's commandments. God has declared that no man can save himself nor even contribute to his salvation so He had to intervene and do the complete work of salvation Himself. That is why Jesus never mentioned Purgatory. If Purgatory existed, then there would be no need for Christ to come and die for sinners. There would be no need for a Saviour if people could burn off their sins themselves in a place called Purgatory. All the prayers, good deeds, sacraments and religious rituals in the world will not erase a single one of your sins. There is only ONE thing that will remove the crimson stain of sin from a person's soul - the precious blood of Christ:

1John 1:7 - "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

Isa 1:18 - "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

You are not just a sinner, God says you are ungodly and spiritually lost:

God says that you are completely at His mercy. You are spiritually lost and without hope for all eternity if He does not intervene and save your soul:

Luke 19:10 - "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

If you are trying to earn your salvation through any type of works, you are among those whom God calls the ungodly:

Rom 4:5 - "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

Rom 5:6 - "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

What is your part in salvation?

God is not saying that you just need a little help to get to heaven or that He needs you to do your part. You have already done your part. You have sinned:

Rom 3:23 - "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

Since you have sinned you now qualify for hell. You are condemned already. You will be damned forever if God does not save you before you die:

John 3:18 - "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Mark 16:16 - "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

What must you believe about in Christ?

It is not sufficient to believe in the historical person of Jesus or to believe in the Jesus of Catholicism who needs the help of His mother Mary, a Catholic-appointed co-redeemer and co-mediator. The true Christ of the Bible is a self-sufficient Savior, Mediator, and Redeemer:

1Tim 2:5 - "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"

Isa 43:11 - "I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour."

Jer 50:34 - "Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon."

The word "redeemer" is mentioned 104 times in the Bible (KJV) and never once is it applied to Mary. Notice in Jeremiah 50:34 above that He will plead His people's cause, without the help of Mary, the saints or even the people themselves.

Getting back to what we must believe about Christ in order to be saved, it is also not sufficient to believe that Christ simply made it possible for people to go to heaven. You must believe that Christ is the all-sufficient, one and only Saviour whom you desperately need because He is your only hope of being rescued from the eternal wrath of God:

Acts 4:12 - "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Heb 2:3 - "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ..."

Christ paid in full the sin debt of those who will become saved:

Knowing that man cannot save himself, God in His mercy left His glory in heaven and paid the FULL price for those He plans to save:

Rom 5:19 - "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."

What kind of righteousness must a person have to get into heaven?

A person's own righteousness will never get them to heaven. It is only by receiving Christ's righteousness that a person can ever expect to see heaven:

Php 3:9 - "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:"

Even though no one except Christ has the righteousness to get to heaven, God still demands perfect righteousness for those who will be in His presence for all eternity:

Matt 5:48 - "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

There is absolutely no room for sin in heaven:

James 2:10 - "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."

God makes people perfectly righteous by crediting the perfect righteousness of Christ to the account of those He saves. This transfer of the righteousness of Christ to a sinner is an undeserved free gift of God:

Heb 10:14 - "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

Eternal life is a free gift from God:

Rom 5:15 - "But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."

Rom 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Eternal life has to be a free gift. No one can possibly be good enough to qualify for it in and of themselves. Tied to the gift of eternal life is the gift of the perfect righteousness of Christ. You cannot have one without the other.

How do you get the gift of eternal life?

No one can demand anything from God. You cannot say some magic prayer and get God to perform for you. However, the Bible does say that we must repent of our sins and call upon the Lord Jesus to save us:

Luke 13:5 - "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

Acts 3:19 - "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;"

Rom 10:13 - "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Isa 55:6 - "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near"

Jer 29:13 - "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

What does God mean by "repent"?

God is not referring to penance, or any prayers or "acts of contrition" that you DO to atone for your sins. He is referring to a change of heart. He wants us to have the same hatred for our sins that He has and He wants us to forsake our sins and our sinful rebellious lifestyle forever:

Psa 119:104 - "Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way."

