1/8/2016 What is the Gospel?A Short Presentation The God who created the entire universe perfectly is holy, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens, and before Him the angels cover their faces and their feet. [Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 6:2; Hebrews 7:26] God commands your perfect obedience to His moral law, in order to have life and not die. [Galatians 3:10] He commands you to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself. [Luke 10:27] You have broken God's law, and continue to do so. [Romans 3:23]
You do not love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and you do not obey God; and you do not love your neighbour as yourself. [Titus 3:3] This God is just Judge, and His justice demands penalty of sin paid, which is His infinite wrath. [Exodus 34:7; Luke 12:5] Because of His great love, this God is kind toward you and merciful toward you and patient toward you in this world fallen and tainted by sin of man. [Romans 2:4] God, who has the authority to kill you and punish you eternally under His wrath, sent His beloved Son. [John 3:16] The holy God came down into the world, and became a man, and went to the cross and paid the full penalty for sin of His people, by suffering the infinite wrath of God for all the sins of all His people who believe. Jesus Christ died for them and physically rose from the dead, which is proof that God has satisfied His justice on the cross. [Matthew 1:21,22,23; John 1:14; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 2:5,6; Colossians 2:9] God has bestowed on this Jesus, the name "Lord", and commands you to trust His Son as your only Saviour, and submit yourself to Him as your Master and Lord. [Acts 2:36; Romans 10:9,10; Philippians 2:9-11] God commands all men everywhere to forsake the idea of trying to be righteous by works, but simply put his trust in the person and the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and acknowledge His Lordship and right to rule over his entire life, relationships, possessions, heart desires and will and plans. [Luke 18:9-14; Romans 10:9; Ephesians 2:8,9] And God will credit to him, as a free gift, Christ's perfect righteousness, and forgive all his past, present and future sins permanently. [Romans 5:19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9] If you abandon your past loyalties, and completely yield to the will, command, authority and Lordship of Jesus Christ, then God will remember your sins no more, and declare you righteous by righteousness of Christ credited to your account, and declare you forgiven permanently. [Luke 9:61,62; 14:26,27,33] If you do not surrender to the Lord Jesus who is the coming King of the universe who will destroy all His rebellious enemies, then you will face God as your Judge. [2Thessalonians 1:8,9] A Longer presentation According to the Bible, which is the Word of God, who is the Creator of the universe [Genesis 1:1; 2 Timothy 3:16]: The Nature and Character of God There is only one true and living God who is Spirit. He is omniscient (He knows everything perfectly, every secret of men), omnipresent (He is everywhere; men cannot hide from Him), and omnipotent (He is all powerful, and He will accomplish all His good pleasure, and no one and nothing can thwart His plan which He has determined to do in eternity past). [Psalm 115:3; Isaiah 14:24,27, 43:13, 46:9,10; Jeremiah 23:23,24; Luke 12:6,7; John 4:24; 1 Corinthians 8:6] God alone has existed from all eternity past, and He alone is self-existent. He never was created, unlike His creation which had a beginning, and it did not exist before God made it exist. [Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 43:13; John 1:1,3] God is Triune, meaning He exists in Three distinct, eternal Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, each equally deserving worship and obedience. [Genesis 1:26; Matthew 3:16,17; Mark 1:12; John 1:1, 14:26; Acts 13:2, 20:23] God is perfect in all His attributes, and blameless and is righteous in all that He does. He is the standard of all righteousness. [Psalm 94:2; Jeremiah 9:24; John 7:18, 8:46; Romans 7:12; James 4:12] This God is just Judge, and His justice demands penalty of sin paid, which is His infinite wrath. [Genesis 18:25; Matthew 18:8,9; 25:46; Mark 9:43,48] God created the entire universe for His Son, and planned everything that would happen in human history for Him; [Matthew 28:18; Hebrews 1:2] and He created man in His image; meaning man has ability to reason, has emotion, will, creativity, ability to have a love relationship with his God, and he has moral responsibility to his God to operate according to His will and command. [Genesis 1:27; Luke 10:27,28] The Nature and Character of Man Man was directly and perfectly created by God, free of sin, in a perfect universe. [Genesis 1:31] The Law of God for man is: Love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. [Mark 12:29-31] The moral law of God is reflective of the absolute, unchanging, holy nature of God, and therefore it is also absolute, and unchanging. It is holy, righteous, and