Tag Archives: Repentance

Washed By The Water of the Word

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WASHED BY THE WATER OF THE WORD

INTRODUCTION

The Christian is saved, redeemed, reconciled and restored in Christ Jesus alone.  This lesson focuses on learning how to be washed by the water of the Word.  This teaching has great significance for the Church, I believe, because it is described as Christ’s will for the Church with an end to presenting her as a holy and blameless bride.

ON BEHALF OF THE CHURCH

 

Titus 2:14

“Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

 

We are a people being made into a royal priesthood and a holy temple of God.  We are the bride of Christ, His very own body.  In this passage we’re told about what Christ did for us; He redeemed us from immorality and purified us so that we would be one for Him with great zeal towards good.

 

Hebrews 10:10, 14, 29

“10By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.  29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”

 

Hebrews 13:12

“12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”

 

Whenever a church- which is, by definition, the believers- find themselves entangled in immorality and indulging in unclean things, that church has found themselves in a very frightful and dangerous place to be; they are gravely at risk of trampling under foot the blood of our covenant and insulting the Spirit of grace.

The sanctification and purification for our hearts has already been made and offered, but that does not mean that you are clean in your current lifestyle.  In most cases, the sanctification of Christ has been rejected- His offer, as it were, has been reviled because those who were meant to receive it never embraced it.

The sacrifice has been made and the power of salvation given; what remains is for you to embrace it.  In many parables many different ways, Jesus taught that you couldn’t be both hot and cold, that you couldn’t have one foot in the darkness and one in the light, that you couldn’t serve two masters at once.  Eventually, you must embrace one or the other.

 

John 8:31-37

“31So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.”

 

John 15:3

“3You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”

 

Jesus became the light bursting out from the darkness, setting men’s hearts on fire and shinning light upon the path that leads to life in Christ Jesus.

He was speaking to men who were slaves to sin and set them free with the Truth that is now in us and abides in us through Jesus Christ the Son of God.

The Truth set them free because they believed in it and they were cleansed of sin by it; the sin that once ruled over them was removed from them by the Truth that is in Jesus Christ.

This is the work which Christ did, proclaiming repentance and forgiveness of sin in Him, on behalf of the Church so that she would be made pure and sanctified unto Himself; the perfect bride.

 

THE WASHING OF THE WATER OF THE WORD

We need to understand the nature of the Truth spoken in Christ Jesus and the blood, which is the new covenant, that cleanses us from all sins.

Romans 3:21-31

“21But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. 31Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.”

 

Jesus Christ, the Word of God and the blood of the new covenant, was witnessed to by both the Law and the Prophets.  The Law became a tutor to lead us towards Christ and the Prophets foretold of Christ to make ready His way.

There is a law of the new covenant; referred to here as the law of faith (by which boasting is excluded), and in other places, as the Law of Life in the Spirit of Christ Jesus.

It is important to remember that immorality and sin is excluded from the life of a Christian because they have been done away with in the body of Christ by the offering of His body and blood on our behalf.  If one continues in sin, one begins to trample under foot the body of Christ and insult the Spirit of Grace which is meant to lead us through repentance to God.

 

Ephesians 5:26-2

“So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God”.  Jesus is the Word of God and He has made for us a washing done by His blood and the Truth of His word.

Indeed, our washing in the water of the Word is both critical and continual; it is the beginning of our purification, in which we are washed by the blood of Christ, and it is the continuation of our sanctification through the Word as the Work of the Holy Spirit, just as it says “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: may Grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure” (1st Peter 1:2).

We were told above in Ephesians that the end-result of this is the presentation of the church, His bride, to Jesus, holy and blameless in every respect.

Great measures have been taken to present the church pure and blameless to Christ- to ensure that she is filled with everlasting life and becomes of One Spirit with Him.

The Apostles said, “16Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.” (Acts 22:16).  There was no reason for delay!  This was the message of Christ, repentance and forgiveness of sins by which reconciliation and restoration to God in Christ Jesus was made possible!

 

Romans 10:8

“8But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,”

 

The Truth, which is Jesus Christ, was brought near to us as He descended upon Earth, and it was put in them, to be spoken and lived in Christ Jesus.  The message of repentance and forgiveness was the word of Truth put on their lips to preach in the name of Christ and it is also the message put in us today through the Spirit of Christ.

1st Corinthians 6:11

“11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

 

Every one of us were once sinners- but now notice that we were washed and sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus and in the Spirit of our God.

