The Road To Redemption

The Road to Redemption

In the 2002 Tom Hanks movie Road to Perdition

We see Hanks character

Gangster Mike Sullivan

Travels a road that leads to destruction

His life choices and decisions have determined the path of his life

And in the end

After many trials

He loses everything

including his life

And I know even though this is fictional

In order to fully understand what has happened

We need to understand the word

Perdition

Perdition in very simple terms is another name for hell

And this is where we can begin identifying with Tom’s character in the movie

He is on the road to hell

And make no mistake

Apart from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ

We are on the same road

And guys this is a rough and bumpy road that leads to a place that God never intended his creation

Those made in his image to go to

But he gave us free will

That means he gave us the choice of Redemption or perdition

And that is a choice we must all make

My desire today is to show you a better road

A road that leads to eternal life

I like to call it the road to redemption

That means forgiveness

Restoration

Many in the world today want to say and even believe that all roads lead to heaven

And listen

This is Just not true

And Guys I am very outspoken

I don’t sugar coat things

Anyone who tells you this is a liar and a horse thief

Jesus says in John 14:6

I am the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except by me

Jesus is the only way to travel the road to redemption

Any other choice puts on the road to perdition

The apostle Paul gives us the steps we must take to walk this glorious road in the book of Romans

If you grew up in church you know this as the Romans road to salvation

Let me take you down that road this morning

The Romans Road to salvation is a way of explaining the good news of salvation using verses from the Book of Romans.

It is a simple yet powerful method of explaining why we need salvation, how God provided salvation, how we can receive salvation, and what are the results of salvation.

Romans 3:23

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

We all have this in common with Mike Sullivan

We may not have killed people

But we all have sinned

That is ---we have all broken God’s law

Romans 3:10-18 give us a picture of what our sin looks like

As the Scriptures say,

“No one is righteous—

not even one.

11 No one is truly wise;

no one is seeking God.

12 All have turned away;

all have become useless.

No one does good,

not a single one.”[a]

13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.

Their tongues are filled with lies.”

“Snake venom drips from their lips.”[b]

14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[c]

15 “They rush to commit murder.

16 Destruction and misery always follow them.

17 They don’t know where to find peace.”[d]

18 “They have no fear of God at all.

We have all sinned. We have all done things that are displeasing to God.

There is no one who is innocent.

And as a result of our sin we all deserve the punishment for sin which is found at the end of the road to perdition- eternal separation for our Father God

Romans 6:23

teaches us about the consequences of sin

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

The punishment that we have earned for our sins is death.

Not just physical death, but eternal death, spiritual death

The second half of 6:23 begins our restoration process or better stated our redemption process

“but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 5:8 declares

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Jesus Christ died for us!

While we were still on the wrong road

Doing the wrong things

Living life our way instead of his way

Jesus' death paid for the price of our sins.

Jesus' resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus' death as the payment for our sins.

The next stop on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 10:9

9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

This verse says will be saved

Not might be saved