good. It shows that God is a holy God; the God who hates sin, who will, by no means, leave unpunished any sin committed by anybody at any time, whether it is known or unknown by other people. [Exodus 34:6,7; Matthew 23:25,27,28,33; Luke 12:1-3,6,7; Romans 7:12] [Luke 10:25-28] And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE." [Luke 10:25-28] [Matthew 19:16-19] And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?" And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." Then he said to Him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." [Matthew 19:16-19] [Matthew 5:20-22,27-28,38-39,43-45,48; Luke 6:32-36] "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'Ῥακά,' shall be liable to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, 'Μωρέ,' shall be liable to fiery hell. "You have heard that it was said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. "You have heard that it was said, "AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. [Matthew 5:20-22,27-28,38-39,43-45,48; Luke 6:32-36] The Fall of Man The first two human beings, Adam and his wife, disobeyed God's revealed command, and they lost their innocence; they became morally corrupt; they became subject to spiritual (separation from God) and physical death, which is the penalty of sin. [Genesis 2:17; 3:6-11,19] Since all men were in Adam, the nature to sin and nature to hate and rebel against the true God was transmitted to all men of all ages, and death spread to all men. [Romans 5:12] Man has rebelled against God, and has failed to operate according to the perfect standard of God's holy law, and man continues to think and act deviantly and perversely. [Genesis 6:5; Romans 3:10-20] That is called sin. Man is a sinner by nature (born as a sinner with a ready inclination to sin), and by choice (they love sin, they want to sin, they choose to sin, and they hate righteousness, they do not want to do what is right, they cannot choose to do right). [Genesis 8:21; Psalm 51:5; 1 John 3:4] Man sins against the infinitely holy and worthy God, and man cannot do anything that pleases God, anything that is righteous, because he is dead in sins [Ephesians 2:1]. He cannot do anything but sin. He has never done anything that pleases God, anything that is good [Romans 8:5-8]. He is a slave of sin [Romans 6:20]. [Romans 3:10-12,18] THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE. THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES. [Romans 3:10-12,18] The glory of God is not honoured. [Romans 1:20,21] The holiness of God is not reverenced. [Psalm 50:21] The greatness of God is not admired. [Deuteronomy 9:12,13,26-29] The power of God is not praised. [John 9:24] The truth of God is not sought. [John 8:47] The wisdom of God is not esteemed. [1 Corinthians 1:18-25, 2:14-16] The beauty of God is not treasured. [Psalm 27:4] The commandments of God are not obeyed. [John 14:15] The justice of God is not respected. [Psalm 94:1-23] The wrath of God is not feared. [Isaiah 5:19] The grace of God is not cherished. [Psalm 16:2; Luke 6:35] The presence of God is not prized. [John 7:33] The person of God is not loved. [Psalm 73:25] The unfathomable horror of God's perfect justice against sin [Hebrews 10:31] It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. [Hebrews 10:31] [Luke 19:41-44, emphasis added] When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." [Luke 19:41-44, emphasis added] [Matthew 26:24, emphasis added] The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for him if that man had not been born. [Matthew 26:24, emphasis added] The truth about eternal damnation of sinners does not call for a casual discussion. It is absolutely necessary however to warn of the fearful reality to all who believe not in the Lord Jesus, for the Holy Spirit does His convincing work through the preaching of the truth about the coming judgment [John 16:8]. For us who believe, it is absolutely necessary to know and meditate on what we have been delivered from, or what depth our Lord has plumbed on our behalf to deliver us all, so that we may love Christ much. [Luke 7:47] The punishment for sinning against the infinitely worthy and holy God, is infinite. [Matthew 18:24] Therefore, hell is eternal. It is eternal, conscious torment. It is eternal destruction of his being [Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43,45,47,48; 2 Thessalonians 1:8,9] The sinner's conscience, no longer able to be ignored or misinformed, is fully informed, and fully active, and will without relief accuse him forever of his crimes he has perpetrated against his gracious and compassionate Lord and Ruler. [Luke 16:30; Romans 2:6] It is removal of all grace that he has ever known while he has lived in rebellion against God for a time on earth. [Matthew 5:44-48] It is eternal severance of all human relationships: husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, grandson, grandmother, friends, neighbours. [Mark 8:35,36,38; 10:29,30] It is permanent, unchangeable state of wretchedness; separation from God of love, God of grace, God of kindness (common