Advertisers are paid to tout the features and benefits of someone else’s products.  Most folks would concede that their claims are at least occasionally truthful, but even so, their promises are greeted with skepticism.  The lack of trust in marketers stems in part from critics’ and customers’ reviews revealing wide and troubling gaps between what the buyer expected—based on ‘pop-up’ ads, TV commercials and  public relations—and the consumer’s personal experience. 

The sales wizards’ more specious claims range in apparent truthfulness from somewhat dubious to clearly preposterous.  The spectrum runs from difficult to prove, to not fully tested or vetted, to the plausible but improbable, all the way up to the flatly impossible.  Oh sure, there are laws and regulations to restrain the more outlandish behaviors, such as making intentionally misleading and demonstrably false statements, running bait & switch schemes, and so on.  But it is not always easy to distinguish misconduct from ostensibly honest differences of opinion.  And in this grey middle, deception thrives.  Hence, the caution caveat emptor (‘let the buyer beware’). 

But what if there were a commodity about which staggering claims could be made that turn out to be 100% factual, completely true, and utterly reliable?  What if these claims were attested to by hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of people across the globe, from all people groups and demographics?  What if there were thousands of years of well-documented history on user experience?

What if someone with unlimited wealth and power stood behind the claims—not just some offshore customer service team, but someone with the unquestioned ability to uphold the guarantee, like, I dunno—God, maybe?  What if, for example, He offered you an opportunity to dramatically change your life for the better here and now, a chance to change your destiny before it’s locked in—don’t interrupt, wait ‘til I finish the question—and the right to one day live forever, in a healthy and eternally youthful new body that cannot experience pain, weakness or fatigue?  What if, by the time you finish this column, you could have all this (and infinitely more), if you sincerely do what it says?

Are the rewards too small to merit a serious look?  Forget what others say.  Don’t quit on yourself so easily.  Give yourself a chance.  God wants you to have these things.  He eagerly longs to give them to you.  He gave His only begotten Son for you.  Jesus purchased your pardon with His own precious blood.  Won’t you at least look at it, before you pass on it?  Let’s take a walk and talk about it.  Here, where it says, “Romans Road.”  We’ll head this way.

The Romans Road leads to salvation for those who take it and follow through.  It’s named for the fact that the whole journey takes place in a single book of the Bible (the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Christians living in Rome, who at the time, he had never met).  If you follow the mile markers (chapter and verse numbers) it is virtually impossible to get lost.  Romans helps us discover what salvation is, why every human being needs it, and the good news that God has provided it.  Romans shows how anyone who wants to can be saved and reveals the riches that await those who put their trust in Christ.

The sign at the trailhead reads, Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”  Does “all” include you?  Have you perfectly obeyed God’s laws in your thoughts, words and deeds, in all that you have done and all that you have left undone?  Have you loved the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and loved your neighbor as you love yourself?  If you have had only one lapse in your entire life, you have come short of the glory of God.  That’s why His word testifies “all have sinned.”  [If you would like to know God’s opinion, you can always read Romans 3:10-18 and Romans 1:18-32.  That should remove any lingering doubt about whether you are a sinner in need of a Savior.]

After our starting point (all are sinners) we come to the first mile marker on the Romans Road, Romans 6:23.  This one makes crystal clear what our sin earns for us: “For the wages of sin is death [both spiritual and physical], but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  A holy God, a just God, cannot tolerate even a little sin.  The penalty is death.  [If you need more evidence, read Romans 1:32.  So much for the idea that my good deeds outweigh my bad, that I’m “good enough” to get into heaven, that I’m a “good person” (compared to the worst of humanity), that “God knows my heart,” and so on.]

We have earned our punishment and deserve God’s wrath.  But God has not left us without hope and help. He has given us eternal life as a gift, free to us, though it cost Jesus dearly.  A gift has not been and by its very nature, cannot be earned.  Jesus satisfied the demands of the law by dying on the cross for our sins.  He stepped in front of us and took our punishment, paying the penalty in full, so that we might go free.  God chose not to give us the justice we had coming, but the mercy we do not merit.

The next milestone on the Romans Road is Romans 5:8.  Let’s read the signpost together: “But God commendeth [proves or affirms] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  God does not hate sinners (a Satanic and slanderous lie).  Rather, prompted by His great love, God sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die for us, while we were still in rebellion against God!  Christ’s resurrection proves that His sacrifice in our place was accepted and fully effective.

The mile marker up ahead is Romans 10:9, which promises “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” 

“Confess” is a compound word that means to ‘say the same thing.’ When we confess that we have broken God’s law, we are saying the same thing (seeing things the same way) as God—we have sinned and deserve to pay the penalty.  When we confess Jesus as our Lord and our savior, we are agreeing with God that Jesus is God’s Son and that we owe Jesus everything for sacrificing Himself to ransom and rescue us.

The next landmark on the Romans Road, Romans 10:13, declares that salvation can be obtained by anyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior from death and hell: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The home stretch of the Romans Road reveals the fruit of redemption—reconciliation and fellowship with God.  Romans 5:1, the next milestone, announces, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Pardon and peace with God, and a personal relationship with Him are possible only through Jesus.  We contribute nothing and have no grounds on which to boast. 

The next stop on our journey is Romans 8:1, which states, ” There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  God is faithful to His promise!  Because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross, no charge remains against us.  When the Father looks at us, He sees not guilty sinners, but Christ and His righteousness.  This is essential, since we have no righteousness of our own.  Christ’s righteousness is chalked up to our account—yet another gift of God through His sinless Son, Jesus!

Our hike on the Romans Road through the highlands of God’s grace ends appropriately, with God’s amazing and steadfast love.  The final trek marches past mile marker Romans 8:38-39, which reads, “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Nothing in this universe can peel us away from or strip from us this love!  What wonderful news!  What desperately needed assurance in these dark and fearful days!

Thank you for walking the Romans Road with me.  I’ll leave you now, because you have a momentous, life-impacting and intensely personal decision to make.  You owe it to yourself to spend time in private, thinking through what you have just heard and reaching your own conclusion as to what you need to do about it. 

Do you prefer the deceptive swindles and false promises of this world, or the love of God, the peace of Christ and the deliverance to be found in Him alone?  Have you had enough of con jobs, of falling for the latest seduction, of feeling foolish for pinning your hopes on exaggerations, misrepresentations, and outright lies?  Are you sick and tired of being manipulated, of being disappointed yet again—left feeling empty, dissatisfied, and unfulfilled?

If you are inclined to pray (even as I am praying for you now), remember that the words you choose don’t matter much.  There is no magic formula.  Just tell God what’s in your heart.  If you get stuck, reread the signposts on the Romans Road.  God stands ready to welcome all who call upon the name of the Lord to save them, rule in their hearts and transform their lives.  The Romans Road leads to life, if you let it.  If you haven’t already done so, I urge you to finish the journey.  Take that last step into the Savior’s waiting arms.  Your whole future depends on it.