Roman Road

Salem Chapel is built next to the old Roman Road between Ilkley and Ribchester. Little remains of the stones or gutters, but it is still evident from the straightness of some of the lanes and the Ordnance Survey maps. Roman roads were famed for being straight. Minimising corners reduced the risk of ambushes and were simpler to navigate.

There is a book in the Bible called Romans. It is a summary of the gospel, and includes a number of straight-talking verses which explain Christianity. Read them, and walk along this well-worn Roman road:

‘For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God’.  Romans 3:23

We need to understand that the badness in our lives called sin makes us unacceptable to God, and undeserving of heaven.

‘But God shows his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’. Romans 5:8

Jesus, the Son of God, became a human being that He might die in our place as a substitute. He bore the blame and punishment for the sin of all who believe in Him.

‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord’. Romans 6:23

The consequence of sin is that we die- physically and spiritually. Death is a wage because it is what we deserve. But through Jesus, God offers us the free gift of eternal life. It is a gift because it cannot be bought or earned.

'That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved’.  Romans 10:9

If you truly believe he is Lord and died in your place, came back to life on the third day, and you are able to speak this truth, you shall be saved.

'For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’.  Romans 10:13

Ask God to save you, and He will. He's promised it.

'There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus' Romans 8:1

This is the result. This is being a Christian.

Because narrow is the gate, and straight is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.   -Jesus, Matthew 7:14

Image by 990609 from Pixabay