Published by admin on 07 Aug 2007 at 04:37 pm
SAINTS AND AIN’TS
On the surface, what is the difference between “Saints” and “Ain’ts”? Well, very simply put, only this; if you’re “saved”, or “born again”, you’re a Saint. If not, you “Ain’t”. Funny how just one letter can make all the difference. The letter “S” in this case stands for “Salvation”. Just adding “Salvation” to someone who “ain’t” instantly turns them into a “Saint”. Sort of like adding water to instant oatmeal. I guess instant oatmeal could be eaten dry, but who would want to? And who would want to go through life as an “Ain’t” when they could be a “Saint”? Good question.
But maybe I need to present it differently. Perhaps showing the differences between the two might make the consequences clearer. Of course, I presume this letter is going out to primarily Saints, but most all of us know those who “Ain’t”. And it’s really for the sake of the “Ain’ts” that I’m writing this, anyway. For the Saint who is too bashful to explain the benefits of being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ to someone who “Ain’t”, handing them this article might just lead them to Jesus. Now, let’s get started looking at the benefits of being a Saint.
First off, becoming a Saint is easy. He or she can be any age as long as they can make a rational decision, any race, of any National origin, gender, or location, and Salvation is not dependent on whether you are well educated or not. However, the Lord Jesus, who made being a Saint possible for us, did not have it so easy. He died a horrible death on a cross, so that we could be saved. Obviously, Jesus knew something that we don’t know, that motivated Him to endure such shame and excruciating pain. On top of that, He suffered for US, not Himself. Wow, there really MUST be something going on then, that He would be willing to sacrifice His own life for us. And there is. What then? The heavenly Father’s love!
If knowing that even ONE sin would forever shut Him out of heaven and prevent Him from ever seeing His Father again was not enough motivation to live a sinless life, knowing if He failed would forever prevent YOU from being saved WAS! You see, sin, which also starts with the letter “S”, is why the “Ain’ts” are not “Saints”. Sin separates us from God, plain and simple, and Jesus knew that. And He knew that we, if shown the big picture, would not choose to be separated from God. Add to that, the problem of us not being able to do anything about our sin problem, and we can readily see our need for a Savior. Lord Jesus, that’s your cue…. Oh, we can see from the Bible exactly what sin is. It is the transgression of God’s law. We can even decide then NOT to sin. Problem is, it’s in our very nature to sin. We were born with a very selfish, rebellious nature, and if you don’t believe me, just put two babies on the floor and give them one toy. One of them will grab it, and the other will be crying in no time. Why? Because we are just hard-wired that way, from the factory, so to speak.
Like I said, Jesus knew something we don’t. And He had something we don’t. He knew we couldn’t go to the Father, except by Him, and He had something we didn’t….the ticket to heaven, a perfect, sinless life that would be acceptable to His Father. Now, the Bible says without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin, so blood had to be shed. And not just any old blood. It had to be perfect blood, sinless. It had to be….. HIS blood. Surely there must be some other way, right? There must be another path to the Father. The scripture even says Jesus prayed asking His Father if there was another way. But there wasn’t. All paths do not lead to heaven. There is only ONE path, and that is by the blood of the Lord Jesus. It would cost Jesus His life to make you a Saint. Does that make you a Saint? Not yet. There’s still one thing preventing it. YOU! Yes, that’s right.
I remember years ago being in Lincoln National Forest and seeing Smokey the Bear holding a sign: “Only YOU can prevent forest fires!” And jokingly I thought, “Only forest fires prevent bears”. But there’s a similarity here. Only YOU can prevent your salvation. Not that it would be wise to do so. Just as Smokey the Bear wanted to save the forest, burning off the forest would get rid of Smokey, who wanted to save it. Jesus already fulfilled the requirements to pay in your behalf so you wouldn’t have to, but you have to choose to want that payment applied to your sin. We’re getting close to salvation here, don’t stop now. Say you decide to make Jesus your Lord and Savior, now what?
Well then, it’s time to find out what’s Saint, and what ain’t. It is written in Psalm 103:2-3, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases.” That means two things right off the bat, number one, you just lost all your sins. Every one of them, past, present, and future. AND, if that wasn’t enough to get you excited, you lost all your diseases, too. All of them, period.
About this time, some of you who are saved may be saying, Hey, I’m saved, but I’m sick. What about me? Glad you asked! Remember, I said “two things”? Well, sickness is definitely “number two”, if you know what I mean. But you don’t have to put up with it any longer if you’re saved. You can get rid of sickness and disease the same way you get rid of sin, exactly the same way. Put it under the blood. Why? Because Jesus paid for you to go free from it. Remember, you’re a Saint, not an Ain’t. A Saint has NO BUSINESS with anything that belongs to the devil, and we all know sickness and disease are part of the curse that is spoken of in Deuteronomy 28. Plain and simple, a Saint ain’t got any business with any part of the curse.
Ain’t has no covenant with God. That means “far away” from God. How far is far away? I don’t know, and I don’t ever want to find out. No cleansing from sin. No citizenship in the family of God. No connection with the heavenly Father. No confidence for the future. No hope of heaven. Ephesians 2:12 says it like this:
“That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”
That’s an “Ain’t”. Sort of like drawing the “chance” card in the Monopoly game: Go straight to hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200. I don’t want any part of that, do YOU??? Didn’t think so. Let’s read on;
“But NOW in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”
That’s a Saint. If you aren’t covered by the blood of Christ, “you ain’t”. If you’re a Saint, you are heir to all the promises and blessings written in the Bible. In other words, you have it all! If you’re a Saint, you’ll never have to worry about what will happen to you if you ain’t. But this isn’t a game of Monopoly where you draw a “chance” card. It’s real life, and you choose where you will spend eternity.
Choose wisely! Because you are either a Saint, or you Ain’t.