"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Company F was advancing in dense jungle northwest of Cam Lo in an effort to extract a heavily besieged reconnaissance patrol. Pfc. Anderson's platoon was the lead element and had advanced only about 200 meters when they were brought under extremely intense enemy small-arms and automatic-weapons fire. The platoon reacted swiftly, getting on line as best they could in the thick terrain, and began returning fire. Pfc. Anderson found himself tightly bunched together with the other members of the platoon only 20 meters from the enemy positions. As the firefight continued several of the men were wounded by the deadly enemy assault. Suddenly, an enemy grenade landed in the midst of the marines and rolled alongside Pfc. Anderson's head. Unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his personal safety, he reached out, grasped the grenade, pulled it to his chest and curled around it as it went off. Although several marines received shrapnel from the grenade, his body absorbed the major force of the explosion. In this singularly heroic act, Pfc. Anderson saved his comrades from serious injury and possible death. His personal heroism, extraordinary valor, and inspirational supreme self-sacrifice reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country."
On days like Veterans Day, Independence Day, and Flag Day we honor the countless sacrifices of servicemen for this nation, and Memorial Day is set aside to honor men like Anderson who gave the ultimate sacrifice. To these people we owe a lifelong debt of gratitude for our safety and freedoms. These holidays remind us of Jesus' words, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
If Pfc. Anderson did come home after the war, he would have found an ungrateful country and a hateful reception like the other Vietnam veterans. We can only imagine the effect on those soldiers. Most could never have expected to be dishonored so disgracefully.
There is another who gave the ultimate sacrifice. He did, however, expect the ungratefulness and hatred. As Romans 5:8 describes, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." You see, Jesus Himself paid the ultimate sacrifice, and He did this full well knowing our hatred and rejection of Him. But you'll never know the significance of His sacrifice until you understand 3 truths and make 1 decision. From what little we know about Anderson, he would have wanted you to hear just this message.
#1 The Problem of Sin
God's standard is absolute perfection. He calls it holiness. God tells us, "Be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16), and "be perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).
People often object, "no one is perfect!" Nothing could be more true, but this is exactly the problem! Think right now about the nicest and best people you know. Are any of them perfect? Of course not, and the Bible agrees. It says, "there is not a just man upon earth, that does good and sins not" (Ecclesiastes 7:20).
Nobody's perfect, we get that, but what is sin? God defines sin as "lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). In other words, sin is disobeying God's Law (doing what God says not to do, and not doing what God says to do). Let's consider some examples of God's Law for which you might be guilty.
A few of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5):
"Honor your father and mother" Have you ever snapped at your parents or disobeyed them? Have you ever disregarded their advice or ridiculed them? These are all forms of dishonor for which the Law here condemns us.
"Do not commit adultery" Have you ever had sex with someone other than your spouse? If yes, you have disobeyed this law. But Jesus said about this commandment that he that "looks at a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28). If that's you, God calls you an adulterer/adulteress.
"Do not steal" This includes both robbery and cheating. Have you ever stolen something from someone else (big or small)? Have you ever left the store without paying? Have you ever cheated your employer on your timesheet at work? If so, God calls you a thief.
"Do not murder" Most people understand murder to be a terrible sin. Have you ever wrongly killed another human being? Have you ever killed an unborn child? God would consider either of these things murder, but even if you have never physically murdered someone, Jesus describes hatred as equally murderous (Matthew 5:21). Have you ever had hatred in your heart against another person? If so, God calls you a murderer.
"Do not bear false witness" The idea here is lying. Have you ever lied? God calls you a liar.
"Do not covet" Coveting is desiring someone or something that does not belong to you. We have all done this. We are all guilty of being covetous.
The above are just a few of the commands found in God's Law. If we are being honest, all of us could say that we are lying, thieving, murdering, covetous, adulterers.
Since God's standard is perfection, perfection is the requirement to live with Him in eternity. Maybe you think you are not that bad. "Overall, I'm a pretty good person," you would say. Even so, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). In other words, you have already missed the standard of God's perfection by sinning, and your sin has already separated you from God (Isaiah 59:2). Nothing you do for yourself can reverse that.
This first truth raises a question. Answer honestly. If this were all you knew–that God's standard is absolute perfection, and yet you have sinned–would you live with God for eternity?
#2 The Penalty of Sin
Our situation is even worse because not only does our imperfection disqualify us from an eternity with God, it causes our judgment. God says that "the wages of (compensation for) sin is death" (Romans 6:23).
