The Message of the Gospel…….Or How Can I Be Right With God? 1} Good News and Bad News: The very word “Gospel” means Good News. Of course, this terminology presupposes that there’s also some very bad news which profoundly affects the human race. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that everyone on planet earth, with no exceptions, is a sinner and falls woefully short of meeting God’s standards for entrance into Heaven. In fact, the One and only Living and True God requires absolute and total perfection, before He will permit you or I into Heaven. In Rev.21 The Word of God describes the eternal, Holy City like this (22) And I saw no temple in the City, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. i.e. {Jesus} (23) And the City has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb….(27) But nothing unclean (or imperfect) will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. In Romans 3:23 we read “that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The Bible defines “sin” as violating or failing to perfectly keep God’s moral law, or as missing the mark and falling short of the standard. To make the bad news even worse, Romans 6:23 depicts the tragic outcome we all face as sinners and the only remedy acceptable to God. (6:23)” For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.” 2} The Holiness of God: Two of the biggest problems we human beings face when considering the whole topic of whether or not we are “good enough” to get into Heaven are as follows: (1) First, we have an utterly inadequate view of God; and (2) second, we tend to think we’re not so bad, because we compare ourselves with other people around us. We have a difficult time grasping the holiness of God, in part, because He is an infinite, eternal Being who transcends space and time. The other inherent problem, so prevalent in our 21st century, post-modern culture, is the arrogant and ultimately selfdefeating denial of absolute truth. We tend to approach reality in the values realm from a relativistic perspective. The Bible, however, speaks of God as an absolute, unchanging Being. Exodus 15:11 “Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is likeYou, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” I Sam.2:2 “There is none holy like the LORD. There is none beside You; there is no rock like our God.” It’s precisely because God is utterly holy, literally “…a consuming fire.” Deut. 4:24, that He “…hates wickedness and loves righteousness.” Heb.1:9. God is so totally holy and pure that “He cannot abide evil.” Hab.1:13. Clearly, all of us can do nothing to satisfy God’s absolute holiness and achieve His standard of total perfection. 3} The Sin Chasm Between God and Man: God’s holiness and our sin have created a vast, unassailable gulf between us. Heb.12:14 tells us categorically that “….without holiness no-one will see the Lord.” In I Peter 1:16 God demands of us “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” In Romans 3:10-18 we read God’s chilling assessment of every one of us and begin to realize the utter futility of ever satisfying His standard of righteousness and achieving Heaven in our wretched, sinful condition. (10) “As it is written: There is no-one righteous, no, not one; (11) no one understands; no one seeks for God. (12) All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (13) “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips.”(14) “Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. (15) Their feet are swift to shed blood. (16) In their paths are ruin and misery, (17) and the way of peace they have not known. (18) There is no fear of God before their eyes.” The compelling question remains, How can we ever find a way to cross this chasm which separates us from God? Isa. 64:6 confirms “That we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” In Heb.9:27 we’re warned that “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” 4} The “Good News of the Gospel” is that God has bridged the chasm!!! Since God demands perfection (and He can’t lower His standards and still be God) and we can never achieve perfection, God provided the only means by which His holy standard could be satisfied and lost sinners might have access to Heaven. As sinners we deserve death, or eternal punishment and separation from God. Because of His unfathomable love and mercy God determined, from eternity past, that He would suffer the punishment we deserve; that He would pay the price for our sins, canceling out the debt we owe so that we might be redeemed and spend eternity in His presence!!! The apostle Peter reiterates this profound truth in I Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” 5} The Lord Jesus Christ alone is the only perfect sacrifice for our sins: Christ is eternally God. The infinite, eternal Word, the 2nd person of the triune Godhead, became a perfect, sinless human being in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. John 1:1-4 (1) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. (4) In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” In verse 14 of this same passage John declared (14) “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus Himself declared that He alone is the only means of access to God. John 14:6 “Jesus said unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Some people are offended by the exclusiveness of Jesus’ claims. However, if He is truly God in human form, and loved us so much that He would pay the supreme sacrifice to set us eternally free from our bondage to sin, we should fall on our faces and thank Him from the depths of our hearts! In I John 3:5 we read “He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.” In Jesus we see the perfect God and Creator of all the universe becoming one of us, except without sin. As a man He lived the perfect life we are unable to live. He then went to Calvary’s cross to die in our place. Since He was a perfect and sinless man, His death was an acceptable sacrifice for us. Since He was also the eternal God, His death was efficacious for all who receive Him by faith alone. 