Thursday, May 23, 2013

(The True Gospel) The Lord Jesus Christ is truly ALIVE!! And it is appointed for men to die once, but after that to face judgment, (Hebrews 9:27NKJV) WHAT MUST I DO!! To be saved? Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30 NKJV). You must repent. This means a complete change regarding sin. There must be a change of mind. You must admit that you are a sinner, a rebel against a holy and loving God. There must be a change of heart — genuine sorrow and shame at the vileness: and filthiness of your sin. Then you must be willing to forsake it and change the direction of your life. God challenges people to prove their repentance by their deeds (Acts 26:20). You must do this. God will not forgive any sin you are not willing to forsake. Sin is [Transgression] of God's Perfect Holy Moral Law. (you are Guilty!!) (read: Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV). (REPENT ~ read on: Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them (Romans 1:29-32 NKJV). (REPENT ~ read on: Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:9, 10 NKJV). (REPENT ~ read on: But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-5, 7 NIV) To repent is to go in a new direction, seeking wholeheartedly to live in a way that pleases God. Repentance does not save, yet no sinner ever was or ever will be saved without it. None but Christ saves—but an impenitent heart cannot receive Him. How can I get right with God? How can Christ become my Savior? As a result of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6), every part of man—his mind, will, emotions and flesh—have been corrupted by sin. Because of man’s sinful nature, he does not and cannot seek God. He has no desire to come to God and, in fact, his mind is hostile toward God (Romans 8:7). God has declared that man’s sin dooms him to an eternity in hell, separated from God. It is in hell that man pays the penalty of sin against a holy and righteous God. This would be bad news indeed if there were no remedy. All the Bible’s teaching points to the death of Jesus. Neither his perfect life nor his marvelous teaching nor his powerful miracles are the focus of the Bible’s message. These are all important, but above all else Jesus came into the world to die. What makes his death so important? The answer is that he died as a Substitute, a Sin bearer and a Savior. Jesus the Substitute. This demonstrates the love of God. Sinners are guilty, lost and helpless in the face of God’s holy law, which demands punishment for every sin. How can they possibly escape God’s righteous wrath? The Bible’s answer is this: God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). As part of an amazing rescue plan God the Son volunteered to take the place of sinners and bear the just penalty for their sin. The sinless Son of God willingly suffered and died for them, the righteous for the unrighteous (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus the Sin bearer. This demonstrates the holiness of God. There was nothing ‘faked’ about Christ’s death. The penalty for the sins of others was paid in full by the death of God’s sinless Son. As he hung on the cross he cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mark 15:34). At that terrible moment God the Father turned his back on his beloved Son, who then endured the penalty of separation from God. All men are under the fierce just wrath of God because of their vile wickedness. Someone had to drink down that wrath. Jesus on that tree bore the guilt of his people and stood in their law place. Then all the holy just hatred, wrath, judgment, and justice of God like blinding white light came crushing down on the head of Christ. Have you never read — And it pleased the Lord, YAHWEH, to crush his Son — to grind him to powder (Isaiah 53). Notice how this shows God’s perfect holiness. All sin, every sin, must be punished — and when Jesus took the place of sinners he became as accountable for their sins as if he had been responsible for them. The one man who lived a perfect life suffered the double death penalty of the guilty. Jesus the Savior. This demonstrates the power of God. Three days after his death, Christ was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4). He gave many convincing proofs that he was alive and he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him (Acts 1:3; Romans 6:9). In raising Christ from the dead, God powerfully demonstrated that he accepted his death in the place of sinners as the full and perfect payment of sin’s penalty and as the basis on which he can offer a full and free pardon to those who would otherwise be doomed to spend eternity in hell. You must have faith in Christ. First of all, this means accepting that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16) and that Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). Secondly, it means believing that in the power and love Christ is able and willing to save you. Thirdly it means actually putting your trust in Christ, relying upon him and him alone to make you right with God. Your proud; sinful nature will fight against abandoning trust in your own ‘goodness’ or religion. Yet you have no alternative. You must stop trusting in anything else and trust only in Christ, who is able to save completely those who come to God through him (Hebrews 7:25). If God has shown you your need, and given you this desire, then turn to Christ — and do it now! Ideally, pray aloud to him; this may help you to be clear about what you are doing. Confess that you are a guilty, lost and helpless sinner, and with all your heart ask Christ to save you, and to take his rightful place as the Lord of your life, enabling you to turn from sin and to live for him. The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved and that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:9; Romans 10:13). If you truly trust Christ as your Savior and acknowledge him as your Lord, you can claim these promises as your own. Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance (Matthew 3:8 NKJV).

No comments:

Post a Comment