This is a full-measure of salvation- one in which the blood of Christ became our atonement that makes ready the way of salvation and the Truth of Christ sets us free from sin.

Even from the beginning there have been many who longed for this salvation but were never willing to embrace it.  The Spirit of Grace has been greatly insulted throughout all the ages, as the patience and love of God is testified to by every insult.

 

EMBRACING CHRIST

A lot of people would like to skip everything that has been witnessed to us above about the work of Christ done on behalf of the church for her sanctification and purification and how these things are made exclusively available through Him alone.  It is easier to pursue righteousness in the flesh than it is to crucify the flesh and lay it down for Christ to raise anew.

This message of repentance means everything to us- and seeking the forgiveness of our sins is futile unless it is according to the Truth in Christ that He has promised will set us free.  Remember, “if the Son of God set’s you free, you will be free indeed!”  The converse of that is that if the Son of God has not set you free, you will not be free!

Laying down our lives means that we have to sacrifice them in the service of God, just as Jesus Christ Himself also sacrificed His life in the service of God; and what? Do we think that we are greater than the Son of God that we would not have to suffer as He Himself also suffered?

For the poor and suffering in this world, we should empty ourselves of our life to help them- to the ends of the Earth we should go to preach Christ.

Vanity should be put away.  Pride and all the things that might focus our attentions back onto our flesh are things that prevent us from ever sacrificing ourselves in the service of God.

 

2 Peter 1:5-9

5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

 

I know that the Lord spoke very powerfully to me a few years back saying that there were things here, things contained in His word, that I had not embraced and that were keeping me from growing in Christ and being fruitful in the true knowledge of Jesus Christ.

For me, personally, it was self-control, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love that I was lacking, and especially self-control (which hindered me from possessing the others also).

 

Titus 3:5

“5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,”

 

I have made the mistake of pursuing the above qualities through using measures of fleshly disciplines- by that I mean, I used techniques that focused on the flesh, such as “fasting from TV” or “fasting from lunch on Friday” and an assortment of other things by which I tried to teach myself discipline.  And these things “have some value”, as Paul said, but have no power to overcome the flesh.  Lacking the regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit meant that I was perpetually stuck in the bonds of sin and could never get past my sin.

Ephesians 6:17-

 “17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Hebrews 4:12

“12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

We need to seek the revelation of Jesus Christ from the Word of God by the Holy Spirit.  It is essential to take up the sword of The Spirit that has the power to divide soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and receive its judgments so that the thoughts and intentions of our hearts are laid bare and the way of repentance and forgiveness in Christ Jesus can be made known.

 

 

 

Sin & Lawlessness: Introduction

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opening questions

Can a Christian have a cavalier attitude toward sin and lawlessness?  Does the sacrifice Jesus made prohibit His followers from dwelling in sin?  There are very serious rebukes for the Church that wallows long in sin and tolerates immorality (Revelation 1-3).

Introduction

This study is the beginning point of a series regarding sin and lawlessness.  We should listen to the Word of the Lord concerning sin.

I also want to put to test the validity of what people are teaching about “the tolerant Christ” so often preached today; is this “tolerant Christ” the one that we had preached first to us by the Apostles?

In the modern assembly tolerance has been cultivated towards sin under the mask of “love” and “peace”.  I realize the intent is to reach more lost souls, but we want to consider if tolerating the very thing that Jesus came to free us from truly “saves more lost souls”.   I believe the result of this has been utterly devastating on the Body of Christ in more ways than have been recounted.  I think we’ve lost faith that “sin leads to death”.

Using the passage “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), many have preached that we should, therefore, go on sinning and that God must be very tolerant towards our sin; the attitude present in some teachings of this even make it sound like God doesn’t even care (at all) if we sin anymore.

We’re going to look at what God said towards sin and the power of His gospel that allows us to persevere in overcoming sin.  I encourage you to accept these things from the Lord.

to swim in raging waters?

In order to simplify, let’s ask ourselves this question, “would I try to teach my drowning friend how to swim in the raging waters, or would I toss him a life-line and pull him out of the water to safety?”

According to the gospel in Christ, we have been totally removed from darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of Light (Col 1:13); so why do we hear churches trying to teach people to swim in the vast ocean of sin.

We’re responsible for the souls we teach and lead; so let’s consider this with all seriousness as we realize that mishandling this can mislead souls by teaching them to swim in sin rather than pointing to the life-line that has been thrown to them by Christ.  If they take that life-line, He will pull them out of the raging waters of sin and place them securely into the ark of His covenant.  In these last hours, the Lord is not willing that His Church be condemned, rather, that she cut away those who are disobedient to Him so that they may be made shown as unfaithful.

