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.
The question is asked in Acts 16:30, "...what must I do to be saved?" I would ask the question for your consideration this morning, "what must I do to be lost?" Surely, it must be some horrendous action that would cause me to be lost; separated from God because of that sin. It must be some murder or the like that would cause me to be condemned. I'm not too bad of a person. I don't think that "lost" thing applies to me. The actual answer to the question is, you don't have to do anything to be lost. You are already lost. Because of that truth, you need a Savior.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Our condemned condition is because we are all positionally in Adam. His disobedience plunged all his descendants into the category of sinners. Yes, we are guilty of sin because we have all sinned by our own actions (Romans 3:23) but we are also sinners because of our fallen sin nature. That puts us at enmity with God. ("Enmity" is a position of opposing hatred. We are the enemies of God because of sin.)
God is holy and holiness cannot fellowship with unrighteousness. (2 Corinthians 6:14) Since we are "condemned already," we need a way, an advocate, a sacrifice, a Savior. The unrighteous cannot do enough to become righteous. We are "condemned already" because we are all guilty and the guilty cannot change their guilt. We need a Savior outside of ourselves that can redeem us and reconcile us to a Holy God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
Let me conclude by making this statement. If you don't need to do anything to be lost, then you are “condemned already” and in need of a Savior. If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior, please trust him today. There can come a time when it is too late. If you do know him as your Savior, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. How wonderful it is to no longer be counted among the “condemned already” crowd.
In Christ’s Service,
Bro. Adrian Moore
2 Cor. 4:5
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