Tracy talked to three young guys, Mike, Malik, and Booker on Saturday afternoon in Old Town Fort Collins and asked them some questions about their spiritual beliefs. When asked if they considered themselves to be a good person, they replied, “Yeah, well I’m not bad” and “It’s not like I purposely do bad things, it’s just one of those mistake types of things.” When asked about the Ten Commandments one of them said, “I do not really believe in them, it should just be in your nature not to do any of that stuff “. Asked about the conscience and where it came from, one of them replied, “It’s what tells you what is right and wrong, because I believe that people know when they are doing something wrong”. Tracy asked them about their track record compared to the laws concerning lying, stealing, blasphemy, respecting their parents, and hating others. They all admitted to some degree of guilt but at least one sought to minimize his responsibility by saying that he was not doing those things anymore. He did admit that he probably would continue to lie, though he said lying did not seem like a very great transgression. Tracy pointed out that even a “small lie” when uttered against an infinitely holy God was infinitely offensive. When asked what the verdict would be if God judged them based upon His holy Law, all admitted they would be guilty. Where they would end up? One of them said, “Heaven because I haven’t done anything that morally wrong”. Tracy reminded him that he had admitted to telling many lies and that lying is a serious moral wrong. Tracy told them the good news that Jesus came to redeem His people. Fully God and fully man He lived a perfectly moral life and died a horrible death to save us from the wrath we deserve. And that what God requires of them is that they turn from their sin and trust in Christ alone to save them.