Luke 13:27

“27 and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’”

In plain terms, those who walked the “wide path” of sin will forever depart from Jesus because they did evil in His sight.

The designs of man are insufficient to lead us to Christ; you can not “design your own path” to righteousness.

Simply stated, your end will be in death unless something miraculous happens.

Gospel: Simplicity & Power

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Gospel: Simplicity & Power

The gospel is not complex.  It’s very simple and capable of reaching into the depths of the human soul.

The gospel is full.  It is abundant.  It is a vast message that stretches its wings so far because it has a focused and simple message.

You may examine the gospel, as we have done here, and find that there is always more to discover.  In prayer and revelation you yourself may have been taken deeper than this introductory study dared to go; that is the power of the gospel, the ability to reveal Christ to man and utterly change his soul through revealing the steadfast and eternal Christ.

What we have looked at so far, the salvation, love, and commission of the gospel, are some reverberations of the gospel message.

The Gospel Message: plain & simple

I don’t want to teach in vain only to have the message stolen away, so I’m going to return and rest securely on simplicity for our final word on the Gospel from me.

There is only one gospel message; there are many effects of the gospel, many ways in which the gospel reveals Christ to us, but all in all, there is just one message.  Anyone who would add to this message disarms the gospel of its simplicity and power and preaches another gospel that is not worthy of being preached.

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:5-9

What can be simpler than this message?

God is the father of Light and in Him is no darkness; His children do not walk in the darkness, or else they become liars, but instead, they walk in Light, repenting of their sins and receiving in themselves forgiveness of their sins, purification from all sin, and instruction, which leads to true righteousness.

For my outline-oriented brethren, consider it as such:

1. God is Light & in Him is no darkness, at all.

2. Fellowship is found in those who walk in the Light, not the darkness.

3. No man is sinless, but those who repent of their sins are cleansed from their sins by the blood of Christ.

I think many are masking this message, but I want to examine it in plain light.

This message does not say that God will turn a blind eye to our darkness; He is incompatible with darkness.  Any message that would teach us that God turns a blind eye and does not lead us from the darkness is not the Truth; such a message denies the power of the Gospel entirely.

The gospel exposes the sins of all men and the reality that there is only one way to be saved from the ramifications of sins.

We’re taught the way of the narrow path that must be followed to escape impending destruction.  The gospel teaches men to deny ungodliness and confess their sins and turn from them.  All in all, this sounds like a message that teaches us about true cleansing from all unrighteousness.

We should pay attention to that underlined phrase; the promise of Christ is to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  He does not wrap us like a dead corpse in clean linen, rather, He removes the filth and decay from us and restores our original natures (…in the image of God).

For simplicity’s sake, look at he Oxford Dictionary, which defines “cleanse” as “being thoroughly cleaned” with a sub-definition of “being rid of” something and “free from” something.

Humanity is unambiguously declared guilty of sin and the clear remedy is readily made known to us as Christ; it is clearly taught that the mission of Christ was to bring liberty to the captives of sin, not just figuratively, but realistically.

At some point we were all children of darkness; born of the seeds of Adam. Therefore we are now born again of the Seed of Christ (John 3:1-16).

Like the birth process, there is a period of building and growth inside the womb, and then the painful entry into the world; followed by growing pains which will last into maturity.

We all were entangled in sin and must fight to overcome.  James said, “7Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds.” (James 4:7-8)

Simply stated, the gospel declares the way in which we can cleanse ourselves and submit to God.  

So, what did John’s message tell us?

  1. 1.     If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
  2. 2.     but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another,
  3. 3.     and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
  4. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

The gospel teaches us the Truth that Jesus made know to us and shows us how to walk the path that He walked.

Christ’s love leads us in obedience and submission to the Father; into freedom from sin and the cleansing of His blood from all sin and unrighteousness.

“Cease to walk in the darkness, for the time to repent is short and judgment is approaching for those who continue to walk in their sins.“

In the words of our Master, Jesus:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1:15

Conclusions

There is hope for the sinner; real hope.  You can be free from the sins that destroyed your life!  You have hope, if you will endure and persevere.

No one among us is sinless,  yet, who among the brethren walks in Darkness?

No one and no one.

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and all whom the Spirit has raised in newness of life are the Children of God.

We are made to persevere through temptations and trials; a skillful adversary opposes us, looking to devour as many as he can, therefore the salvation that has been offered to us is equally mighty.

