When a Christian talks about their personal testimony they might make witness of a Damascus Road experience (the Apostle Paul met Jesus in a blinding flash of light on his way to Damascus to arrest the Christians there) or an Emmaus Road experience (two dejected disciples of Christ had everything explained to them from Scripture by a stranger, who turned out to be Jesus Himself raised from the dead) when coming to faith – like both accounts above, Jesus was right there with you either way.
If you have a Damascus Road experience it is a dramatic event; saved from addiction, while in prison, on the battlefield, or from the brink itself. Suddenly in the midst of the total mess of life, Jesus shows up and that’s it, your life is dramatically transformed, never the same again. These can make for great stories, telling of God’s wonderful mercy to a sinner saved from the gates of hell.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”
Romans 6:23
However, there are some of us for whom, whilst not exactly ‘saints’, we are far from being criminal masterminds either; one day, after a period of searching, the whole thing just makes sense to you and that’s it, believing in Him is like the most natural thing in the world. This was an Emmaus Road experience. Our stories can seem to us perhaps ordinary, or even boring by comparison. But all are saved by the amazing grace of God and every new life in Christ is an amazing miracle.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
However you came to Christ, looking back you may realise that you were very far from God, that your heart was darkened to the things of God, and when compared with God’s perfect requirements, found wanting – even though you may have even considered yourself a good person.
The perfect requirements for salvation are great ‘levellers’, because the fact is that ‘all have sinned’ [Romans 3:23] and fall utterly short. We all need the salvation that God offers through Christ, because ‘all are guilty’ [Romans 3:19] and, ‘there is none righteous [enough to come to God]’ [Romans 3:10]. We are unable to meet the perfect requirements and save ourselves, so we need a perfect righteousness given that only Christ can offer.
“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”
Romans 5:6
We exchange our guilt, fallenness and sin for His perfect righteousness – in the greatest substitution of all time, He ‘literally’ takes our sin upon Himself, and replaces it with His perfection instead, when we repent. All this is made possible by His sacrifice in our place on the Cross, thereby qualifying us for entry to heaven. The most amazing thing about this free exchange, is that all we have to do is believe.
“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved”
Acts 16:31
Read My Story to see how an ordinary man who thought he was generally a good person came to realise his need of Jesus…
Watch this video: https://youtu.be/KoQMg4-u-wU
Walking With the Word 
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