God's Gospel Truth

                                       God's Gospel Truth

 #Truth #Gospel #God #Salvation 

I'm a good person. I pay my taxes. I obey the laws. I treat people right. I work to support my family. My granddaddy was a preacher or priest. I'm a lot better than those judgmental so-called Christians and church people. They're just hypocrites anyway. If anybody goes to Heaven, I think I will because I'm a good person and I deserve it. God will appreciate me and I will tell everybody about my good accomplishments. It's all about me.

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When we give reasons like those above for going to Heaven could we have overlooked something? Does our thinking agree with what God says? Shouldn't it be His Word, His criteria and His right to say who enters His Heaven? Is it just about us, or really all about Him? I will discuss this under the following three questions.

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                                                        What Is God's Gospel Truth?

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It's Christ's death, burial and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1-8). Ancient peoples feared their gods, sacrificed to them, but never loved them. Soldiers sacrifice themselves for love of country. Mothers die for children they love. But Jesus showed supreme love giving his human life for us guilty rebels in his death on the cross (John 15:13; 2 Cor. 5:21). Though innocent, Jesus was rejected, condemned, severally beaten, ridiculed, slapped, spit on, and hung naked before staring eyes. Ancient prophets foretold it (Gen. 3:15; Psalm 2; 22; Isaiah 53). Jesus predicted it (Matt. 17:9; 27:63; Mark 8:31).  Miracles testified to it--darkness, earthquake, temple vale torn, resurrections (Matt. 27:51-53; Luke 23:44). It announced, "God so loved the world that He gave His unique Son (sinless God-man) that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). But it would be a dead hope apart from Jesus' resurrection.

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Jesus' resurrection established the most crucial things. There's life after death. Jesus is the God-man with power of life and death. As God, all Jesus taught in and of Scripture is absolute truth.

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Humans created in God's mental, moral immortal image have dignity and freedom. Ethics make sense--our thoughts, words, deeds are accountable to God so life has purpose. Our conscience, justice and love make sense. As created and controlled by a rational God, the world is meaningfully moving toward a climax. Experimental science is possible. No other religions provide a basis for these things.

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Jesus divided our thinking about history into Before Christ and After His Death. This personal ethically perfect God offers us wayward rebels forgiveness, cleansing, and eternal life with Him forever through faith in Jesus, the Lord and Savior of us sinners. Spreading this hope and love is imperative education--without it, all is lost.

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It transforms societies in many beneficial ways. Persons in Christ are new creations with new desires, a new outlook, a new hope, a new concern for human well-being (2 Cor. 5:17). And because of this, they established great universities, brought education to the masses, put in writing many of the world's languages as people needed to know the gospel. They engineered capitalism and free enterprise to raise the standard of living everywhere. They devised representative government for civil liberties to abolish slavery and oppressive elitest state dictatorships.

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They experimented with nature as God created a rational world for human benefit. They elevated the dignity and value of life, of women, children, and all people in God's image. They established the Good Samaritan ethic, organizations of charity, benevolence, and rescue missions. They built hospitals to heal persons suffering from injury and disease. They sought to make laws that would eliminate destructive human behaviors such as adultery, polygamy, incest, homosexuality, prostitution, rape, sex slavery and sex with animals. They developed beautiful art, music, and literature. And most of all they sought to spread the gospel that is the power of God which is the basis and incentive to all the above.

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                   "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God

                              to salvation for everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

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                             Why Then Are Some Persons Ashamed of God's Gospel Truth?

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 It tells the ugly truth about us. We love our sin that brings us pleasure for a season, and makes us popular and accepted with other sinners. When confronted with our sins, we excuse our guilt blaming it on our genes, the environment, the devil, parents, even God for creating us. We take pride in our supposed moral accomplishments, never mind our sins, rebellions, and need for the Savior of us sinners. See Hebrews 11:25; Romans 1:18-32; First Corinthians 6:9-10.

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It separates us from the evil world system opposed to God. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. Love of the world is evidence we don't know God or do His will. Satan will tempt us but we're to resist him by knowing and abiding by God's Word. We can gain the whole world and lose our own soul. To be without Christ is to be without God and without hope. Christ came to save us from the world's evils and we are to be as salt to prevent sinful decay and as light to dispel the darkness of ignorance and evil. Many persons love neither Christians nor Christ but love the evil world and ignore or deny the consequences. See James 4:4; Matthew 4:1-11; 9:50; 1 John 2:15-17; Mark 8:36: Ephesians 2:12).

