DAY 167: Already Infected

DAY 167

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic    

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-four Friday 28 August 2020

Already Infected

“No amount of handwashing or disinfectant can halt the spread of sin. The entire human race is already infected, and what’s worse, the mortality fate is 100%. Physical death is only part of the result of this ‘disease’ called sin. The far greater consequence extends throughout eternity.” - From a Gospel tract, “A Greater Danger Than COVID-19”

Gospel tracts are not as common today as in the past, but their singular theme remains constant: we are sinners and need a Savior. Only eternity will reveal how many have been convicted by the Holy Spirit as they have read a gospel tract and through a sovereign working of the Holy Spirit   have turned their lives over to Jesus Christ. Wherever God’s Word is read there the Holy Spirit is present to work in the life of the reader, and Gospel tracts have always contained Scriptures, a classic tract example being “The Roman Road,” the Scriptures speaking for themselves.

“The Roman Road”

Romans 3:10 – “As it is written, ‘There is no one righteous, not even one;…”

Romans 3:23 – “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 6:23 -  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 10:9-10 – “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

Romans 10:13 – “…’Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

Romans 5:1-2 – “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”

Romans 8:1 – “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,…”

Reflective question: “…already infected,…” - Have you journeyed down ‘the Roman Road?’

Reflective Scripture: John 16:8 – “And when he (the Holy Spirit) comes he will convict the world of guilt in regards to sin,…”

Reflective hymn:

“Only Trust Him” – John Stockton (1813-1877)

Come, every soul by sin oppressed – There’s mercy with the Lord,

And He will surely give you rest by trusting in His Word.

Only trust Him; only trust Him. Only trust Him now.

He will save you; He will save you. He will save you now.