1. Everybody is a sinner. Rom. 3:10, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Rom. 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
   
   a. This says that I am a sinner, my partner is a sinner, and you are a, (let them answer it.)
   
   b. Example: 3 apple trees: If I had 1 tree with bushels of apples, the next
   Had only a dozen, and the third had only 1 apple that never matured and finally fell off the tree. They all 3 are still apple trees. One person may have a life full of sin and another may have very little sin but he is still a sinner.
   
   c. Example: a dog is not a dog because he barks, (I can bark but that
   Doesn’t make me a dog); he barks because he is a dog. Sinning doesn’t make me a sinner, I sin because I am a sinner. Rom. 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:

Do you understand that you are a sinner? (If they don’t, no need to go any further; Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

2. There is a price on sin. Rom. 6:23a, “3For the wages of sin is death;”
   
   a. The Bible talks of two deaths; physical, (this body will die) and spiritual
   The spirit is dead already because of sin. Eph. 2:1-6 So, there is a spiritual death, what is it? Rev. 20:14, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”
   
   b. Note: the payment on sin is not to live a good life, or some of us might could pay it. The payment is not to read the Bible everyday or we could pay it. The payment is death and that is why we must die physically and spiritually and that is why Christ had to die; He was paying our debt.
   
   
3. Christ died for us Rom. 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
   
   a. He took our punishment. Isa. 53:4-6 Here the Bible says that God literally put all of our punishment on Him.
   
   b. Example: if my younger son did something wrong and I were to punish him, but his older brother said, “Dad, let me take his punishment.” If I agreed and punished the older son what would happen to the younger son, who is the one who really did the wrong?
   
   He would walk away free of punishment even though he is the one that did the wrong. 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.” Why is he not condemned? Because Christ took his punishment.
   
   Now it wouldn’t be just for me to have punished them both when the little one is who did the wrong. God is more just than I am. John 5:24
   
   “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
   
   c. He carried our sins in His body on the cross. 1 Pet. 2:24
   
   d. He paid a debt that He did not owe for us who owe a debt we cannot pay.
   
   e. Do you understand that Christ paid your sin debt in full? 1 Jn 1:7,
   the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
   
   
4. How does this payment apply personally to me? Rom. 10:9,10,13, 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. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Vs 13, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
   
   a. He paid our debt and now just wants us to believe, or trust in Him. 50 times the Bibles say, ‘he that believeth in the Son, hath ever lasting life.” Hath, now might have or will have, but hath right now. 160 times the Bibles says that we are saved, justified, redeemed, forgiven, etc by faith in Jesus Christ. John, 3:16, 36; 5:24;
   
   b. Example: the 2 thieves on the cross. Luke 23:39-43
   Both men were had lived a wicked life. Both men were dying as a consequence of the life they had lived. Both men were not at the door of death and had no time now to go out and do a bunch of good works in order to be saved. They couldn’t even be baptized. There is only one difference between these two men. That was that one put his trust in Christ and the other did not. Luke 23:39-43. If the Lord gave eternal life to this man for trusting in him, he will certainly do the same for you.
   
   c. 1 John 5:10-12 “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” Notice that this passage says nothing about our behavior, it simply says that life is in the Son and if you have the Son you automatically have life also and if you do not have the Son in your heart, (it does not matter how good you think you are), you do not have life.
   
   Please open your heart and trust only in Jesus Christ and the work He did on the cross for you and in His resurrection. He promises to give you eternal life and He cannot lie. Titus 1:2