All

 

“All” have sinned,

The Bible points out,

None of us has anything personal

About which we can shout.

 

In Romans 3:23

It is clear to see,

To sin we were all slaves;

Not one of us was free.

 

No golden spoon in the mouth

Is another way to put it,

We were born in sin

And its practice is habit.

 

We’ve “All” fallen short

Of the glory of God

Our actions, attitudes and aspirations

Are shaped by Satan, aka Fraud.

 

Keeping God’s perfect Law

Is impossible for us,

Only one achieved this

And that was Jesus.

 

How could imperfect man

The perfect Law keep?

Whether Jew or Gentile

“All” were wandering sheep.

 

Hence,

“All” have broken God’s perfect Law

And even in our pious religiosity

We are still flawed.

 

Without exception

“All” need a Saviour,

None can save himself

Even on his best behavior.

 

“All” are condemned,

That is how we start

And the only way to change

Is with a change of heart.

 

Only the Lord Jesus

Can perform such a work

If you are hearing the Spirit now,

Heed his alert

 

The Lord Jesus is the one

And only righteous man,

It is through him

That we have salvation’s plan.

 

He is the one

And only Saviour of the world

“All” must come through him

As instructed in God’s Word.

 

None can enter in

Except he be born again

“All” must come by the Cross

Is one hymn’s refrain.

 

The way of the cross leads home,

 “All” must pass this way

And like another song instructs,

Be saved today!

 

Stewart Russell © February 2020

 

This Is Who We Are

 

 

All have sinned

And come short of God’s glory,

Like sheep we’ve all gone astray

And therein is our story.

 

There is none righteous

No, not one

And outside of Jesus Christ

All hope is gone.

 

All our righteous deeds

Are as filthy rags

And there is no merit in us

About which we can brag.

 

“This is who we are”

According to God’s Holy Word,

Scarred by sin and wretched

And our thinking mostly absurd.

 

 

Not that pristine beauty

As is sung in the song

But a long fall from God’s grace

And still plunging down.

 

Trying to rearrange

The design of the Supreme

Thus, making the females male

And the male, beauty queens.

 

Looking in the mirror

And seeing the opposite

But believing however we feel

That is precisely it.

 

Mixed up and confused

But this is the in-thing

As expressed in our various art forms

Especially in what we sing.

 

 

“This is who we are”

Calling good evil and evil good

Knowing full well

We are not behaving as we should.

 

Dishonouring the Father

And mocking the Son

But still calling out to them

When we can’t get things done.

 

Praying that the Father

Would keep us in our sin

And believing it is only a matter

Of how long we pray to Him.

 

“This is who we are”

An unrepentant lot

Measuring the progress made

By the decay and rot.

 

Seeing God as a convenience

To call upon when we want more

But other than that,

“Shut Him out and close the door!”

 

“This is who we are”

An ungrateful, unrepentant lot

Whose hearts once flesh

Are now turned to rock.

 

“To God be the glory

Great things He has done”

Now a mere cliché

In a country that is rundown.

 

God is not judging us

He does not need to that,

We have done that only too well

And that is a fact.

 

 

“This is who we are”

Will be no better than the song

Unless we return to God

And let Him fix what is wrong.

 

“This is who we are”

The Government’s appraisal or God’s?

One of them is true

The other is the appraisal of a fraud.

 

Stewart Russell © February 11, 2021

No HEAVEN Without SALVATION

 

What’s all this talk about SALVATION?

And all this musing about redemption

What’s all this deliberation about HEAVEN?

And this fuss about the need to be forgiven?

Is there for a fact only one single way?

Aren’t all religions just as effective today?

What is all this talk about being a sinner?

And that from my birth I was in sin a beginner?

Couldn’t I receive this SALVATION if I behave?

Can’t I keep the Ten Commandments to be saved?

And what about Lucifer who is now the Knave?

And in Adam and Eve we all became depraved?

This is more than a mouthful for me to swallow,

My way of reasoning won’t allow me to follow,

Such a bogus story so nonsensical and shallow

That I refuse in such hocus-pocus to wallow.

If this is your stance then a sorry mess you’re in,

There is nothing hocus-pocus about your sin,

The Bible says it’s a fact and we had better believe

That it is only in Jesus that we can be relieved.

I pray today that this is beginning to sink in

How from Adam and Eve we are all born in sin

And it doesn’t matter where we live on this earth

To receive SALVATION there must be a spiritual rebirth.

Don’t dismiss all this yet, certainly not right now

For in the next few stanzas I will show you how

Such SALVATION can be yours and with it HEAVEN

And you can be truly and eternally be forgiven.

All have sinned according to Romans 3 verse 23

And the soul that sins is worthy of death eternally,

That is the sinner’s just recompense, both you and I

So declared the Almighty God and in Him is no lie.

Yet God in His justice also demonstrated His mercy

When Jesus died on the cross for both you and me,

From that day all believing sinners would be forgiven

Everlasting life would be theirs and at last HEAVEN.

  

A believing sinner, is that what I just heard?

Yes you heard correctly and it’s found in God’s Word

That he who comes to Him must believe He exists

For God rewards everyone who Him no longer resists.

So acknowledge that you are a sinner; do it today!

Acknowledge your need of the Saviour; no longer delay, 

Confess your sins to the Father; this is the Bible’s way

Any contrary instruction and you’d still be astray.

Repent of your sins for this is your godly sorrow,

Trust the crucified Saviour and as Lord you must follow,

For with the heart a man believeth unto SALVATION

And the witness of that change is unashamed confession.

You see this SALVATION is not really about a plan

Instead this SALVATION is really about a man,

It is the man Christ Jesus whom his own denounced

But Saviour of the world whom the angels announced.

That is why there is SALVATION in no other name

Read Acts 4:12 and you’ll see it there proclaimed,

Jesus God’s Son bore the cross, the anguish and pain

So that each poor lost sinner could be reclaimed.

A critical point before I bring this poem to an end

Is the serious nature of our sin debt, my friend,

It’s not to be taken lightly as so many do today

As they try to by pass it and come in another way.

There is no change when some claim conversion

Because regarding their sin there was no confession,

Regarding the good news sin is the bad news part

That must be dealt with before the good news start.

There can be no SALVATION unless your sin you confess

Then turning away from such sin is critical I stress,

And accepting Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord

Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in the light of the Word.

Then and only then can you be a candidate for HEAVEN

Being born again you become enlisted in the kingdom,

SALVATION is then yours; there is surely no doubt

SALVATION now and HEAVEN to come; Hallelujah let’s shout!

Stewart Russell © 2016