I suggest that one not allow guilt or fear to hinder oneself from accepting the Truths here in the gospel; you can receive victory over your sin in Christ if you are willing to endure and persevere.  To be reborn.

The Gospel of a Great Commission

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What we have is a living gospel.  The gospel, though changeless, has remained alive since the beginning.  Perhaps in its age many see it as old and slow, perhaps even decrepit.  But to those few who will hear with faith, and believe with obedience, this aged and living gospel is full of wisdom and very active because it lives within the followers of Christ.

That is why the gospel is neither antiquated nor modern.  It takes the youth and contemporary person and integrates its timeless, ageless, steadfast and eternal character to create something that is, indeed, quite far beyond ourselves.

Today we are the carriers of this great gospel, so let us look at how we must carry it.

A GREAT COMMISSION

I think this term has been used and misused so much that it has lost all meaning in most of our eyes; I was even surprised when I looked at it’s meaning.

A “commission” is the authority to perform a task and carry out certain duties (Oxford English Dictionary, 2009).

The living gospel has a great commission in this sense; for we “are a letter of Christ… not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, and not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. Such great confidence we have through Christ toward God.”

2 Corinthians 3:3-4

The task of declaring the coming of Christ, the message of repentance, and the invitation of salvation has been given to us under the authority of Christ, “sealed by the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30), just as the message we declare is written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit; timeless, changeless, yet still able to cut the flesh to the bone, dividing bone and marrow.

Even when hearts grow cold, the gospel will still melt some so that not all will perish in the day of Wrath, but so that some will be saved:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’”

Romans 1:16-17

The event often cited as “The Great Commission” is Jesus’ extension of authority to the disciples to offer His salvation to all mankind.   If Jesus had not given them this authority they would not have been able to take these “royal tidings of good news” into all the world as they did.

This event, recorded for us in multiple accounts of the gospel, tells us our first commission:

“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned’.”

Mark 16:15-16

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”

Matthew 28:18-20

Our task is quite simple; we’re to preach the message of good news and make disciples in teaching them to obey every command Christ gave to the apostles.

We trust and hope (this should be understood as different from the commission) in Jesus’ gospel-promise that all who believe and are baptized will be saved.

EVEN MORE LOVE

As if emptying Himself of all power and suffering a crucified death wasn’t enough to demonstrate His love for us, Jesus has now commissioned and commanded His fellow brothers to reach out across the entire globe to preach the message of His good news!  As if to say, “there are no bounds upon my love; there are no lengths too far or depths too deep that I have not crossed for your sake!”

If we do not take up this message, then we do not love.  Because Christ suffered for the gospel, so we must also suffer for the gospel!  We’ve been commissioned to with God-like love this grand gospel to every person we meet.

“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellence of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”

1 Peter 2:9-10

As God’s very own possession, let us also declare the excellence of the One who rescued us from the darkness and hopelessness that we were once in.  We have been established as a royal priesthood for the praise and ministry of God!

I would urge each one to consider that statement more carefully; what does it mean to proclaim the excellence of God?

To exhaust every form of praise and worship known to man, whether in singing, in prayer, or even in service, is at least a start.

“He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’”

Revelation 1:6-8

The Alpha and the Omega caused Himself to be bruised and to bleed for our sake; therefore, we too, if we are going to follow Him, must also follow in His suffering for the sake of the gospel.

“To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”

1 Corinthians 9:22-23

Therefore we wage spiritual warfare with the weapons of our love that are in Christ so that we may win the weak and overcome the strong to save the few who will believe and turn from their wickedness!

Therefore, let us not turn away and “so quickly desert the one who called us by the grace of Christ and turn to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all.” (Galatians 1:6ff)

THE CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGE FOR A CHANGELESS GOSPEL

The expectation of the return of Christ is the beginning of our faith; for if He does not return, there can be no salvation.  If there is eminence for the Day of Wrath, there is no judgment and no need for Christ.  And if this day were not approaching soon, there would be no urgency.

There are many mediums and needs for dispersing this message; some may declare His gospel online and create a platform for encouraging believers and equipping them for the task at hand, while others will go into prisons, hospitals, orphanages, and disaster areas to bring relief and example the love of Christ to the hurting so that some may see Christ and turn to follow Him. Still others take up missions and go to strange lands for these tasks and purposes.

What is known is that all will suffer for His sake.  Many will lose friends and family and be cast aside as strangers by those who brought them into the world because they would not accept the name of Christ.  Often suffering insult and injury, being taken advantage of without seeking justification, so that by any means necessary, Christ may be made known.

