Not often in life do you get an invitation that tells you to come as you are. Most social occasions have some sort of dress code. Schools, where we work, and even restaurants have dress codes. There are codes of conduct almost anywhere you go. Yet, the most important place we can go has no code of conduct and no dress code. That place is at the feet of Jesus. He wants us to come just as we are. He extends the invitation to everyone.
In Isaiah 1:18, he extends this invitation to Israel and to all sinners. If they come, he will forgive them, and their sins will be covered. They will be as white as snow. The scarlet color represents our sin. It has a deep, fixed stain, which no human power could remove, but He will take it away. The white represents purity that God will see when he forgives our sins.
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
In Matthew 11:28, Jesus gives the plea to “come.” He was addressing the poor, lost, ruined sinner. The man whose conscience burdened him for the sin in his life. Jesus sees this person as someone beaten down, living in their sin with no hope. Christ assures all who will come that He will receive them if they come, believe in Him, and trust him for salvation. The rest He offers is peaceful and free of condemnation. Forgiveness provides hope for all our problems, our future, and a love that cannot be matched by anyone else.
Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest.”
When Jesus offers the invitation, we don’t need to change before we come. I’ve talked to many who plan to come to Jesus at some point in their life. However, they feel they must change before they come to Christ. Their view of salvation is predicated on what they can do, not what Christ can and will do. If it were based on what we can do, Christ’s death on the cross would not have been necessary. When we come to Christ with all our brokenness and submit ourselves as we are, sinners in need of a Savior, we have met the condition that is required to be made whole. Coming as you are acknowledges the fact that you can do nothing to save yourself. All your righteousness will not satisfy the holiness that is required to enter Heaven. God requires sinless perfection, and we could never merit that on our own. In Titus 3:5, Paul makes it very clear that nothing we can do will merit God’s forgiveness. We can be justified only by the righteousness of Jesus. When we come as we are seeking to be forgiven and repenting of our sins, Jesus forgives and covers us with His righteousness. Then, when God looks at us, He doesn’t see us; He sees Jesus. We are justified by His grace alone.
Titus 3:5-7 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
You see, we come as we are, but we don’t leave as we were. Jesus forgives us and changes us from the inside out. We can try until the day we die to change our habits, our thinking, how we look, even our position in society, but that will not satisfy the wrath of God. God is a holy God, and His holiness will not allow Him to look upon sin. He cannot, and will not, overlook one sin. The penalty must be paid, and that is what Jesus did.
There are those who believe that change is not necessary for us to enter heaven. If we have the idea that we will ask for forgiveness and keep on living the way we were, we are not in a repentant state, and we will not be forgiven. The word repent is derived from a military term that means to do an about-face. You are going in one direction, and you do a 180-degree turn. Paul makes it very clear in II Corinthians 5:17 that when we come to Christ and seek forgiveness, we become a new person. The things of the past are put away, and everything is different.
II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
When Jesus forgives us, and we begin to live this new life in Christ, we will still be tempted, but we will have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us to help us resist sin. Yes, we come to Jesus just as we are but once we accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior life will never be the same. He takes all my broken pieces, the pride and selfishness, my weaknesses, and begins to mold me into what He desires for my life.
Come as you are, a sinner without hope of real joy, peace, or a future, but leave as a child of the King, with everlasting joy, peace, and hope of eternal life in Heaven. All those who come seeking Jesus with a repentant heart will be received.
John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