kindness to all people on earth: rain, sunlight, delicious food, beauty in creation, laughter, happiness, relationships, all the earthly blessings), from God of tolerance (withholding of divine judgment, and not destroying every person the moment he sins, but saves him physically, and temporally from what he deserves immediately), and from God of patience (God is patient for long periods of time in which God demonstrates His kindness and His tolerance toward sinners). [Daniel 12:2; Romans 2:4,5] It is coming to the living God, fully exposed, fully naked, and in unprotected encounter with the living God who is only holy, righteous, and good. [Hebrews 4:12,13; 10:31] It is written: before the infinitely holy God, the sinless angelic creatures of God who serve Him day and night do not gaze directly at God's glory and cover their faces with their 2 wings, cover their feet with another set of 2 wings [Isaiah 6:2,3]. It is suffering the unquenchable fury of God's holy wrath against all violation of His holiness. [Matthew 13:41,42] It is the termination of everything a sinner does not deserve, and beginning of what he deserves. It is where he begins to be treated by God the way he deserves to be treated by his Creator. It is where he ceases being treated by God the way he does not deserve to be treated: grace, unearned and undeserved kindness, unmerited favour cease, and punishment begins. When the Creator creates a person, that person is created in the image of God, and he will not go out of existence, unlike the animals. All bearers of God's image will be conscious forever, either in eternal joy and fellowship with the living God in the new heavens and a new earth [2 Peter 3:13], or in eternal torment in the lake of fire [Revelation 14:11; 20:15] and glorifying God in one way or another: as a vessel of grace who is to the praise of the glory of His grace [Ephesians 1:6], or as a vessel of wrath, as God's holy wrath and anger is put on display against the rebels who hate Him, and have done nothing but sin their whole life-time [Romans 9:22]. God will be glorified by each and every creature made in God's image in one way or another: either in eternal heaven or eternal hell: either as a vessel of grace or vessel of wrath [Philippians 2:9,10,11]. The penalty for sin is death [Romans 6:23]. Death is separation from the living God. Physical death is separation from the physically living. Spiritual death is separation from the living God [2 Thessalonians 1:9], and is the settled, merciless, graceless, compassionless punishment in the presence of righteous God [Revelation 14:10,11]. The penalty for sin is infinite, because to sin against the infinitely worthy and infinitely holy God is to incur an infinite punishment. What God has done to demonstrate His love for transgressors For demonstration of His glory, and because God the Father loves God the Son, the Father has planned to give to His Son the greatest love gift, a Bride of His choice, the redeemed humanity, who will love Him, serve Him, worship Him for ever. [John 17:6] God offers forgiveness of your sins through His Son Jesus. Jesus is the eternal God. He is the second Member of the Triune God. [John 1:1; 5:18; Php 2:6] This God came down into the fallen and sin-tainted world, and became fully man through the virgin birth of the woman Mary of the line of David, His earthly body created by the Holy Spirit. [Ezekiel 34:23,24; Luke 1:35; 3:23-38; John 1:14] As fully God, and fully man, He lived a perfect righteous life of perfect obedience and submission to the will of the Father God who is in heaven. [Matthew 3:15; Philippians 2:7,8; Hebrews 4:15] The very God of heaven and earth, worthy of eternal adoration and praise by angels and men, was willing to let go of His heavenly glory, and humbled Himself to becoming a genuine Man, with all the sufferings and temptations man can experience, and yet He did not sin against God as a Man. [Philippians 2:6-8] He was treated as a mere man, slandered and accused of being a satanic deceiver. He was hated, mocked, despised, betrayed, sold for the price of a slave, beaten, slapped, spat upon, scourged, all by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, and He was nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men. [Mark 8:31; Acts 2:23] He made no issue of the humiliation to which He was subject, but suffered silently the evil mistreatment of men, and entrusted Himself to Him who judges righteously. While suffering unjustly at the hands of evil, the Son of the Most High had no heart of bitterness or revenge, but instead, having laid aside His divine privileges in His incarnation, He humbled Himself to mistreatment, and He sought the best for His enemies, and ministered to their needs, and returned His kindness for their hatred. [Matthew 26:51-56; Luke 6:27-30; 22:51; 23:34; 23:42,43; Philippians 2:7,8; Hebrews 12:2; 1 Peter 2:23] [Matthew 26:38,39; Mark 14:35,36] And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be very distressed and troubled. Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me." And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and on His face and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will." [Matthew 26:38,39; Mark 14:35,36] Jesus, appointed by God to be the permanent High-Priest and Mediator between holy God and unholy men, was assigned with the awesome work: to offer up Himself to be slaughtered by God of vengeance, as God's sacrificial Lamb, the only perfect Substitute for sinners who is able to bear the weight of all sins of all. [Psalm 110:4; Isaiah 53:5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12; 1 Timothy 2:5,6] He with loud crying and tears offered up prayers and supplications to the One, with whom He had eternal intimate union and fellowship unexplored fully by angels and by men, whom He loved ineffably, limitlessly from eternity past, and whom He loved all-exclusively. [Hebrews 5:7] The sacrificial Lamb, in anticipating the full bearing of the awful burden of God's unfathomable wrath against sin, He felt in His spirit its fullest horror of being forsaken by the God of His love, through spiritual separation, through death. [Mark 14:35,36] On the cross where He was crucified, God crushed Him [Isaiah 53:10]. God poured out His full, undiluted wrath upon His sinless Son. [2 Corinthians 5:21] Jesus silently bore every sin committed by every single soul who belongs to Him. Jesus bore all the sins of all those who believe in Him. [1 Peter 2:24,25] God became a man, and as fully God and full man, Jesus had the infinite capacity to suffer. The love of God is demonstrated toward undeserving, evil and ungrateful sinners by the infinite suffering of Jesus in their law-place. [Romans 5:8] That penalty for sin that they can never pay for in full, if they were to be punished forever and ever in hell, Jesus paid, and He paid in full. [John 19:30] In the few hours on the cross, Jesus bore the infinite punishments for all the souls who are His. [Matthew 27:46] Jesus suffered infinitely the wrath of God the Judge, and satisfied fully the infinite wrath of God against the sins of His people. [Romans 3:25; 5:9] [John 19:30] Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. [John 19:30] On the third day, He physically rose again from the dead, and the tomb is empty [John 20:18]. This is God's affirmation that Jesus satisfied God's justice, and paid in full the penalty of all the sins of His people that He bore on the cross [Romans 4:24,25]. God infinitely exalted Jesus above every name, and every being, because Jesus humbled Himself to the most unfathomable depth of humiliation. [Philippians 2:9-11] God has made Him Lord of lords, and King of kings. [Acts 2:36] Jesus, now ascended to the right hand of God, is coming back with great power and glory, to establish His rule on the whole earth, and save His covenant people of Israel from their sins, and will destroy all their enemies as their Deliverer, and their King and Shepherd and their Defender [2 Samuel 7:12,13; Zechariah 12:10; Revelation 19:15]. All those who trust in Jesus Christ and Him alone for deliverance from the consequence of sin are guaranteed total forgiveness of all their sins by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who rose bodily from the dead on the third day, having satisfied the demands of the justice of God that they deserve. The righteousness of Christ was imputed to them, credited to their account, the righteousness of God that they need in order to be justified, declared righteous before the holy Judge of the universe. God has treated Jesus, when He was on the cross, as if He lived the sinful lives of all His people, though He was yet the perfect, sinless, holy God on the cross. [Matthew 26:39; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Revelation 14:10] He credits His perfect life that He lived, to the account of all His people. He transfers His perfect righteousness to our account, though we are sinful, and hell-deserving. God treats His people as if they lived the perfect life of Jesus Christ. [2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:27] By faith in Christ, the great exchange of imputation occurs. On that cross, God sees our sinful lives. When God sees us, He sees Christ's perfect righteousness. [2 Corinthians 5:21] What God offers Permanent, eternal, and complete forgiveness for all your sins of the past, of the present, and of the future. [Psalm 51:7; 103:10-13; Colossians 2:13,14] Eternal rescue from God's eternal justice. Removal of guilt before the Judge of the universe, the One who knows every heart of every man, and every motive [Isaiah 55:7; Hebrews 4:13]. Loving, intimate relationship with Him from the moment of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for ever. Eternity of worship, and praise, and perfect obedience and submission to the Lord and love for God and His saints. [Romans 5:5; 8:16; Jude 1; Revelation 22:3] Freedom from the fear of death, and judgment. [Romans 8:1] Freedom from the ignorance of the truth, and deception of the world's lies, ideas, thoughts, opinions, philosophies, religions, speculations. [John 8:31,32; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25] Freedom