Even being cast aside by some who declare themselves to be of Christ because they made themselves a faux-christ to worship in seeking blessing, but being themselves unwilling to suffer for Him.

They preach a modern day circumcision, one of justification without cost; taking even the form of Gospel (that is, salvation apart from our merit) and denying the Truth that Christ preached (that is, obedience in Love).

Take it further:

  • Psalm 130:1-3
  • Nahum 1:6
  • Malachi 3:2
  • Luke 1:1-4
  • John 20:30-31
  • Acts 8:4
  • Romans 12:3-8
  • 1 Corinthians 3:5-15; 9:22-23
  • 2 Corinthians 11:1-6
  • Galatians 1:6-10
  • Ephesians 4:4-16
  • Colossians 4:5-6;
  • Hebrews 2:14-15; 5:12; 13:22
  • 1 Peter 2:9; 3:15; 4:10-11

The Gospel: Salvation and Hope

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The Gospel Declared

The gospel has been heralded for many ages in God’s Word and it has been the summation of His revealed will since the beginning.  With extreme specificity God declared through His prophet Micah His word saying,

“‘But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah (lower Bethlehem), Too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.’”

Micah 5:2

A prophecy that came 500 years before Christ was born declared to us exactly what would happen, just as it did.

God cast the first shadow of prophecy at the fall of man when he said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between her seed and your seed; He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15).

Even more specific is the shadow of prophecy given when God declared through Isaiah, “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him and by His scourges we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused our iniquity to fall upon Him!” and “By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities”

Isaiah 53:4-6 and 11

Making Known the Way of Repentance, Faith, & Reconciliation

At the summation of the age, Jesus brought one central message to the people:

“Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

Mark 1:14-15

This message of repentance had been proclaimed by the prophets of old since early times and rejected by most, much to the demise of the men of old, because “their hearts were always far from God” (Isaiah 29:3), but the people failed to receive reconciliation because of their cold hearts.

But God declared through His prophet Jeremiah that, “‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’” (Jeremiah 31:33).

Therefore, Christ came to make every provision to man so that reconciliation could be made (through Him) in the hearts of God’s people.  By His provision Paul declared “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col 3:16).

Knowing the victory at hand and the judgment to come, Christ declared “repent and believe, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” so that reconciliation might be had.

The Light of our Reconciliation

“Although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

For this reason, also, God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:5-11


At the great cost of emptying Himself of all majesty and humbling Himself, Jesus forged and authored the path into the Kingdom for us; now He has been exalted and is the victorious King.  Before Him every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.  This is inextricably intertwined within the gospel; the gospel cannot be separated from this message.  And this is a good thing, for our King is the victor!

So we, as His followers, servants, and brothers, should also have this attitude in ourselves that we would humble ourselves to the point of death in anticipation that we will be seated in the Heavenly places with Christ Jesus the Lord.

In this way God has broken the barrier that separated man from Him.  God has endured humility, emptiness, agony, and death itself for a short time so that He could descend to man because man could not ascend to Him.

The Great Love of God

We should see clearly so that no one being surrounded by darkness, trial, and despair would despair to the point of losing hope and therefore doubt the love of God!

What man is innocent of insulting and scorning God?  Who has not spat in His face?

Have you ever tried to exploit the grace of God, gloried in the glory of God for yourself, or boasted in the flesh that is not yours to boast in?

But all of this is for the glory of God so that His love might be known to abound all the more!  Even as we were cruel and spat upon His gift (that gift is a perfect and innocent Son who endured ridicule and death for our sake), He Himself would be shown to be just and merciful when He forgives us our debts and reconciled us into His presence!

Like a parent that feels the scorn of a child that turns away to follow after a life that is dishonorable and disgraceful to the parent, so we have insulted God.  Like children that declare “you are not my father. Rather, your enemy is my father”, so all the world has done when we turn away from God to follow after Satan.

Like a parent that feels the deep pain of seeing his children fight and destroy one another, being consumed by greed and bitterness, so God has endured these things as a patient Father to restore His children in proper love.

“There is no one that is righteous; not even one.  No one understands God or seeks Him. They have all turned aside and become dead” (Issaih 55:8-9; Romans 3:10ff).

Perfect love God has demonstrated to us with patience as He has worked to bring restoration, reconciliation, salvation, and hope to His children.

Therefore, “consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:3).

God’s act of love endured such great darkness, trial, and hostility so that we would not grow weary and lose heart!  He perfected our faith so that we would not lose faith.  To God be praise and glory forever and ever, AMEN!

