Tag Archive: Gospel


Why Did Jesus Come?

Public domain image, royalty free stock photo from www.public-domain-image.comWhy did Jesus ultimately choose to be born, crucified, and three days later rise from the dead? Not to sound heretical, but ultimately Jesus did not come to merely die for our sins. I believe God’s Word points to a much grander plan.

Too often a prisoner who has spent many years in prison, once released, has a difficult time acclimating to freedom. Ultimately a prisoner is not released just to be released. He is set free to live a new life of freedom operating under a new perspective of how to utilize that liberty. So it is with the forgiven sinner.

Often we are so excited we’ve been released from our prison of sinful selfishness, but then don’t know what to do next. We, in a sense, are standing just outside the prison walls, unsure what steps to take next. So instead of stepping out in faith, we set up camp where we are, never truly enjoying new life in Christ. Jesus reminds us, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

We are redeemed, we are set free not just to be set free, but so we can for first time freely begin to understand and know the Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ. “And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20

So, yes Jesus came and died for our sins, but ultimately He came to do so much more. May we pull up our stakes from the prison walls and begin stepping out in faith, fully assured of our high calling in Christ Jesus! May we seek to continue growing in the understanding of our Glorious Redeemer and also boldly and lovingly make Him know to those both stuck in prison and those who have pitched their tents just outside its walls.

 

Who is the Real Enemy?

Self LoveSo often people speak of Satan as being the enemy, which he clearly is. (1 Peter 5:8) However, there is almost no mention today of the enemy that follows us around everywhere we go. It wasn’t Satan that caused Adam and Eve to sin in the Garden and it surely isn’t Satan that forces men to sin today. Yes, he is the tempter, but we are personally responsible for our decisions. “…But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” James 1:13-14

We sin because our flesh has chosen to place self, instead of God, upon the throne. Self is as much the enemy as Satan. The old man, cast in the image of his father the devil, doesn’t just vanish upon being born again. The old man, the self life, along with all its affections and desires, MUST be crucified daily by the power of Christ who lives in every born again believer. (Luke 9:23)

All the talk today from popular psychologists, authors, and preachers of self acceptance, self love, self worth, etc. is foolishness to the cross and the cross foolishness to their false teachings. Although unbiblical and destructive to the soul, sadly many professing believers have rallied around the idea of self love as if it is the saving Gospel of mankind. After all how can someone actually feel worthy to accept God’s forgiveness until they learn to love themselves?

How far we have come from the truth of Paul… “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing… O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:18a, Romans 7:24  Even popular, professing Christian singers have begun injecting self love into their lyrics. May the day never come when we sing, “I lift me up! Oh yeah and Jesus too.”

“I lay me down and lift Jesus up!” ought always be my love song to the One who died for a sinner such as I.

Jesus Christ did not simply call His followers to go make a difference. He said to go out to preach the Gospel and make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:19-20)  The overshadowed drive of church organizations for social agendas of world PEACE plans, hunger drives, helping the needy, etc. only serves at best as a social band-aid, but in the end lead to eternal darkness. Mankind, and sadly much of today’s “Christianity”, has demonstrated an overwhelming desire to join together in godless unity in hopes of turning this fallen world back into the Garden of Eden.

Sadly, it is foolish arrogance that has clouded the fact that it was there in the perfect Garden that sinful pride was planted in the heart of man. Making the world a perfect place will NEVER change the condition of our sinful hearts. Jesus Christ did NOT come to “make the world right” as taught by Eugene Peterson his book The Message. “He [Jesus] came to help, to put the world right again.” John 3:17 (The Message). Jesus came to call men out of this world, redeeming lost sinners and translating them from this world’s kingdom of darkness into His marvelous Light! (1 Peter 2:9)

Dear strangers and pilgrims, may all those who have been cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb simply choose to understand and know Jesus, grow in His knowledge and grace, and faithfully go in His power to make disciples of all nations, all for the glory of our great God and Savior!

“Worthy?”

Recently I heard a song on our Christian radio station, KLOV. After hearing the chorus I had to look up the lyrics online to be sure I understood the song correctly. Sadly I had. Referring to people, the Christian artist sings, “You are more than flesh and bone. Can’t you see you’re beautiful? Yeah, you gotta believe, you gotta believe. He [God] wants you to see, He wants you to see that you’re not just some wandering soul, that can’t be seen and can’t be known. Yeah, you gotta believe, you gotta believe that you are worth dying for, you’re worth dying for, someone worth dying for.” (Emphasis mine) “Someone Worth Dying For”, by: Mikeschair. 

It’s a nice sentiment, but there’s more than a little error planted in the chorus – “You’re someone worth dying for.”  At first glance this sounds good, but the idea actually nullifies the truth of God’s character, lowering the reality of His love. The whole point of the amazing grace of God is that He showered His love on His enemies, not beautiful people worth dying for. Consider Colossians 1:21, “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled.”  If people were worth Jesus dying for, then the value would be centered in us, not in God.  If we actually got what we deserved, we’d all go to Hell. No one deserves Heaven, and we are not worth the salvation God offers us so full and free.  This is what make the love of God so amazing, that He would stoop so low to save a wretch like me. Christ dying on the cross doesn’t prove my worth nor my value. In truth it reveals how awful my sin really is. He came to pay our rebellious penalty, not purchase a bunch of diamonds in the rough. When the redeemed enter Heaven, we will not be singing, “Thank You God, but I know I was worth dying for, someone worth dying for!” Instead we’ll be on our faces crying, “Worthy is the Lamb! All wisdom, glory, honor, and power are unto the Lamb Who was slain. The One Who was, and is, and is to come!” Rev. 4:8, 11 and 5:12.

“When we study the New Testament record, we see plainly that Christ’s conflict was with the theological rationalists of His day. John’s gospel record is actually a long, inspired, passionately-outpoured account trying to save us from evangelical rationalism-the doctrine that says the text is enough. Divine revelation is the ground upon which we stand. The Bible is the book of God and I stand for it with all my heart; but before I can be saved, there must be illumination, penitence, renewal, inward deliverance. In our Christendom, we have tried to ease many people into the kingdom but they have never been renewed within their own beings. The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians that their faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God! There is a difference. We must insist that conversion to Christ is a miraculous act of God by the Holy Spirit-it must be wrought in the Spirit. There must be an inward illumination!” ~A.W. Tozer

“I don’t want God ever to have to say to me, “I gave you your opportunity to tell the people and you didn’t tell them. You wanted to be…liked by the people, and you wouldn’t tell them.” …I’d lose every friend in [this city]…I’d have you all turn your backs and walk away in cold anger from me, rather than face up to that awful moment when the cry of men and women is heard, “the summer is past [and we’re not saved]…” and I know that I didn’t do my part, to try to win men, to try to bring them to God.

It isn’t important that you like me, but it’s tremendously important that you’re washed in the blood of the Lamb…that you meet God in a saving encounter before that terrible day when you’ll have to cry, “the opportunity’s over…”  A.W. Tozer, “Four Seasons of Life”

Recently I was online ordering some Gospel tracts and ran across a number one, best-seller of all tracts in the 10 years of this website’s sales.  Naturally, I was intrigued. So guess the title of this number one tract. 
 
A. God’s Gift  
B.  Jesus, Our Savior 
C. Sin and Salvation
D.  You are Special. 
 
And the answer is… “D”—“You are Special”, written by Ted Griffen in 2007. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                  
So what is the main idea of this number one selling ‘gospel’ tract?  Almost anyone reading this is left with one thought, and one thought only… I’m not that bad, actually I’m really wonderful. But is that the truth? 
 
