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Wednesday, July 18, 2007
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Currently Reading
Three Views on the Rapture
see relatedThe Only Way to Heaven: Faith alone in Christ alone (Part 2)The second installment of 'Faith Alone in Christ Alone' will have to do with the motivating factors in the Christian Life. After understanding the first section, HOW one is saved, this section will explain how to live because YOU ARE saved.
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When people ask what the Gospel is and someone says that it is faith alone in Christ alone and NO WORKS WHATSOEVER such as 'turning your life over to God', 'changing your life from your control to God's control', 'turning over a new leaf', etc.; they then ask the presumptuous question - 'Well, then can I just go and sin?'
So many people pose this question right after someone presents them the TRUE Gospel (faith alone in Christ alone) and believe that somehow this question is bullet proof and reinforces their position. Somehow they believe God's Word does not have a CLEAR and simple answer for that. Paul clearly states that people were slandering his preaching of the true Gospel (grace through faith in Christ) in his written text from Romans 3:5-8 where he says people were slandering his preaching by saying that he taught a gospel that proposed — "Let us do evil that good may result". Paul's answer to them was: 'Their condemnation is just.'
People understand the Gospel clearly - that it is a gift and nothing they can do can earn it - and you know what happens to them???
THEY ARE EMBARASSED.
Why? Because that sounds too good to be true. So, after someone has been a Christian for a while they believe they've 'done enough' to 'earn God's love', 'prove they're a real Christian because of their works', and 'everyone else needs to do the same'. So, not only are most Christians CONFUSED and UNCLEAR about the GOSPEL, they are embarassed about it as well! So usually a Gospel presentation goes something like this: 'If you want to become a Christian you must give up everything to follow Jesus. You must confess and repent of all your sin, truly, truly, truly trust Him that He'll save you, and then follow Him for the rest of your life.'
That usually is what I hear. Yet what Did Jesus say?
'He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life and will not come into condemnation, but has already passed over from death into life' (Jn. 5:24).
What did Paul say?
'But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.' (Rm. 3:21-24)
It is not complicated, but it is truly difficult for many to accept that someone can have a gift AND DO NOTHING FOR IT. So, instead of embracing this truth and growing in grace, they are embarrassed of this truth, change the message of grace, make it a message of works, and them attempt to motivate people by FEAR.
So, how should a person who is saved be truly motivated? Why should I want to live for Christ, now that He has saved me - having the gift of salvation and an eternal relationship with God?
1) I want to live for Him because I love Him - I want to do this because He first loved me.
1 John 1:4:9-11 says: 'In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.'
So we should love God and one another BECAUSE HE first loved us.
Romans 5:8 says - 'For while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.'
2) God commands us to love one another and to be ambassadors for Him!
John 13:34-35 says - 'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.'
We should love Him and others because He commands us too - this should be enough but there is more!
2 Cor. 5:20 says: 'Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.'
So, we are to be His ambassadors of the 'Ministry of Reconciliation' as God were literally pleading through us - 'Be reconciled to God!'
3) REWARDS!
People honestly dont understand the teaching of rewards AT ALL. God desires for us to be rewarded and to have a good showing before Him. What people also dont understand is that those who DO NOT have a good showing before Him will BE ASHAMED before Him and will not receive 'Well done, good and Faithful servant' because not everyone is a good and faithful servant.
Specific texts on rewards are -
a) 'Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.' (1 Cor. 9:24-27)
Understand the KEY words Paul discusses: Obtain a prize, an imperishable crown. Notice that those who are disqualified are disqulaified from the CROWN and the PRIZE. NOT the Eternal Life and NOT the gift of Salvation. Rewards and eternal crowns ARE EARNED! Salvation is not work, it is a simple gift received by faith alone through Christ alone (Rom. 4:4-5).
b) 'According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.' (1 Cor. 3:10-15)
So, works are tested through fire - and the works that remain and are pleasing to God, the worker (Christian) receives his reward. This is NOT a gift, it is earned.
4) Grace TEACHES us to obey!
This point is similiar to point one as love is interrelated to grace, but it is also different and separate as its own force as a strong motivation to serve Christ in our lives.
Paul discusses this main point in Titus 2:12 ---
'For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,' (Titus 2:11-13)
Not only does God's grace bring us eternal salvation, it also TEACHES us to obey Him and to live soberly in a dark and destructive world. Understand that this type of living does not justify us, but is our correct response to God's continuous grace as we grow and mature in Christ in this present, earthly life.
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The problem is that God truly desires that people turn from their sins, that we live in a victorious way and that we give greater glory to Him instead of living unrighteously so that it furthers His grace on our sin - though His grace will always abound over our sin as it is clear from Romans 5:19-21.
The problem arises when people MAKE THESE THINGS conditions for 'becoming right before God'. These are things God desires FOR THE CHRISTIAN to go on to maturity in Jesus Christ - NOT to become a Christian. Where is the motivation in that? The only motivation used in that is FEAR. Pastors and Christians everywhere dont know the scriptures and instead of studying the scriptures they yell louder and use fear tactics to try to 'motivate' people to live for God. They might believe in grace through faith - yet have never truly lived A LIFE OF GRACE, and because of that, they proclaim a FALSE Gospel that will never bring people to a saving faith in Christ, but only reform them into religious people who are still lost and have not yet believed in Jesus Christ alone through faith alone as the only means of salvation.
Grace always,
Ross Turner ~ 1 Cor. 9:24-27
Thursday, July 05, 2007
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Currently Reading
Three Views on the Rapture
see relatedThe Only Way to Heaven: Faith alone in Christ alone (Part 1)
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
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Currently Reading
The Prophecy Knowledge Handbook
By John F. Walvoord
see relatedChristian Hedonism: Biblical or Heretical?
Pursuing Pleasure and Pursuing the Wind--
Solomon’s Lesson on HedonismCopyright © 2005 - All rights retained by author Written by: Craig W. Booth If it can be said of any man that he knew how to be a hedonist, it can assuredly be said of King Solomon. King Solomon pursued every pleasure he could imagine and did not restrain himself from experiencing anything he could imagine. Sex, drunkenness, music, education, riches, power, conversing and fellowshipping with God as a prophet of the Most High, builder of the most lavish house of worship ever constructed in that time, organizer of a national three-week-long worship service--every pleasure a man can desire. Pleasures holy and pleasures evil; pleasures in God and pleasures not of God.
Hedonism was experienced, in fact pursued with abandon, in its truest and purest form by Solomon.
All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2:10a)
Solomon, the Ultimate Hedonist, Judges His Philosophy
As the ultimate hedonist, King Solomon, prophet Solomon, Solomon the Wise, was the perfect test case for whether the philosophy of hedonism has any value in the life of a believer. Solomon pursued every pleasure--he did not just simply let pleasure happen to him. Solomon wanted to determine if human philosophers were right, that the pursuit of pleasure is the key to happiness. And Solomon did not restrict himself to pursuing pleasure in God (though he certainly did that as well) but he also chased after ordinary, wholesome, and even wicked pleasures, all in a comprehensive experiment to determine whether any aspect of pursuing pleasure had lasting value.
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself." And behold, it too was futility. I said of laughter, "It is madness," and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?" I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives. I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself; I made gardens and parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men--many concubines. Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.
All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun. "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "all is vanity!" In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly. The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11,12:8-13)
It should be surprising to most all Christians that Solomon's conclusions regarding the value of the philosophy of hedonism are simply ignored, and very often even derided, today. Such an attitude of mockery and ignorance belies its own lack of wisdom, for ignoring Solomon’s conclusions is to ignore the Word of God, and understanding the Word is a beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). No one was wiser than Solomon, so says the Lord God (1 Kings 4:30), yet theologians arise today announcing they have more insight than Solomon in the matter of hedonism, even calling all men to become hedonists of one sort or another.
"So enjoy yourself
." And behold, it too was futility. I said of laughter, "It is madness," and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?" (Ecclesiastes 2:1b,2)Solomon pursued the best of pleasures in God. He decreed and opened a nationwide three weeks of worship to God (2 Chronicles 7:9). He built a temple to God having been encouraged through the process by direct revelation from the Lord (1 Kings 6). He talked with God as one might talk with their friend, God asked questions, Solomon answered, and God responded (1 Kings 3). Solomon used his unsurpassed wisdom to teach the people knowledge of God (Ecclesiastes 12:9,10). He wrote these proverbs knowing he was writing God’s Word. Yet of all this pursuit of pleasure in God, Solomon wrote:
Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:11)
These two phrases could not be more poignant when compared: "pursuing pleasure" is the same as "pursuing the wind". Pursuing pleasure as a motive or a goal is as silly a goal as chasing after the air that has already blown by. There is no lasting or eternal benefit, if attainment of pleasure is the goal.
Solomon, in addition to pursuing pleasure in God and in the worship of God, pursued pleasure in the ordinary work-a-day world. He built for himself: houses, vineyards, gardens, ponds, and parks. He amassed wealth and acquired servants and musicians. Of these relatively common pleasures, Solomon also concluded, "Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2:11)
Sadly, Solomon also pursued the unlawful pleasures so adored by the wicked. He purchased sex slaves, called concubines, for himself and indulged in the adulterous sexual "pleasures of men" as heartily as he pursued his other pleasures. Expanding on his father’s legacy, Solomon violated God’s intents for marriage by accumulating multiple wives, all in the name of the pursuit of pleasure. He even experimented with drunkenness. Still, his conclusion was the same, "all [pursuit of pleasure] was vanity and striving after wind."
In fact, as a result of all his hedonism, what Solomon called his "labors" (labors of hedonism) of which there were holy pursuits of pleasure in God, wholesome pursuits of pleasure in work, and the unholy pursuits of pleasure in adultery and drunkenness, he found his heart was actually pleased with all he had accomplished. That was his human heart’s conclusion, it felt good and pleased.
But the spiritual conclusion was very different--it was all vanity, every pursuit of pleasure was empty of true value. In fact, Solomon realized that the ONLY reward for hedonism is the temporary good feelings it engendered. For the pursuit of pleasure, even pleasure in God if pleasure is the true target of the pursuit, is eternally worthless.
All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11)
When the goal of worship is personal pleasure, the reward is a temporary good feeling in one’s heart, but the eternal value is already spent and is now void. When the goal of service to God is pleasure, one is rewarded with the temporary good feeling of pleasure, but the eternal value is gone. When one greedily pursues pleasure in possessions or illicit sex, the temporary payoff is good feelings of pleasure, but the eternal value is missing.
This same lesson Jesus taught us.
"When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full." (Matthew 6:5)
These hypocrites got pleasure from being seen in worship in the synagogues. Since pleasure was their objective, they achieved their objective in full. Yes, they got pleasure, but they missed the better outcome of worship. There are better motives for worship than the accomplishment of self-pleasure. In any activity, if the chief outcome desired is pleasure, then Solomon instructs us that we are striving after wind and investing in vanity.
If hedonism had any value in worship or any useful essence in service to God, Solomon would not have called the pursuit of pleasure vanity, folly, and pursuing the wind.
Pursuit of Pleasure Is Vanity, But Is It Sin?
Is the pursuit of moral pleasures necessarily a sin? Surely it is vanity, but is it a sin?
There is a further question that Solomon’s experiment raises.God hands us pleasure freely. Pleasures from and in God are constantly compassing us. It would not be possible to wake up, shower, and eat breakfast without bumping into, stumbling over, passing by, and consuming elements of God's creation that He provided for us to gladly and thankfully experience.
We know from those experiences and from God's Word that pleasure, just as is pain, is from God and in God. It is part of God's creation and most definitely part of His plan. We cannot help but have it happen to us. And when we praise and delight in God, as some of the Psalms admonish us to do, we even find this form of worship to be pleasant. If a man is saved and lives on Earth, he will bump into pleasure though it be unsought and unbeckoned.
Having pleasure freely available as a gift from God which one has not sought out is one thing, but should we actually pursue it? Should we make it a goal to obtain pleasure, and not just some, but as much as we can squeeze into our folded and clinging arms? There is no direct command from God to do so, but on the other side of the coin is the consideration, "is it wrong or immoral to purposely chase after pleasure?"
Hedonism is the label that is applied to one who is known by their devotion to experiencing pleasure. A hedonist is characterized by a love affair with, and a single-minded pursuit of, pleasure.
King Solomon was the world's most famous hedonist. He was also the world's wisest man by decree of God (1 Kings 3:11,12). As wisest human and as a prophet of God, his pronouncement on his own hedonism was, "hedonism is folly and vanity." Solomon characterized the pursuit of pleasure as chasing after the wind, a meaningless child’s game of grasping at the air as if one could actually retain it in hand for useful outcomes. Solomon did not conclude that hedonism could be a useful tool in the worship of God, he simply declared that the pursuit of pleasure was itself vanity. As with all childish games, ultimately the pursuit of pleasure is temporal and yields no lasting value.In this understanding C. S. Lewis concurs with Solomon. "[the pursuit of pleasure is] g
reed. Instead of saying, ‘This also is Thou,’ one may say the fatal word Encore." (Lewis, Letter 17, Letters to Malcolm) Lewis referred to pursuing pleasures as the practice of "adoration in infinitesimals," a practice which he would never permit to gain prominence over and above obedience, "Don’t imagine I am forgetting that the simplest act of mere obedience is worship of a far more important sort than what I’ve been describing (to obey is better than sacrifice)." (Lewis, Letter 17, Letters to Malcolm) Had Lewis not agreed with Solomon in his conclusions about the pursuit of pleasure being a valueless greed then it would have been Lewis whom we would have been required to distrust and whose teachings would have had to be discarded as imprecise reflections of Scripture. In any conflict between modern philosophy and the judgments of Scripture, Scripture must always be given dominance and the errant philosophy repudiated.Solomon chased pleasures, both of the moral and immoral variety. Solomon's conclusion was that making pleasure an end, a goal, an object of desire, was vanity--an empty waste and a distraction to the real business of life. He concluded that the godly goals of life were to "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." (Eccl.12:13b NIV)
Experiencing pleasure as a side benefit to genuinely biblical pursuits is part of the reward system God has created. Pursuing pleasure, as if it were itself a goal, according to Solomon, is unwise. Pursuing pleasure is nowhere commended by God's Word as a healthy focus or activity. It is called unwise, quite often, even a folly:
"The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, While the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure." (Ecclesiastes 7:4)
For example, we know that God is the one who originated pain. Pain, as a tool to keep us focused on God and as a mechanism to keep us from injuring our own bodies, is a good and valid aspect of being human. Yet, as good as pain is, it would be unwise to pursue it. Certainly the Bible calls us to be sorrowful and to gnash our teeth and agonize as if in pain over our sins, but it does not call us to pursue the pain as if it were the goal. No, repentance is the true goal and pain is but the tool that God uses. We do not invoke the pain on ourselves, it is the gift that God gives us to goad us to do better. So it is with pleasure, it is not the goal which we actively seek, rather it is the unbidden tool that God imposes on us to accomplish His will. No one seeks the tool, one seeks the finished product fashioned by the work of the tool.
Is it a sin to pursue pleasure just as one might choose to pursue holiness? It is hard to label such a thing as a sin when the Word does not do so directly, yet, we are obligated and compelled by God's Word to call it unwise, a folly, a vanity.
So that is just what we will do. The pursuit of moral pleasure as if it were an end in itself is unwise and is folly, a chase that has no lasting value, though it is not expressly forbidden by God's Word. Is it a sin? Probably not. But if Solomon, the greatest and wisest man the Earth knew until Jesus walked the planet, and if Solomon, the most studied hedonist in history, concluded that hedonism in all its forms was not a useful tool in the service of God, and recorded his rejection of that philosophy in the Scriptures, who are we to think we can redeem that which he cast aside and rejected as vain? The pursuit of pleasure, hedonism, is vanity and folly, it is the child’s game of chasing the wind and has the same eternal value.Conclusion
King Solomon wrote:
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." (Eccl.12:13 NIV)
Through the tool of paraphrasing Solomon’s summary statements, we may be able to gain a deeper understanding of his insights regarding the pursuit of pleasure, hedonism.
Solomon: Now all has been heard…
Paraphrase: After all the persuasive arguments have been pitched, and when the best arguments for the philosophy of the pursuit of pleasure (be they pleasures in God, in religion, in nature, in labor, or in sin) have been proffered…
Solomon: here is the conclusion of the matter:
Paraphrase: here is the summary judgment having weighed hedonism on the scales of wisdom and having it measure up short as a philosophy for living a God-pleasing life:
Solomon: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Paraphrase: As your highest priority, love God with an attitude dominated by fear and respect, and so obey His commandments. For making this your philosophy of life is the entire duty of every man.
Solomon's wise words rebuff all pleas to make "the pursuit of pleasure" into a philosophy useful to the one who loves God. Solomon properly concludes that the only valid philosophy is: "to fear God" (an expression that combines love with extreme respect) and "obey His Word." Fear God and obey His Word. Why have so few made that expression of Scripture into a motto or a creed?
" ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.’ And behold, it too was futility. All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure. Behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun." -- King Solomon, the Wise
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I found this review extremely helpful in a time where so many people (especially young people like me)are attracted to a theology of 'Christian Hedonism'. Though this term may be a 'matter of principle' for many, the teachings of some have lead us into a most heretical 'prosperity theology' ; teachings of others have lead us to think that Christian Hedonism is the way to 'pursue God'. As Mr. Booth has so clearly stated, Solomon's answer to Christian Hedonism is found in the Word of God:
We are "to fear God" (an expression that combines love with extreme respect) and "obey His Word." Fear God and obey His Word. Why have so few made that expression of Scripture into a motto or a creed?
Exactly. Fear God, and obey His Word.
Grace always,
Ross ~ John 5:24
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
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Currently Reading
Major Bible Themes
By John F. Walvoord, Lewis Sperry Chafer
see relatedIn the wake of thousands of unclear Gospel messages today, I felt that I would write another message proclaiming a clear Gospel and its correct response. We can NEVER speak of these truths too much, why? Simple: Because there is only ONE Gospel and the correct response to it is simple faith. Paul makes it clear in Gal. 1:6-10 that to proclaim a false gospel causes us to be accursed and declares with certainty that there is only ONE Gospel that He (Paul) proclaimed:
6 'I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.'
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I feel it is of dire importance for all of us to make clear what exactly the Gospel message is. It is not 'Ask Jesus into your heart' it is not 'Surrender your life to Jesus' it is also not 'Make Jesus the Lord of your life'. Those are unclear messages AT BEST, and ANOTHER Gospel at worst. Now I'm most certain many people are actually saved through those messages. I use to say 'Ask Jesus into your life' when I was telling someone about the Gospel and what we must understand and believe to be eternally saved.
My error was not that I was completely off saying that, but I was not clear in what the Gospel message/response truly is SCRIPTURALLY.
Jesus, in the Gospel of John 98 times tells us to BELIEVE in Him for ETERNAL LIFE.
Paul, over fifty times in the Book of Romans alone talks about placing FAITH in Christ, many of those times for the purpose of a new RIGHT Standing with God (Rom. 3:21-5:1).
So, what exactly is a a much clearer Gospel message and response?
1) This is the Gospel (GOOD NEWS): Jesus died for all sin, including yours on the cross and three days later He rose again, defeating sin and death (1 Cor. 15:3-4) JUST like He said He would. This is the GOOD NEWS - the news that though we are separated from God because of our sin, Christ has paid for ALL sin on the Cross and risen again defeating sin and death.
2) Now, what is the proper response to this absolute truth for the unbeliever???
Faith ALONE in Christ ALONE (simple faith/belief in His already accomplished work).
So, when you've told a person about what Christ has ALREADY accomplished, how do they need to respond?
You tell them God now commands everyone everywhere to BELIEVE on His Son for Eternal Life which means many things. One being that they are now 'Made Alive' to God! Thats what the word 'Regeneration means - it means to be 'Born from Above'. Another truth is that they are now JUSTIFIED before God. This is a legal term which means 'Declared Righteous'.
So, when we believe in the already accomplished work of Jesus Christ, done through the Cross and His resurrection - which paid for all sin (John 1:29) - we are JUSTIFIED (by faith) and forever eternally secure in His promise, meaning He will NEVER let us go (Jn. 10:28-30, Rom. 8:33-39).
So, the Good News: Jesus Christ died on the cross (paying for all sin) and rose again (defeating sin/physical death) forever accomplishing this.
The Response of the Unbeliever: Simply believe/trust in Christ now to save you from that penalty of sin and you receive justification before God (right standing forever), eternal life (new life because of regeneration - meaning to be 'born-again') and the complete forgiveness of sins forever.
This is the truth from the Word of God. We need to be clearer in our Gospel message and what the proper response to it is. This is of dire importance for us who are saved. We must be clear about the Gospel and what its response is.
Those who understand this truth and believe it - they will forever have right-standing before God, be given a new Eternal/Heavenly life, and their sin has been forgiven once and for all.
I would like to end this small little comment with what Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote about the importance of the CLEAR Gospel and its CORRECT response:
'The error of imposing Christ's Lordship upon the unsaved is disastrous even though they are not able intelligently to resent it or to remind the preacher of the fact that he, in calling upon them to dedicate their lives, is demanding of them what they have no ability to produce. A destructive heresy was formerly abroad under the name The Oxford Movement, which specializes in this blasting error; except that the promoters of the Movement omit altogether the idea of believing on Christ for salvation and promote exclusively the obligation of surrender to God. They substitute consecration for salvation, faithfulness for faith, and beauty of daily life for believing unto eternal life. As is easily seen, the plan of this Movement is to ignore the need of Christ's death as the ground of regeneration and forgiveness, and to promote the wretched heresy that it matters nothing what one believes respecting the Saviorhood of Christ if only the daily life is dedicated to God's service. A pseudo self-dedication to God is a rare bit of religion with which the unsaved may conjure. The tragedy is that out of such a delusion those who embrace it are likely never to be delivered by a true faith in Christ as Savior. No more complete example could be found today of "the blind leading the blind" than what this Movement presents.' ("The Terms of Salvation," Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 107 (Oct.-Dec. 1950): 389-416)
Continue to proclaim the clear and absolute truth of the Gospel.
Grace always,
Ross Turner ~ John 5:24
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- Name: Ross
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