A Gospel of Salvation and Hope

Reconciliation in Christ goes beyond “touch not, taste not, and handle not”.  It becomes a real, firm, and powerful liberation that reconciles the hearts of God’s people to Him and changes them inside out.

God said that he would place reverence in our hearts (Jeremiah 32:40) and seal us with the Spirit as the sign of His covenant (2 Corinthians 1:22) so that we would become living testimonies for Him (2 Corinthians 3:3).  When we see the witness of the scriptures declaring the out-pouring of the gospel and do not see this growth in our own life we should pay attention to this warning sign so that we can repent before the Day of Judgment comes.

So what is the way to this reconciliation?  This grand message of reconciliation and redemption is the gospel of salvation and hope.

What is our salvation?

In short, Jesus Christ lifted the veil of human flesh and saved us from three dooms: sin (Romans 3:23), death (Gen 2:17), and the eternal punishment of hell (Luke 16).

No matter who you are, living in a sinful world is not pleasant.  We have been conditioned to deal with sin, in fact, to even expect and anticipate it.  However, the doom of sin becomes apparent to every person that has been betrayed by a spouse, cheated and ruined by greed and envy, been caught in a perilous cycle of addiction and pain that has ravaged their life and relationships and left them utterly empty and void.

The doom of death is terrifying to anyone that has been faced with it, whether or not you have lost loved ones and been totally and utterly shaken, or you are approaching this fate yourself and must come to grips with the limitless uncertainty that is facing you.  The sting of death was sin (1 Cor. 15:56), and ever since that first sting, death was laying hold of all mortal flesh without mercy or exception until Jesus Christ.  Those who have been sealed in Christ are patiently waiting as death is the last enemy to be overcome (1 Cor. 15:26).

Hell and its doom, whether or not you believe in it, exist as the ultimate destiny of doom.  Reserved for the punishment of sin and the continuation of death (which represents the absence of life), this destruction is, perhaps, the most bitter of them all to man.

The efforts of Satan have tried to do away with sin and hell.  Through various methods, we have many people who count sin as a finished element that is no longer imputed (on anyone) and they teach that Hell either does not exist or is not an eternal location for human beings.

I defer to Jesus in Matthew 24:50 and Luke 16, and to Paul in Romans 6, Galatians 5 regarding these issues.

For the sake of brevity in this post, I will simply say that removing these elements from the gospel is a shameful and wicked practice that is done to falsely weaken the gospel in an attempt to render it irrelevant to the modern age.

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith’”

Romans 1:16-17

The power of the gospel is the power of Christ to “rescue us from the domain of darkness and transfer us into the Kingdom of Christ” (Col 1:13) and to effect salvation from sin, death, and hell.

And what is our hope?

The hope in Christ that sustains us is in His complete victory and return. Without His victory, we are doomed and our salvation is null and void.  Without His return, we are stuck in limbo waiting for a salvation that will never come.

Jesus destroyed the works of Satan and took back the keys of death and hades (Revelations 1:17-18, 1 John 3:8).  He cast the enemy down from Heaven and claimed all authority (Revelation 12:12). Although Satan is real and works with fury and wrath in these final hours to consume anyone that lets his or her guard down (1 Peter 5:8), our hope is in Christ to sustain us so that we will not despair to the point of hopelessness.

“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment”

Hebrews 9:27

“‘And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Matthew 24:30 & 50b

Summary

Jesus Christ came and sent out His disciples to offer repentance and forgiveness of sins to all people (Mark 1:14-15, 1 John 1:5-9).  He suffered death and rose again conquering sin and death and taking the keys of hades (Revelation 1:17-18).  He destroyed the works of Satan (1 John 3:8) by bringing redemption to His people and “transferring us into the Kingdom of light” (Ephesians 1:7 & Colossians 1:13).  By His death and resurrection we have become new creations, born again by the water and the spirit and set free from the bondage of sin (John 3:3-5; Romans 6:8-11; Galatians 3 & 5).

Because of Christ it is said, “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:1-2

Knowing that, “after death comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin for those who eagerly await Him”

Hebrews 9:27-28


It is our hope that Christ will return and uphold His salvation in us!  That when that fearful and awful day comes, when all the world will be judged, our judgment will be made without reference to our sin because of the total sacrifice offered by Christ on our behalf!

Take it Further

  • 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 14-17, 20-29, & 42-49
  • Jeremiah 6:16
  • Revelation 12:12