 
 
Consider several verses about the state of man found in God’s Word (all emphasis mine)
  • Jeremiah 17:9– “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
  • Job 42:5 “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
  • Luke 7:6– “Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.”
  • John 2:23-25–  “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in His name, when they saw the miracles which He did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because He knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for He knew what was in man.”
  • Romans 7:18, 24, 25–  “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I  thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
 
 
Here are several glaring errors found in the tract written by Ted Griffen.  (The tract can be read in full at: http://www.goodnewstracts.org/product/663575730996)  (All emphasis below is mine.)
Note: Part 2 of this blog will address each point below in light of Scripture.
  • Believe it or not—no one else is just like you. Your physical appearance, your voice and personality traits—your habits, intelligence, personal tastes—all these make you one of a kind. Even your fingerprints distinguish you from every other human being—past, present, or future. You are not the product of some cosmic assembly line; you are unique.
  • But the most important fact of your identity is that God created you in His own image (Genesis 1:27). He made you so you could share in His creation, could love and laugh and know Him person to person. You are special indeed!
  • But even here we are precious to God, for He continues to love us even when we pay Him no mind. He still sees us as individuals with great value. No wonder the psalmist declared, “How precious are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand” (Psalm 139:17, 18).
  • He cares, and He considers each one of us important enough to love.
  • Because you and I are special to God, He wants to forgive us and give us a full, meaningful life. When we trust in Jesus Christ and let Him put our lives together, the Bible says that we become “God’s masterpieces, created in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:10, paraphrase). Can anyone be more special than that?
  • Yes, you are valuable to God! 

Is not the Gospel called the Gospel of Christ and of God?  It is NOT called the good news of man!

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16

***See Part 2 for a biblical response for each point above. ***

“The modern Gospel message is often presented in such a manner that the motivation becomes having an enhanced life, rather than the Lord Jesus Christ being my life. Consequently, Jesus is viewed as one more thing that I incorporate into my life instead of recognizing that He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life (see John 14:6).” Simply Singular, Is Christ Prominent of Preeminent?, Jerry Benjamin, p. 5.

Unity in the Truth Part 3

We cannot create unity, but we can enter into the unity already created.   Who has made this unity for man, you might wonder?  You might reason, and rightly so, “If man is already condemned, serving his sentence, then man surely cannot exit his ‘jail cell’ to solve the emnity between God and all of manking.”  So then who has broken down this separating wall between God and man?  The answer is clear.  There is only one who could do such a marvelous, selfless and truly loving work.  It is none other than the man, Christ Jesus.  Continue reading

The Cross of Christ

It is common place for Christians and unbelievers alike to wear glittering crosses as jewelry.  However, it is more than a bit ironic that the real crosses of Rome’s times were not made of gold, nor were they designed to accessorize an outfit. The cross was intentionally designed as a cruel and humiliating form of execution.  It was made to expose and eradicate the flesh of the criminal.  Three things that the cross should help us remember:  First- The Humiliation, Second- The Criminal, and Third- Death.

  • The Humiliation: Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested and crucified because He knew it was the Father’s will that He should be the once and for all sacrifice for mankind’s sins.  The humiliation He bore should remind us that no sin goes unnoticed by God.  All sin will be exposed before us.  Jesus took the humiliation we deserve.
  • The Criminal:  All have sinned against the Creator of the universe.  This is the burden every man bears. We are the criminals, not God.  Yet God took our place. The perfect Creator humbled Himself to become a man, never stopped being God, to pay the penalty of our rebellious sin.
  • Death:  Yes, the penalty of sin is death. But why?  Because sin is rebellion against God and God is Life. Therefore if we turn from Life, all that is left is Death.  Therefore, the penalty for those who rebel against the Living God is death and that death is eternal.  Why eternal?  Because the One we have sinned against is eternal, therefore our penalty must be forever.  If this were the end of the story, we would be at best hopeless and helpless.  Thankfully, the good news, rather the great news is truly amazing.  God, in His infinite love and grace, sent His Only Son to pay the price for our sins.  “He who knew no sin became sin for us.”  The Cross represents the humiliation of my sins, the criminal nature of my heart, and the death I deserve. But it also represents the goodness of God.

This goodness is revealed in the humility of the Living God, the mercy of Jesus, and the Amazing Love found only in Christ.  “Amazing love, how can it be that You my King would die for me!”  “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”  John 3:18

“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.” Titus 3:5-7

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