from the exhaustion of unceasing attempt to earn God's favour, by human effort, so as to escape judgment and merit heaven. [Matthew 11:28-30; Romans 10:4] Freedom from the slavery to sin, from the power of sin over your life, from the aspirations, temptations of the evil world system, that prevents you from loving and obeying God. [Romans 6:15-18] Freedom from the presence of sin in eternity future. [Jude 24,25] Great joy and eternal heavenly glory that comes from obedience to God's will. [Romans 8:18; 1 Peter 4:13] The honour of being used on earth by the Lord to bring eternal, unfading glory to His name. [Philippians 1:20,21] Perfect moral character and holy nature like that of the Beloved Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in all eternity future, for His eternal glory and eternal preeminence. [Romans 8:28-30] Fullness of joy in the presence of God, and eternal God-honouring pleasures. No more tears. No more mourning. No more crying. No more pain. No more death. No more sickness and illness. No more threat of evil within and without. [Psalm 16:11; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:4] What you are commanded to do by God God commands you to believe what God has said about who Jesus is, and what Jesus has accomplished, as He has revealed in His Word, the Bible. [John 3:16; Acts 16:31,32] God has bestowed on Jesus the name "Lord", and God commands you to trust His Son as your Saviour, and surrender your life to Him as your Master and Lord, and become His slave. [Romans 10:9,10; Philippians 2:9-11] Believe: Reflect on your personal sin. [Luke 3:4,5] Recognize that you stand guilty before God, without any power to deliver yourself from the penalty of your sin. [Luke 18:24-26; John 3:3,8; Ephesians 2:1-9; Titus 3:3-7] Recognize the reality of divine wrath [Luke 3:7]. The moment a sinner was born into the world, he has been all along under the sentence of divine wrath. There is no future verdict or determination that will be made. The judgment was already passed from the beginning of his life on earth, because he has not believed in the Son of God [John 3:18]. It is this wrath from which God commands you to flee, and commands you to call upon the name of the eager and able Deliverer. [Romans 10:13] Trust: Reject any religious ritual, ceremony, or any other human work, as a way to gain entrance into the kingdom of God. [Isaiah 1:11-14; Matthew 3:7; Luke 18:9-14; Philippians 3:4-9] The only way to receive the kingdom of God, is to receive it as a child, undeserved and unmerited; without any achievement with which to commend oneself, and in total dependence upon the kind pleasure of God, and His desire and His power and authority. [Luke 18:16,17; Ephesians 1:4,5,6] Renounce ancestry as a means of entering the kingdom of God. [Luke 3:8; Philippians 3:4-9] You do not enter heaven through a believing blood-relative, or through any man, except through that one Man Christ Jesus. [1 Timothy 2:5,6] All earthly relationships to, all close proximity to the most eminent prophets of God are but a false security for the soul that is at war with God. [John 8:39-47] Everybody must deal with God all alone, and come to terms of peace laid out by Him. Every soul, who wishes to enter heaven, must enter heaven alone. [Romans 5:1] There is only one Man who brings His brothers and sisters to heaven, and you must be related to Him by faith in Him. [Matthew 12:48,49,50] Surrender: God commands you to pledge your allegiance to the Master and Lord Jesus Christ, and to enter into the irrevocable covenant to serve Him alone [Psalm 2:10-12; 1 Peter 1:2]: to obey Him fully in all that He commands in His Word [Matthew 28:20], to have no objects of worship but to worship the true God alone [Matthew 4:10], to be committed to loving Him alone [Luke 14:26], and to acknowledge Him as the Lord of your life, who will do whatever He pleases with what is His own: your relationships, with your own self, and with your possessions. [Psalm 115:3; 1 Corinthians 6:19,20] Abandon all your past loyalties. [Matthew 10:32-39; Luke 14:26,27,33] Christ alone now is to be adored and served and obeyed. [Psalm 73:25] Christ's demands alone now takes dominion over all other demands. [Acts 21:11-14] The only relationship that matters is the relationship with God and Christ. [Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Matthew 4:10; Mark 12:29-34; Romans 12:1,2; 1 Corinthians 6:17; Colossians 3:4] Subordinate all relationships, deny all self-interests, and submit all possessions to the Lordship of Christ. [Mark 8:34-38; Luke 14:26,27,33; Acts 20:24] Recognize that you are a steward of everything, and owner of nothing, all of which is subject to His own exclusive use for His own sovereign purpose. [1 Chronicles 29:10-16; 1 Corinthians 4:7; James 1:17; 1 Peter 4:10] Make the solemn oath to God that you will forsake all your sins all the days of your life, and rather will pursue what pleases Him, and pursue to do what is pleasing in His sight, all the days of your life. [Isaiah 55:6,7] Then, God will remember your sins no more, and declare you righteous by the righteousness of Jesus Christ credited to your account, and you will be forgiven permanently. [Isaiah 1:18,19; 55:6,7; Luke 24:47; Acts 20:21; 26:20; Romans 10:9-13; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 1:7] God your Father will comfort you from all your sorrows regarding your sins against all-loving God, your failures to please Him, and He will wash you clean from all defilement, and give you a clean conscience, being truly free from the guilt that is based on the law of God. [Hosea 14:1-8; Zechariah 12:10-13:1; John 4:28,29; Acts 16:29-34; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 3:21] Urgent Plea for whoever will turn away from the offer Our dear friend, we beg you on behalf of God and the Lord Jesus Christ [2 Corinthians 5:20]: Please, please obey the command of your God to believe in the Lord Jesus. Please, be reconciled to God. Please, stop your rebellion against God. Please, lay down your weapons of wickedness, and surrender to the coming Conquering King, who is eager to quickly and completely pardon all your transgressions, and receive you into His eternal kingdom. [Mark 1:15] Please, do not delay obeying what God has commanded to do this very hour, to the danger of your eternal soul. [Luke 12:13-21; 13:1-9] God will bring every act to judgment, and every secret sin will be exposed before all-knowing Judge. And He will burn in His holy wrath against the unforgiven sinners, to whom God is kind, and tolerant for as long as life on earth will last. If you do not surrender your life to the Lord Jesus, then you will face God as your Judge, not as your Father. God, who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked [Ezekiel 18:23], anxiously and emphatically warns in the Bible and extends His mercy to you: He who has heard of the Lord Jesus and His suffering on behalf of sinners, and he who was extended the offer of forgiveness which is found in Jesus, and who sadly chooses to continue in unbelief and in rejection of God's gracious offer of Jesus as his Saviour, then regrettably, it would have been better for that man if he had not been born, for what awaits him is terrifying judgment, and that made ever so severer, for he, in his rejection, spits contempt upon the extended offer of His blood atonement for sinners. It is written in [Hebrews 10:26-31]: For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge His people." It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. [Hebrews 10:26-31] Please, surrender your life and your will to the Lord and Master Jesus Christ, and He will free you from the slavery to sin; He will give you freedom from the penalty of sin, and power of sin, eventually presence of sin in eternity! All the glory for salvation of sinners goes to God, our Saviour. The Lord Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God." [John 3:3] Just as it was out of our power and control to be born into this world, it was out of our power and control to be born into the family of God. [John 1:13; Romans 9:16] God, according to His own choice, must birth us and give us spiritual life, and give us faith (believe God's Word, reject lies), and give us repentance (hatred of sin, love for Jesus Christ, total submission to the Lordship of Jesus). [Acts 11:18; Philippians 1:29; James 1:18] In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through His Son Jesus Christ to Himself. [Ephesians 1:5] The evidence that genuine Salvation has come upon a sinner The moment God gives spiritual life to a once spiritually dead sinner, transforms him into a new creature, into a child of God, then the sinner is saved forever through faith in Jesus Christ, and guaranteed irrevocable citizenship in heaven, and access to the Father's unchanging, infinite love for all His children. The evidence of that new life in Christ during the time of a believer's stay on earth is told us in God's Word, of which we shall attempt to speak a few words: No more dread of omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent God, but reckless pursue for communion with the same God. [Psalm 27:4] Newly found hunger to know God's Word, and desire to obey His commandments. [1 Peter 2:2] No more fear of death, and judgment. [Romans 8:1; Hebrews 2:15] Newly found resentment toward sin and impurity. Sensitivity toward sin. [Romans 7:24] Decreasing pattern of sin in his life. [2 Corinthians 3:18] Unique love for fellow believers. [John 13:34,35] Spiritual discernment, distinguishing truth from error. [1 John 2:20,27] Ambition to be pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ. Burning desire to see the Lord honoured. [1 Corinthians 10:31; 2 Corinthians 5:9] Profound peace in God's Sovereignty, Lordship, Guardianship over his life. [Psalm 23:1-6; 1 Peter 2:25] Sharing the heartbeat of God [1 Samuel 13:14; Psalm 69:9]. Comments are closed.
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CategoriesAll Discourse Doctrines Gospel Humour NT Commentaries OT Commentaries Tactical Life Date
August 2023
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