A Gift For You From Jesus And You Don't Deserve It!

A GIFT FOR YOU FROM JESUS AND YOU DON'T DESERVE IT!

(And Neither Do I!)

By Rev. Johnny Lee Clary





I was speaking in a school the other day in Canberra, Australia and a young lady kept asking questions about what have I done to make up to all the people I hurt while in the KKK twenty years ago. The questions along that nature kept coming. I knew she didn’t understand what the Blood of Jesus represents in the area of forgiveness so I tried to explain. It is not just this young lady that asks those types of questions but I always get emails from others asking the same thing or see comments posted on various websites pertaining to my forgiveness which secular people and even some Christians just do not seem to understand.

According to some, I need to go bury my head in the sand in shame for being a member of the KKK for all those years, or I need to spend the rest of my life going to each and every person who is a different race than White, beg their forgiveness, and see what I can do to make it all up to them. Perhaps I should make some nice fruit baskets, (White folks are good at making fruit baskets according to comedian Chris Rock) and go around the world giving them to every person of a different color than me, and then perhaps God will show mercy on me.

The Bible says in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” You see I was given a free gift from God. I could not earn it, and I certainly did not deserve it, but God gave it to me anyway, because I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and asked His forgiveness for my many sins. He paid the price for my sins when He went to the cross for me. In the old days before Jesus came to the Earth to pay the price for sin, when people sinned they had to shed innocent blood of animals such as an unblemished sheep for the atonement of sin. That poor little lamb lost its life due to man’s sin as payment. The law stated without the shedding of blood there was no remission or absolving of sins. (Hebrews 9:22) When Jesus came He went to the cross and paid the ultimate price as He was the Lamb of God, unblemished and without sin. “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away sin from this world!” (John 1:29) Therefore Jesus was the only one who could pay such a price. He died ONE time for ALL. He said “It is finished,” while hanging on the cross which meant “Price is paid in full.” (Hebrews 7:26-27)

The Bible clearly states, “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Then in Romans 3:10 it states “There is none righteous no not even ONE!” The word righteous means “Right standing with God.” Now since Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death, then all of us deserve death, but thank God He does not give us what we deserve when we accept what His Son did for us on the cross. Instead He gives us a gift of eternal life and no one can take that away from you, ever! You can throw it away and tell God you don’t want it by rejecting Jesus and the finished work He did on the cross, but once you accept it, it is yours.

"By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

My wife Melissa and I visited some dear friends of ours Tom and Lisa Locker in Perth, Australia and were guests in their beautiful home last year. Melissa suggested that we go to the market and get them a gift. We did. We purchased something for their backyard gazebo because they like to spend a lot of time there. That became their gift the moment they accepted it from us. It is theirs and theirs alone. No one can lay claim to it and take it from them because it would be stealing if they did and the gift would still belong to Tom and Lisa. Therefore, when God gives you the gift of eternal life, the Word of God says in John 10:29 that once you have been given to Jesus that no one can snatch you out of His hand.

Now either you are going to believe the Word of God or you are not. There are no in-betweens. "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7).

You are calling the Word of God a lie if you say anything different. Jesus took each and every one of my sins and yours too, past, present and future to the cross with Him to be crucified. His blood made atonement for all of our sins. When Jesus hung on the cross, He didn’t say “Damn these people Father,” but He said “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” He didn’t deserve to die on that cross for you and me, but He did it so we could be reconciled to the Father and so we would not be roasted in the lake of fire for eternity in torment from the flames of Hell.

It is like if you were sentenced to die in the electric chair for something you did, and the Padre asks you if you have any last words and then they go to pull the lever when the phone rings and the warden yells, “Stop! Don’t pull that lever! Cut that person loose!” Then as they are un-strapping you from the electric chair, the warden tells you “You are free to leave. Someone else is taking your place.” Then you look and Jesus walks in and they strap Him in the chair and He looks at you with a tear in His eye, and pays the penalty for YOUR crime.

That is what Jesus did for both you and I. Your sins were just as great as mine in the KKK in God’s eyes. Why? Because Jesus paid the same exact penalty for you as He did for me. What happened to Jesus was injustice. He should not have had to die for our sins but He did so anyway so we could be reconciled to God.

And you know what? All you have to do to receive this gift is to repent of your sins and ask Him to forgive you and commit your life to Him and in return He will give you eternal life. That’s your gift.

Jesus paid for it. You and I didn’t, so enjoy it.

© Johnny Lee Clary Ministries