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I was once an enemy of God. In my heart, I ran from him. In my mind, I
rebelled against him. In my soul, I thought my way was infinitely better
then his. I could be the king of my own life and rule it far better then
any person or deity.


However, I was wrong. I was dead in my sin. A sinner who's penalty for
breaking the Law of God was death. Not only did I break the laws of God but
also the laws of Man. I share the same fate as the rest of creation, to die
due to the sin curse befallen mankind. I had no autonomous free will as I
thought I had. The only thing I could do naturally and without thought, was
sin. I could do the occasional good thing and make it seem like I was good
person but I was no saint. I sinned not only against God but also my fellow
man.


I look back on how I was, how truly wretched and evil my own heart was. The
worst part, at least in my mind, was that I tried to cover my sinful and
unrighteous heart under the guise of my own self-made virtue. No one who
looked at me normally could tell just how truly depraved I was. I was the
chief of sinners because no other mortal could ever comprehend the depths
of the sin that lied in my heart.


But for some reason, God, in his infinite mercy and grace, thought enough
of me to save me. To reach down and pull me out of my darkness, to give
life to this dead man. There is no reason I could ever come up for why he
did what he did. In me, there is no special something that somehow I can
point to and say "yes this is why I got into heaven. I did it because of
something that I had naturally". If I did, I would be an utter fool. My
type of holiness, my garments of self-righteousness, were nothing in the
eyes of a holy and just God.


He thought enough of me, an enemy, rebel, liar, thief, blasphemer, sinner,
to send his own Son to save me. His Son, who knew no sin, became sin for me
to pay my debt, to pay the price I could never hope to pay.


When I think of the words "amazing grace", it holds a much different sound
then it did many years ago. They were foreign to me. I wondered "why do I
need grace?" When I read the Bible and saw how it described man, I thought
to myself "hey...that sounds kinda like...me. But I'm a good person! I go
to church, I obey my parents, I'm nice to people. That should be enough to
get into heaven right?"


I was so very wrong. I couldnt save myself, even if I wanted to and God
knew this. He knew -Atma- couldnt save himself, so he condescended to me,
the rebellious creation, to save my soul. His Son, nailed to a tree,
thought it was worth it to not only die for my sins, but also the sins of
all mankind.


An enemy of God is what we all were at one time, Christians are no
different. They are still sinners, just like everyone else. They still go
off and do their own thing, like everyone else. Some think they can do
everything all on their own, like some others do. I was justified, made
right in the eyes of a Sovereign King, not by my own merit, but through
Christ. This my friends, is the Good News, the Gospel. That any who desire
salvation from their sins, need but call on God and ask them to save them
from their sins and he will no wise reject them.