Christ saves without terms and conditions.

Believers, consider the life of Jesus as recorded in the gospels. The sinners and tax collectors were the ones that He was comfortable with. The ostracized, hopeless and helpless thieves, lepers, blind, dead, prostitutes, adulterers, demon-possessed and those who were barred from entering the Temple because of their conditions or their lifestyle could receive from Him, and freely too. He was and still is OF EFFECT in the lives of those who are in this category and who look to Him ALONE for salvation. He saved then and still saves now without terms and conditions like "go and fast first." Only believe.

But the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees could not receive from Him. They believed that their own obedience to the Ten Commandments, various fasts and good works were their lifeline to receiving from God; They depended on their own (self) righteousness to save them and rejected Christ's freely given salvation. Christ was of NO EFFECT to them. Remember Galatians 5:4-

"Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."

See the NLT version: "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace."

But Paul did not write the letter where this verse is taken from to the Pharisees or teachers of religious law. He wrote it to the Christians in Galatia who had been hoodwinked by false preachers into thinking that Christ's death on the cross is not enough to redeem them from the curse of the law and give them everlasting righteousness and eternal life; see Galatians 3. False teachers were telling the Galatians that they had to obey the Ten Commandments, fast, pay tithes and do other religious stuff as written in the law of Moses or else no salvation! Sounds like a sermon in many churches today. Paul told them in v1-5:

"Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of His death on the cross.

2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.

3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ."

And this is the message that they heard about Christ preached by the same Paul: Acts 13:38-39-

"So let it be clearly known and understood by you, brethren, that through this Man forgiveness and removal of sins is now proclaimed to you;

39 And that through Him everyone who believes [who acknowledges Jesus as his Savior and devotes himself to Him] is absolved (cleared and freed) from every charge from which he could not be justified and freed by the Law of Moses and given right standing with God."

If you look closely, the doctrine of the Pharisees who could not receive from Christ is no different from what is being preached in many places of worship today: obey the law, fast, tithe, do good things, etc so that you can get right with God and then He can bless you. This doctrine of the Pharisees has been amended to accommodate "in Jesus' name" which is tacked on to the end of each prayer point but the premise of "keep the law to get right with God" is still key. The righteousness that Christ died that we might have is rejected by many who profess Christ for that righteousness which comes from puny attempts at obeying the law by which no one can ever be made right with God according to Romans 3:20.

Here, salvation still depends on what a person must do and not what Christ has done. This is a mixture of law and grace, the "neither hot nor cold" that Christ spoke of in Revelation 3. Believers, this is not Christianity. This is the broad road that leads to destruction and Satan who came to steal, to kill and to destroy is doing his best trying to keep people focused on the doing the "good thing" called obeying the law in order to be godly (be like God.) Same strategy he used with Eve, but just like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the result is death. The letter kills.

Believers, God hates sin but He loves the sinner. He Himself made provision for our salvation from our sins as it is written in Matt. 1:21- "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Remember Romans 5:19- "For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous."

Your sins aren't what makes you a sinner. Adam's disobedience sealed that deal long before you were born. Laudable as they are, our efforts at trying to obey the law in order to become righteous (be like God: only He is righteous) just won't cut it, "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." Romans 3:20.

Like the tree that Adam and Eve ate of, the law, from which proceeds the knowledge of good and evil, only exposes the nakedness of those who try to obey it in a bid to be godly (shows us how sinful we are.)

Beloved of God, let our Saviour Jesus Christ clothe you with His robe of righteousness that He died so that you might freely receive. Let go and let Him love you into wholeness and salvation. See Romans 5:17-

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

In Him, not only do we get to live in triumph over sin, we also get to reign over death in all its ramifications (fear, stress, worry, anxiety, oppression, depression, silly mistakes, lack, sickness, fast-tracked ageing, any ill by whatever name it is called, physical death and the second death)

Amazing Grace. He is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ!