Category The Gospel

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God….” Romans 3:22 

“the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 

“for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life….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 begottenSon of God.” John 3:16,18 

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.” John 14:6 

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:12 

“Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heav...

What was the cup which Christ came to drink?

Some say Christ’s cup was separation from God the Father, but Psalm 22 says the Father did not turn His face away from His Son on the cross, but withheld His hand until His afflicted Son spoke the word – “It is finished”.

Some say it was the cup of God’s wrath poured upon Christ for men’s sins, but when James and John asked to have the right and left-hand positions in Christ’s kingdom, answering that they were indeed prepared and able to drink of the same cup that Christ drank, Jesus affirmed that they would indeed drink of the cup that He drank. But no man bore the wrath of God for the sins of men other than Christ. No disciple bears God’s wrath for his own sin, much less for the sins of the world...

Even with the hurting Jesus spoke of sin, because without sin, the message of the gospel is meaningless. If we had no sin, we would not be enemies of God, we would not be under His judgment, we would not need reconciliation with God, nor salvation from His justice. 

Most people are not murderers, rapists, bank robbers, and child abusers. Most people’s sins are of the ‘milder’ sort: lying, gluttony, jealously, gossip, laziness, cowardice. We don’t see ourselves as ‘bad’ people because we don’t see our sins as ‘bad sins’. Consequently, most people expect God to freely allow them access to His glory on the basis of their being ‘good’ people, and do not see a need for Christ to save them...

Luke 24:36 – 48 (45)

“And as they spoke this, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you.’

But being dismayed and becoming afraid, they supposed they were seeing a spirit.

And he said to them, ‘Why are you troubled and why do thoughts come into your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that I am Myself. Handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see I have.’

And saying this, He showed them His hands and His feet.

Because they still yet disbelieved for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, ‘Have you any food here?’

And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of honey from the comb, and taking it, He ate it in their sight.

And He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still together with ...

Sometimes people have trouble understanding that we are justified before God by faith, and not by how good we are. Some people are offended at the thought that God would justify everyone only on the basis of faith, and not on the basis of an inventory of their good works; they feel that ‘good people’ should be acceptable to God, and He should open wide the doors to His presence to all those who are ‘good’. These latter often raise the argument of the injustice of ‘horrible people’ who will get into heaven because they have faith, and therefore God is ‘unfair’. Most of this misunderstanding is rooted in the failure to understand  the key words “faith” and “justice”. 

The word ‘justice’ refers to receiving what is deserved by our actions...

John 3:3         Jesus … said unto [Nicodemus], “Truly, truly I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jn 3:16           For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Jn 3:18-21      “He that believes on 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.

And this is the condemnation: that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed...

Many atheists condemn God for the penalty of death for sin; they consider eternal punishment unjust. They and many others say that God is unjust to consign to hell eternally those who are unfaithful to Him. Their lack of understanding of death and hell result in wrongful accusations against God. 

God Himself is the Source of Life.[i] Separation from Him is death. Just as an offense in our human relationships creates a rift, so also sin, including unfaithfulness, separates us from God. Therefore, sin brings death upon us.[ii] 

This is beautifully illustrated by the account of the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve first resided. In the garden grew two trees, referred to only as ‘the Tree of Life”, and “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil”...

Rom3:23    All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Rom 6:23   For the wages of sin is death …

Is 53:          But He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement [ punishment] of our peace was upon Him .

2 Cor 5:21   For [God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Rom 3:22   … even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ to all and upon all who believe…

Titus 3:5     Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved us by the washing of rebirth and the renewing by the Holy Spirit.

Rom 8:1    There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…

John 1:12  …but as many ...

Polls show most people believe they will go to heaven when they die. But if you had to stand before God in judgement today, how would you do? 

The Bible says that anyone who breaks the Law in only one point is guilty of breaking the Law. God is a righteous judge; He must judge each person according to what they have done. Will you be innocent or guilty? 

God’s law is perfect; have you kept His perfect law? Have you loved God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind? Jesus said this was the greatest commandment in all the Law. Have you kept it? If not, you are guilty. 

God commanded that no other gods be set up besides Him. What do you worship? For what do you live? What masters your life? Will He judge you guilty or innocent of replacing Him with other “gods”? 

God’s name is holy;...

The natural consequence of rejecting God is the degradation of the human character into wickedness. God being the sum of all goodness in every aspect is necessarily its only source; to reject God is to reject good, leaving men with only what is other than good. We cannot define goodness for ourselves; it already exists as an expression of the nature of God. We either know and acknowledge God and by extension all that is good, or we refuse God and by extension embrace wickedness.

God created man in God’s image: “And God said, “We shall make man in Our image and as Our likeness…'” (1)  He intended that we would live and reflect the goodness of God among all creation. When we live in communion with God, we are directed by His Spirit into the fullness of His goodness...