In the end, both the saved and the lost will have one thing in common: they were all sinners.
The fundamental difference will be that the saved were sinners who wanted out of sin, and Jesus made them whole.
The lost liked sin and refused to accept the cure that Jesus so graciously proffered.
Interesting you point this out. "they were all sinners." I would go even further. We were just discussing the idea that I can still be a sinner even though I am not sinning. I think of myself a sinner even when abiding in Christ. I just see that as who I am. A great sinner. Now, when I am letting Jesus into my heart and am walking the light of His love, I do not sin. But, it is Christ, not I. There is nothing good in me unless Jesus is in my heart. I think this gives us the proper perspective of our plight. We need to keep the flesh under subjection. And this we can do if Christ is in the heart. Self must remain dead even though we still live in these vile bodies. This body belongs to me. I live in it. Christ will keep me from being tempted beyond what I can bear if I will abide in Him, in this fallen flesh.
Well presented! I agree! We need to remember that ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23. That includes You and Me and even the President of the General Conference. In spite of our sinfulness,God loves us and wants to give us eternal life. In fact,Christ died for us while we were still sinners.In 1Corinthains 5:21,Jesus became sin for us so that we might become righteous in Him.
John 14:6 says that Jesus is the only way to salvation.
Acts 4:12 says that there is no other name than Jesus by which we may be saved.
1John 5:12 says that we have life as long as we have Jesus.
That is why, in calling sinners to come to Jesus, the word to use is
repent. Repentance is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It isn't a status quo word; it's a change word.We don't come to Jesus to stay the way we are but to change. The gospel's first invitation to the lost is always a call to repent.John the Baptist called for repentance.
(see Matthew 3:2), as did Jesus(see Matthew 4:17).
And, of course,Peter on the day of Pentecost said, "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."(Acts 3:19). The great revivals in Europe and America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were all based on a call to repent.
But the generation of the twenty-first century resents the call for repentance and prefers to be told that Jesus accepts us just the way we are. We can come to Jesus and still keep our love of the world and sinful habits.
While we initially come to Jesus just as we are for the simple reason that there is no other way for us to come, Jesus immediately begins to change us.
The promise is,
" A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26.