The main way that God expects us to repent is to read the Bible daily and find out how God expects us to live:

Psa 119:11- "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

Only God can enable us to repent the way He wants us to. So we must cry out to God for mercy, that He might save our souls from hell and that He would give us an intense hatred for whatever the Bible calls sin:

Luke 18:13 - "And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner."

What is the grace of God?

Contrary to Catholic teaching, grace (saving grace) is not some mysterious thing that the Catholic church dispenses to enable a person to live the Christian life. Rather, grace is the unmerited favor of God, whereby He grants someone the gift of eternal life, in spite of a lifetime of sin. At the point of salvation, He places His Spirit in the person being saved making them a new creature in Christ. It is the Holy Spirit dwelling in a true believer that enables them to obey God's commandments so they no longer look at those commandments as burdensome nor do they seek to obey God's commandments selectively.

Tit 2:11 - "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men"

Does Jesus save or does He only enable men to be saved?

Jesus did not die to ENABLE all men to be saved. He died to purchase (i.e. completely pay for) the salvation of the elect. It was a complete payment for His sheep whom he came to save:

Col 2:13-14 - "13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross"

Some people think that Jesus only paid for the sins they commit before they are baptized and then they receive something called 'grace' that enables them to live a faithful life from that point on. But that is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that it is Christ who is able to save a person and to keep them saved:

Heb 7:25 - "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

Jude 1:24 - "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,"

Only Christ can present someone as perfect or 'faultless' on Judgment Day because only Christ lived a perfect life and only Christ was able to pay for anyone's sin. A person's own sin-tainted works cannot remove ANY sins.

But what about James 2:20?

Many people who do not understand the saving grace of God often misunderstand chapter 2 of James. They are often taught by the Catholic church that works are required for salvation because James 2:20 says "faith without works is dead". However, we must not look at this verse out of context. When we look at James 2:18 we see that works are a sign of a person who has saving faith, a sign of a saved person:

James 2:18 - "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."

I can truly say that I did not care about my soul nor the souls of others until God saved me. Now I have a desire to warn other people to flee the coming wrath of God. I have a desire to study the Bible and a desire to do what it says. I have power over sin in my life. I have a love for Christian music and Christian fellowship. I realize that if it was not for the grace of God, I would end up in hell for all eternity because I was one of the "ungodly" whom Christ died for. I believe what the Bible says about the lost spiritual condition of all mankind and I believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven. These are the supernatural works that God did in me to make me a new creature in Christ, enabling me to understand how holy God is and how He has every right to send everyone to hell if He wants to. When God saved me He showed me that He is a jealous God and that, as a Catholic, I was an idol worshipper. I needed to get rid of any crucifixes and images of Christ that I had owned if I wished to be obedient to what God says in Exodus chapter 20, verses 4 and 5. I needed to stop worshipping the eucharist as if it was God if I wanted to be obedient to what God says in Acts chapter 19, verse 26 which says "they be no gods, which are made with hands". I needed to leave Catholicism and find a Bible-believing and Bible-practicing church. I could not serve two masters, the God of the Bible and the God of Catholicism. Has God changed YOU in this way?

Those who are saved by God are preserved by God until they are with Christ:

Jude 1:1- "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:"

They are perfected, that is they receive the perfect righteousness of Christ as a gift from God:

Heb 10:14 - "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

The Bible describes eternal life as a sure thing, as an inheritance reserved in heaven for us:

Heb 9:15 - "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."

1Pet 1:4 - "To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you"

So according the Bible, a person can know for sure if they are going to heaven:

1John 5:13 - "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

The apostle Peter knew that he was saved and that others could know they already had obtained eternal life and that their eternal life was dependent on the righteousness of God and not on man:

2Pet 1:1 - "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ"

Do you have Christ's perfect righteousness?

Has your soul been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb?

ARE YOU SATISFIED with Christ and His completed work of salvation?