Have you ever heard someone use the phrase, “don’t get mad; get even”? What they are really saying is that if you feel someone has wronged you, the thing to do is not to get angry with them, but to rectify the situation by getting justice. It is the old eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth principle.

Did you know that when you sin, God does not get mad at you? Yes, God hates sin, but He does not hate sinners. However, God does demand that justice for each and every sin be carried out. Justice is “the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals.” In effect, it is simply “getting even.”

Throughout our lives, each of us has faced acts of justice because of our wrongdoings: a parent chastising us for disobedience, a teacher sending us to detention for not being cooperative in the classroom, and as we got older, law enforcement having to give us a ticket for driving faster than what the law says we are supposed to drive on the highway. This administration of justice is what keeps our society running in a harmonious manner.

Justice must be administered in the area of our personal relationship with God as well. The Bible tells us that God is a just God. Deuteronomy 32:4 says, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” Because of our sins, we each must face justice from God.

From the beginning of the Bible to the end, the penalty (or judgment) for sin is physical death and eternal punishment in a place of fire and torment called Hell. God warned the first man, Adam, of the consequences of breaking his laws. He said, “for in the day that thou eatest [the forbidden fruit] thou shalt surely die.” During the thousands of years that followed, God repeatedly made the consequences of sin and disobedience clear. In Romans 1:32, he said, “they which commit such [sins] are worthy of death.” Death is the judgment for sin. It is the way justice is administered.

Because God is perfect and holy, his justice must be served, and sinners have to pay the consequences for their sins. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…” And Ezekiel 18:20 says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

However, because God loves us, He does not want to leave us in our sinfulness, waiting our entire lives to be punished by death and then to go to Hell to suffer forever. So, he decided to do something about it.

The ultimate and only solution was for a perfect person of untainted character who did not deserve judgment to take the place of someone who did. The only Person who meets this criteria is God’s sinless, perfect Son, Jesus Christ. So Jesus sacrificed himself in our place — for our sins — and took God’s punishment for us when he died. First Thessalonians 1:10 tells us that, “Jesus delivered us from the wrath to come.”

Jesus died to take on himself the penalty for our sin. He paid the penalty of death — he literally took our place. He paid for our sins with his own blood so God could give His righteousness to those who believe in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “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.”

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we do not have to suffer the eternal punishment for our sins. Rather, we become clothed in Christ’s righteousness, and we can live a new life in fellowship with God.

I encourage you to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior today. Please take the following steps.

First, you must recognize that your sins have separated you from God. Even though Adam and Eve were the first to sin, we must each take responsibility for our own actions. And the Bible says, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” In honest repentance agree with God about your sinfulness and admit your need for forgiveness. First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Second, you must realize that God loves you, and believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins—taking the punishment you deserve. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the only thing that makes it possible for God to forgive us of our sins and allow us to live in the coming Kingdom of Jesus Christ for eternity.

Third, you must accept Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin and sin’s consequences by believing that he died, was buried, and rose again, and receiving Him into your life by faith. Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you accept Jesus Christ into your heart, you will begin a relationship with God that will last for eternity. You will become a child of God with a home in Heaven where you will spend eternity. If you want to begin this relationship right now, you can pray a short prayer to let God know that you have decided to trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour so that you can spend eternity with Him. Please repeat after me and mean it from your heart.

Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today and forever. Amen.

If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and you prayed that prayer and meant it from your heart, I declare to you that based upon the Word of God, you are now saved and you are on your way to Heaven. Welcome to the family of God! I want to congratulate you on doing the most important thing in life and that is receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

Believe by faith. Share the faith. And keep the faith! God Bless You!