Riven - Jerry B. Jenkins [177]
The next verse on the road, Romans 6:23, said: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Eternal life. That sounded a lot better than hell.
Then he was led back to Romans 5:8: “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
Surprisingly, this was starting to make sense. That chaplain really knew his stuff.
Next came Romans 10:9-11: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, ‘Anyone who trusts in Him will never be disgraced.’”
Was it really possible that salvation and the forgiveness of sins were available to anyone who just believed? It seemed too good to be true.
Romans 5:1-2 read, “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
Romans 8:1 said, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”
And finally, Romans 8:38-39: “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
For some reason, when Brady came to the end of the pamphlet and saw a challenge in the form of a question, asking if he was ready to pray a simple prayer of salvation, it petrified him. He quickly closed the booklet and lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, fingers interlaced behind his head.
He scolded himself. What was he afraid of? He didn’t have to commit to anything. He was just looking into it, wasn’t he? Words couldn’t hurt him. Brady rolled over and reached for the pamphlet, hands shaking, and turned to the back.
The writer suggested this prayer:
God, I know I am a sinner and deserve punishment. But Jesus took my punishment so that through Him I can be forgiven. I trust You for salvation. Thank You for Your love and forgiveness and for eternal life.
Brady shut the pamphlet again and set it aside, rolling onto his stomach and hiding his face. He got it. He understood the basics. He just didn’t understand why God would do any of this. And in spite of all the time he had spent in church whenever he and Petey visited their aunt Lois and uncle Carl, Brady didn’t feel like he had ever really had a handle on who Jesus was.
As he lay there thinking, wondering, agonizing, the dark thoughts of the murder sneaked up on him only a few times, way fewer than normal. He let the television blare, vaguely aware that the dinner count officers were coming soon, then the meal itself, then the long evening and night.
When Brady heard the banging and announcing of the stand-up count, he rose and nodded at the officers. His dinner did not appeal, but knowing that he had some serious thinking to do, he forced himself to eat a little more than usual.
Finally he settled in to watch a movie, a different one from what the rest of the pod had tacitly agreed upon. He still had not engaged in conversation with any of the other prisoners. They treated him like scum, and while he knew it was just their way of hazing and initiating him, he didn’t want to blend into the nightly banter. The talk always wound up vile and profane, and while Brady had never been prudish, he found it better to just tune it out.
But now even his old movie didn’t grab him. He switched channels for a while and found nothing, so he left the set tuned to a cable news network