Think right now about someone you love. Imagine for a moment that he or she was walking down the streets of Waukesha one night. Suddenly, a criminal jumps out of the dark and mercilessly beats them, rapes them, and slits their throat.
When that criminal stands before the judge to answer for his crimes, what do you suppose a good judge will do? Maybe he tells the judge, "Hey, judge, that was a really long time ago. Look, I've turned my life around, and I've even given a million dollars to charity!" What will a good judge do?
The answer is obvious. A good judge will make that criminal pay for his crimes to the full extent of the law, no matter how many good deeds he did to try to cover it up. The same is true of our sins. God makes it clear that each of us are "storing up" for ourselves "wrath" by racking up a debt of sin, and that He will "render to every man according to his works" (Romans 2:5–6).* He also says, "It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27), and that "whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:15). In fact, God promises that "all liars will have their part in the lake which burns with fire and sulfur" (Revelation 21:8).
In other words, when you die and stand before God, the debt-mountain of sin built up over your lifetime will come crashing down and sweep you away into hell. Good judges who do right do not overlook crimes, and God is no different. "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25).
If you were to die today, where would you go? Does that concern you?
#3 The Payment for Sin
Thankfully, Jesus died for us. That is good news! "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). God came to earth in human form in the person of Jesus Christ, so that He could pay the penalty.
After coming and living a perfect life, Jesus allowed Himself like a "lamb without blemish and spotless" to be "led to the slaughter" (1 Peter 1:19; Isaiah 53:7). When Jesus died on the cross, He "bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24), and "suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh..." (1 Peter 3:18). In other words, Jesus took upon Himself every sin we ever committed, every sin we are committing, and every sin we will ever commit by taking our place of judgment. Then, the wrath of God was poured out upon Him. He who "knew no sin" was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21).
People rightly say, "freedom is not free," because there is a price. The price is always blood. Pfc. Anderson spilled his blood to secure the life of his fellow soldiers, and the national freedoms we all enjoy were paid for with blood.
The same applies to our spiritual freedom. "Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22). In order to satisfy on our behalf His own perfection, God paid the price of blood through Jesus Christ. Then to prove that He was satisfied with the payment, God raised Him from the grave the third day, just as Jesus foretold. Jesus is alive! No other religion has quite the claim over resurrection power that was proven by Jesus' resurrection.
#4 The Decision of Faith
Unlike a national citizenship, your heavenly citizenship is not automatic. God will never force a person to accept His gift of eternal and spiritual freedom. When talking about the penalty of sin we saw that the "wages of sin is death." The rest of that statement is, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). God wants to save you from the penalty of sin by giving you the eternal life that Jesus paid for and demonstrated.
"For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8–9). Perhaps you celebrate Christmastime with gifts. When you give a gift to friends and family, what do you expect them to do with it? All you really expect out of them is that they receive it. Suppose that you gave a gift, and all the recipient could do was to boast about how good they were to you to receive that gift. They told all their friends about the hard work they put in as your friend to earn your generosity, or maybe they tried to pay you money for the gift. You would be a little insulted, no doubt!
The same goes for the gift of Jesus. "As many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name" (John 1:12). People often claim that "we are all children of God," but no one has the authority to say that until receiving Jesus by faith.
Now, faith and belief are synonyms for a simple idea, dependence. Put another way, salvation is a decision of trust. You cannot work for salvation. You cannot earn it. You cannot do anything for salvation. It would be an insult. Jesus wants you to simply depend on Him.
Jesus began His ministry with the words, "Repent, and believe the Good News!" (Mark 1:15). Repent is simply the idea that you need to change your mind about trying to earn salvation by being a good person. As we have seen, it's impossible to earn. Believe is the idea that you need to trust Jesus alone. Receive the free gift. Romans 10:13 says, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Are you willing to receive His free gift? Call upon Him to save you from the penalty of sin, trusting Him alone to save you and give you eternal life.
Jesus promises, "And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand" (John 10:28).
We want to hear from you! Please let us know that you just received Jesus as Savior so that we can celebrate with you, and help you with your next steps as a new believer.
Bible Way Baptist Church might be the group for you. Visit our homepage to learn more about us, including what we believe and when and where we meet together.
Prayer Requests
Bible Way would love to pray for you! Please allow us the opportunity to share in your burden and to bring it before the Lord.
