Gospel Truth

‬Romans ‭1:16‬ ‭- For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

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We all love receiving good news. Who doesn’t? 

That’s what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. For a lot of people, as the Bible says, it is foolishness. I thought it foolishness much of my life. I thought it foolish to believe I needed more of Jesus than what I knew from confirmation classes and Sunday school as a youngster in the Lutheran Church.

Gospel means a good message or good news. That’s what it is! But people believe it’s not for them but the other person. They might think, I’m pretty much honest, I don’t go out of my way to be mean, I’m a giving person, I’m patriotic, I believe in helping people, not like so and so. I, I, I. Our own mind and strength, comparing. Maybe even...if I do these good things, God will see what I have done and approve of me. What did you do better than what Jesus did? 

Everyone needs to be forgiven of their sins and saved. Everyone needs humility. Everyone needs wisdom. Everyone needs to put others before himself. And we are not perfect. Everyone needs Jesus...more than just knowing who He is and believing He did die for our sins. More than that. Not just head knowledge but heart. If our heart’s not in it, it’s useless.

That’s the Gospel truth! The message of truth that Jesus preached. I am going to ask you to listen to Jesus’ words. I’m going to ask you to read through the Gospel of John. If you don’t have a Bible, look it up online. Take it one chapter at a time, more if you like. Ask God to help you fully understand it and ask Him to open your heart to knowing His heart and His Words, both filled with love and rebuke and if/then statements. Really, try this.

I’ve heard the complaint the Bible is only a book of dos and don’ts and this old book isn’t relevant for today’s culture. Baloney! It may seem that way but if one doesn’t know what good is and the consequences of doing bad, how will one learn? God laid a foundation in the Old Testament. There are laws and rituals laid out. We need to know that no man could ever keep those laws and still can’t. But Jesus came, as the Bible says,  

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (‭Matthew‬ ‭5:17-18‬)

No one is righteous, not one. But Jesus is. And through Him comes our righteousness. This is not just knowing who He is. He died for all mankind but righteousness only comes when one receives Christ. We take Him seriously in our hearts not minds. We receive Him and He lives in our heart, soul and mind. This is called being born again, a spiritual rebirth. Have you been reborn? Has your mind been renewed? Have you undergone a change of heart and mind? Does the Word of God excite you? It should.

It’s hard to convey the idea that all do not go to heaven. Actually, no one wants to hear this because no one wants to think it possible that a loved one is not there. I have gone through this thinking about my parents and grandparents. I wonder if they ever heard the Gospel before their passing. I know I talked with my dad and the situation is in God’s hands because he had Alzheimer’s. Ears can be stopped up and minds shut off to the truth. And God only speaks truths. Truth is not always palatable. But there’s still time for those who are still living. Including those who might be reading this and not born of the Spirit.  

So, not everyone is in a better place, as is so often spoken by someone at a funeral service. That is a hard word. We hear how giving, kind, compassionate, accomplished, successful they were. Maybe they went to church every week or more. It’s not about their works. Did they talk about Jesus? Did they live for Him? Did they say they were nothing without Him? Is the name of Jesus ever mentioned...apart from using it to cuss or show disdain? Oddly, enough, after I’d written this, set it aside, picked up my Bible, I read this! Psalm 16:2 states: O my soul, you have said to the LORD, “You are my LORD, my goodness is nothing apart from You.” How appropriate. With our heart and soul we call out to our Lord knowing we are not good in and of ourselves. We need Him, as the song goes, every hour. https://youtu.be/slvgJsCbR3w

Some would argue that God is good and wouldn’t keep anyone from eternal life. We are told in the Book of Romans we cannot receive Christ then live any way we wish. We still must obey laws, which have been outline in the Old Testament. We receive Him and become transformed, changed, hopefully to know God’s laws. We think differently and see things with a new, godly, perspective. This is why Christians are so put down at times. Why did I have to change, I’ve been asked. It just comes with having heard the Gospel, the good message or good news of what Jesus did for me/us. 

It’s all about Him, not me, not you, not an entertainer, athlete, politician. If any adoration (idolization) in any man is greater than in God, our priorities are messed up. I know! We can admire others but unless their lifestyle is not full of sex, drugs and rock and roll, I for one will admire from a very great distance. It’s the popularity that comes over them and turns them sour.

In further reading this morning (Exodus) I was reminded again about how it’s all about God. We cannot change ourselves but He can. Only in and through Christ Jesus. Phrases like, you shall see what I will do or I am the LORD, I will bring you out, I will rescue you, I will redeem you. It’s a work of God alone, not of ourselves...lest we boast in our accomplishments, which are of no effect. Our deeds are as filthy rags, He tells us. Only the one deed of Christ was enough. And the only deed of ours is to receive Christ, be born again.

Oh, I can imagine the disagreement here! This is the Gospel truth, according to God. It may seem harsh, but in the end it is a good message. If we give ourselves to God and look to Him, the battles are His. He carries our burdens. In our trials He strengthens us to get us through. And if it’s a struggle where we will not survive, our hope, our end, is secure because of Him. That is the ultimate good news; the good news, good message, I will cling to. All about what He did, does and will do if we put all our trust in Him and believe His hard words. 

1Corinthians‬ ‭1:18‬ ‭- For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.