Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Saturday, April 14, 2024, and this is episode #9 in Season 2024. This episode is titled “Why You Need a Savior.”

Before we begin, I’d like to thank my awesome husband Dr. Dom once again for being such a great guest on my three recent podcasts. Feedback on the interviews has been amazing.

If you haven’t yet listened to my interviews with Dr. Dom, you can check them out at the links in the show notes below:

Interview #1: The Rapture

Interview #2: The Great American Solar Eclipse

Interiew #3: Is the Bible True?

I’d also like to welcome all my new subscribers from around the world. Thank you so much for joining us here on Winning with the Word. We value you very much and trust that we will be a blessing to you.

And now on to today’s podcast.

If you’re at all like me, you grew up hearing the dictum, “There’s no free lunch!” Our parents used to say that over and over again to teach us that we had to work our way through life. And, to a great extent, they were right. Nothing comes to us free of charge. Either we have to pay for it or someone else does.

Take, for example, a college education. Some parents pay for their children’s college education; others do not. In my case, I paid for my own college education by working as a waitress and a store clerk during my college years. This made me appreciate my education all the more. But, it also taught me that it it were to be, it was up to me.

While this attitude—an attitude I call a “works mentality”—served me well in making my way through life, it did not serve me well at all when it came to the salvation of my soul. Why not? Because when I learned that I did not have to work to be saved—that I did not have to work to get into Heaven—the concept was difficult for me to accept. After all, “There’s no free lunch,” right? And, if it’s to be, it’s up to me.

You see, I had been brought up in the Roman Catholic Church that taught that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and that He died to take the punishment for my sins. So far, so good. But this church also taught me that I had to add to what Jesus did for me by performing my own good works. His sacrifice was not enough for me to get into Heaven. My good works would make up the difference. In other words, I needed to help Jesus earn my way to Heaven by doing good works because His way was not enough.

Jesus plus Church Tradition. That’s what we were taught in the Catholic Church. Now, things may have changed today, but that’s what I was taught as I was being brought up in the Catholic Church.

So I spent my life trying to do all the good works I could, to the point of wearing myself out.

One day, it occurred to me that I might never do enough good works to get into Heaven. So I asked a priest how and when I would know if I had done enough good works to earn my entrance into Heaven.

His reply brought me no comfort at all. He said, “After you die, you will know if you’ve done enough good works to get into Heaven.”

Not a helpful thing for him to say. My tacit reply was, “Thanks alot! At that point, if I’ve fallen short of doing enough good works to get into Heaven, it will be too late to do anything about it.”

Moreover, another thought arose in my mind: If I can get into heaven by doing good works, then Jesus died for nothing. The thought startled me, the thought of His having gone through all that suffering for nothing. And it got me thinking hard and long. Certainly Jesus would not have died for nothing. He’s too smart to do that. After all, He’s God.

So I began to explore what exactly happened when Jesus died on the Cross. And here is what I discovered more than half a century ago:

__Man was created by God to live forever with Him.

__God gave man a free will so that man could make choices. Man could choose either God’s way or his own way.

__Man made the fatal choice to choose his own way when he disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. That choice resulted in man’s separation from God.

__When man chose to separate himself from God by going his own way, man forfeited eternal life in exchange for eternal death.

__In choosing to go his own way, man was now stuck. He could never get back into God’s good graces on his own. He needed someone to do it for him.

Why?

__Because in choosing to go his own way, man became corrupt. As a corrupt creature, he could never pay the incorruptible price for sin that was due to the perfectly holy God. In short, man needed someone to do it for him. He needed a Savior.

__That Someone—that Savior—was Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the only one qualified to pay the price of punishment for sin. Why? Because Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man. As God, Jesus was holy and could fulfill the requirements for sin required by the holy God. As man, Jesus was human so he could represent humanity by standing in the gap for us.

So why do you need a Savior? Because you cannot pay the price for your sin. It is a price only Jesus Christ could pay because only He was fully God and fully man.

Sadly, every belief system except Christianity teaches that we have to earn our way to Heaven. So, from the get-go, every belief system except Christianity will fail.

Why?

Because it is impossible for any human being to earn his way to Heaven through his own efforts by doing good works.

Jesus did all the earning for us by doing the one good work that was necessary to pay God for our sin. That one good work was to lay down His life as the sacrificial Passover Lamb of God. And He laid down His life because He loves us. In John 3: 16 we read, 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.

And in Ephesians 2: 8-9 NLT we read this: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

The Bible states that salvation is a gift. The gift of eternal life. In Romans 6: 23 we read:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So you see, my friend, there is still no free lunch. But our salvation lunch was paid for by Jesus Christ. All was have to do is to receive His gift.

How do we do that?

Simple. Just by reaching out in prayer and asking for it. Let’s do that now. Repeat this prayer after me:

Lord Jesus, I come to You just as I am. A sinner in need of Your mercy and grace. I repent of my sin. I choose to turn away from it and to follow You. I receive You now as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for saving me. Make of me all that You created me to be. In Your Name I pray, Lord. Amen.

If you sincerely prayed this prayer with me, please write down today’s date. It is your spiritual birthday. And please write to me at drmaryann@maryanndiorio.com. I would like to send you a free PDF booklet titled After You’re Born Again. It will help you get started on your exciting journey with Jesus Christ.

I also encourage you to begin reading your Bible every day. The Bible is our manual for life. Just as our car manual tells us how our car functions and what to do when there is a malfunction, so does the Bible tell us how we function and what to do when we malfunction.

Ask the Lord to lead you to the church of His choice for you where you can find encouragement and support from other Christ-followers.

As of this podcast, I have been following Jesus Christ for nearly 54 years, and He has never failed me. Nor will He ever fail you. He is the Answer to your every need, bar none!

Before I close, I invite you to check out my latest book on growing in Christ, titled The Iron Saint. Based on the principles of the Iron Man Triathlon, The Iron Saint was written to prepare the Church in America for persecution. We are already seeing signs of this persecution in the increasing censorship of all things Christian. Get your copy of this life-changing book and learn how to endure strong and faithful to Christ until His return in the Rapture. Get a copy of The Iron Saint for your pastor as well.

The Iron Saint is available on my website, Amazon, at major online bookstores, and at retail bookstores for ordering.

I also encourage you to visit my website at maryanndiorio.com for a wide selection of outstanding books for your reading entertainment and spiritual growth.

Please tell others about Winning with the Word. By God’s grace, we now reach listeners in 80 countries throughout the world with the life-changing Word of God.

Until next time, remember that God loves you just as you are and just when you are, and that He will help you to keep on winning with the Word!

Blessings,

Dr. MaryAnn

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The Iron Saint: Preparing the Church for Persecution
by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio

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Breaking the Mind Barrier: How to Think Like a Winner
by MaryAnn Diorio, PhD

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Copyright 2024 by MaryAnn Diorio, PhD. All Rights Reserved.

Dr. MaryAnn Diorio is an award-winning novelist, certified life and health coach, and a licensed minister. You may learn more about her at her two websites:
maryanndiorio.com
https://www.celebrationlifeandhealthcoaching.com