Habakkuk 2:18 ” Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? “

So many times our humanness gets in the way of a right relationship with the Lord.  In a twisted form of arrogance,  we place our wretched past up on a pedestal and proclaim it to be “too terrible”  for the Lord to forgive.  Yes, your past may be riddled with bad choices…but nothing God hasn’t forgiven beforehand.  Murder, adultery, rape…the list goes on in the Bible of deplorable actions done by people in difficult situations.  But when they took responsibility for their sins and asked forgiveness…God forgave them.   For there’s nothing so serious, so vile, that God’s redemptive power can’t forgive.

Romans 6:1-2 ” What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? “

You can’t have it both ways. When you say “Yes” to Jesus, the broken relationship between God and you is restored.  But that doesn’t mean you can manipulate His unearned and unmerited favor to your advantage.  That’s what we’d call cheap grace.  It’s an attitude of entitlement and presumption that you’d rather beg forgiveness than ask permission.

Romans 6:23 ” For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. “

If we live a sinful life, in the end,  our compensation for all that evil will be death and eternal separation from God.   But if we accept the  gift of salvation offered to us by Jesus Christ, we are redeemed by way of His death and resurrection.   That free gift of  Salvation isn’t something we can ever begin to pay for…for Jesus has already paid the price for us.

Psalm 36: 1-2 ” An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.”

The wicked willfully rebel and oppose the Lord.  There is no reverence or even acknowledgment  of God in their life.  In their eyes, they are a self-made person that needs no other one or thing  to make it.  In their mind, whatever devious methods it takes to make it to the  top, or whoever they must crush in the process,  is fair game.  Winning is everything in their life…but in the end, sadly  they will  lose.

Colossians 1:21 ” Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.”

The sinful nature, with all its evil desires and thoughts can not coincide with God…for sin keeps us separated from Him.  The world views God with indifference…but He views it as an enemy.