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It exposes our human guesses, opinions and preferences. If God is omnipresent eternal spirit as the Bible teaches, He surrounds us and our human senses never detect His presence. Atheists can shake their fist toward Heaven and demand God appear and perform a miracle for them to believe. But if God is Lord, there is no rule He must do it for their amusement. Atheism is a foolish excuse to live a Godless life just as the Bible says (Psalm 14:1).

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Reincarnation religions are based upon nature's yearly vegetation cycles, thinking birth defects unjust, and feeling we have lived former lives. But the earth's yearly revolution, genetic defects, and imagined past life recall better explain such things. Besides, karma is a brainless principle that can't know good or evil.

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Muslims and Mormons base their religion upon an angel who they claim gave their founder God's revelation. Nobody but the founder has knowledge of the angel. Couldn't anybody make such a claim? God's apostle Paul warns of alleged angel gospels (Gal. 1:8-9). So such religions have no eyewitness testimony or fulfilled prophecies, prophetic miracles, or God verifications--they're just our guesses, opinions, and preferences.

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It's so simple yet so difficult to believe. It doesn't matter if we live in Australia, Africa, or America, we're taught the same thing. From childhood, we're taught that if we were good, we will be rewarded, but if we were bad, we will be punished. So we grow up feeling if there's a good God and some kind of good place we can go to after death, then surely we must try to be good to go there--that seems so reasonable. Just trusting in a Savior of us sinners seems too easy. But could there be some things we don't know or haven't thought about?

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Yes! The biblical God is morally perfect who regards us as unacceptable self-centered rebels. God's prophet Isaiah says, "We are all like an unclean thing and all our righteousness are like filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6; Gal. 5:19-21). Further, the biblical Heaven is perfect excluding unclean defilers (Matt. 5:48; Rev. 21:27; 22:15). The biblical teaching is that we're saved by God's grace (unearned & undeserved favor) and not by our good deeds (Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Cor. 1:29-31; Titus 3:5). So God's ways and our ways go in different directions which make sense with an all-knowing perfect God and ignorant wicked people (Isa. 55:7-9; Rom. 11:6; Gal. 2:16). The Bible is abundantly clear and rational to all willing to receive God's message that Jesus alone is our Savior (John 1:29; 3:36; 7:16; Acts 4:12; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 1:18; 2:24; 3:18).

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                                                    Why is the Gospel Such Good News?

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The gospel is God's authoritative Word supported by rational fact. We could not know God's salvation except given us by God's apostles and prophets who saw the risen Lord (Eph.2:20; 3:5). People were living at the time Scripture was published who knew Jesus, his fulfilled prophecies, miracles, claims to be God, and resurrection.

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Secular writers also wrote details about his life. Archaeologists uncovered artifacts verifying Scripture. His disciples were tortured and murdered for their faith. No world religion has any Scripture or any founder like Jesus. The Bible is history, not some made up stories centuries later. (Luke 1:1-3; Acts 1:1-3; 2:22-24; 4:33; 1 Cor. 15:3-8; 2 Pet. 1:16). Moreover, it's translated from comparative copies of early original languages with the highest degree of accuracy of any ancient documents. We have every reason to trust in the Bible as God's authority and truth, and in Jesus as the sinless God-man sent to give us abundant life and save us from Hell (Luke 19:10; John 10:10; 3:36; 7:16; 8:24).

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The gospel is God's power for worship, walk and witness. The harder we try to do right, the more aware we become that we cannot be perfect. God's great apostle Paul, admitted he couldn't fulfill God's law and that we have deliverance only through Christ (Rom. 6). Realizing our sinful estate and God's forgiveness, love, and sustaining grace in Christ, lifts us up to worship, walk, witness for Him (Rom. 8). God is our power in the gospel to live and share the love of Christ.

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The gospel is God's offer of abundant life now and of Heaven's reward after death. This is the gospel truth and the best news ever. It respects our dignity and freedom of choice. There can be no better offer than abundant and eternal life. The alternative is the self-chosen eternal death of darkness, despair, tears, and torments. Won't you pray, Lord Jesus I trust You as my Lord, Savior, and Guide forever? Now share God's gospel with those without Christ, without God, and without hope. Ephesians 2:12-13. Be a good news messenger. God bless.

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