6} Jesus’ Proved He was God by His Resurrection from the Dead: Jesus conquered sin and death once and for all, giving us a real and living hope by His resurrection from the grave. In I Cor.15:3-6, the apostle Paul declared (3) “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, (4) that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, (5) and that He appeared to Cephas, (i.e.Peter) then the twelve, (6) then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time….” The resurrection of Christ is an essential component of our salvation. In verse 17 of this same chapter the apostle affirmed this truth by declaring (17) If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” Because of Jesus’ victory over sin and death we no longer need to fear death ourselves…if we personally know the One who now sits at the right hand of God the Father and intercedes for us who have put our complete trust in Him alone as our Savior and our Lord. 7} God’s Gift of Eternal Life Is Free to All Who Will Receive it on God’s Terms: Most people think they can get to Heaven by following the Golden Rule or doing something to earn God’s approval. They fail to understand that God doesn’t grade on a curve, and that He alone can meet His own standard of righteousness. In Eph. 2:8-9 We read these profound words which separate Christianity from all of the world’s religions. (8) “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (9) not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” God’s grace alone (or undeserved favor) is the basis, or ground, for a sinner’s acceptance by Him. Faith alone is the means by which that gracious gift of eternal life is received. We must also realize that even our faith- the ability to respond and trust Him alone for salvation- even our faith, is possible only because of God’s grace. Because our human nature is inherently corrupt, and in bondage to sin, we never initiate a genuine relationship with God. God in His matchless grace and love begins to work within our hearts and call us unto Himself. The Holy Spirit convicts us of “sin, righteousness, and impending judgment.” John 16:8. Thus, on the one hand, we human beings, are free moral agents who are completely culpable for our sins while on the other hand, we are graciously enabled to respond to the saving message of the Gospel as God draws us to Himself. 8} What is the Nature of Saving Faith? Authentic faith, is much more than merely an intellectual decision. There is definite and specific content which comprises the true, Biblical Gospel. To change the facts of the Gospel, even marginally, is a serious violation of the Scripture’s integrity. In Galatians 1:8 the apostle Paul issued this serious warning to those who would alter the message in any way “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a Gospel other than the one that you accepted, let him be eternally condemned We see, therefore, that the true Gospel must be embraced, with out compromise, and believed in its totality by all who would experience genuine salvation. Real, saving faith, however, is intrinsically “transformational” in its very nature and essence. Implicit within the Biblical definition of saving faith and the many commands “To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation” (Acts 16:31; John 3:16-18; Romans 10:9-10) is the overarching concept of whole-hearted personal commitment to the Lordship and authority of Jesus Christ alone. Saving faith includes repentance or turning away from our former sinful lifestyle and allegiance to this corrupt “world system” and following Jesus alone as our Savior from sin and the One and only Lord of our lives. For the person who places their trust in Jesus Christ for eternal life, their worldview perspective begins to change. II Cor. 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! We read in Ephesians 4:24 “…the new self is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” For the truly regenerated, or born again believer, ones interests, loyalties, priorities, values, and conduct begin to change as our lives reflect the reality of God’s work within us!!! 9} How Can I Receive God’s Gift of Eternal Life? We simply believe the message of the Gospel in its totality and cast ourselves upon the mercy and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith alone. We acknowledge that we are sinners lost and helpless. We admit that we can do nothing at all to earn, merit, or deserve salvation. We confess that salvation is found only in Jesus Christ “Salvation is found in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. We ask Jesus Christ to come into our life and forgive us for all of our sins and we commit ourselves to Him alone, by faith alone as Savior and Lord. Salvation is a totally free gift which changes us forever from the inside out. We must be aware, however, that this world is largely hostile toward God and toward all those who truly commit themselves to following Him. There will inevitably be times when our refusal to compromise with this decadent world’s values and beliefs will severely test the authenticity of our faith. In II Timothy 3:12 we read these sobering words. “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” Salvation is a free gift, but following Jesus Christ may very well be costly and is never to be taken lightly. I urge you to “Seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near.” Isaiah 55:6. None of us knows what tomorrow will bring forth. None of us knows what the future holds. I urge you to respond today if God is convicting you of your need for Him. II Cor. 6:2 reminds us of this reality “….I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 21:10:21 +0000
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