The Gospel of Christ: Good news or bad news? [Part 2]


As promised yesterday, I would be bringing my discourse about what exactly is the gospel to a close. Is it Good news or bad news? Kindly read on

John 3:16, says,“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is unassumingly the most popular verse in the Bible but many still do not know the import of the carefully crafted 25 words inherent therein. In those few words, spoken directly from the lips of the Lord Jesus, it is clear that God is not an angry being with a stick in His hand ready to spank the world, but a loving God who willingly let go of his ONLY begotten Son in order to salvage the world from eternal damnation. This verse also shows that it is God who gave and not us, and his giving to us was not based on anything we did or did not do but an expression of his loving heart and kindness towards us.


Verse 17 of John 3 goes on to state the reason Jesus was sent into the world, was for the salvation of the world and not for its condemnation. So I wonder where and how people get and are comfortable preaching a bad news of condemnation and say they are preaching the gospel. When in actual sense, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16) and not unto condemnation.


Am I now saying that people should be encouraged to live in sin all because the gospel is not about condemnation but salvation? Not at all! I have not in any way stated that, but all I am saying is that people will sin all they want regardless of what you say or do not say. The problem with the unregenerate man is not the act of sin but the nature of sin. So if a man, who has not received the life of Christ stops doing sinful acts, will that imply that he or she is saved? That certainly can’t be the case! Just like my being inside an airplane doesn’t necessarily make me a pilot.

The world has millions, if not billions of moralists who supposedly only do good deeds, but according to Isaiah 64:6a, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” So such moralists would remain unregenerate and unsaved (unless the nature of sin, which is the crux of the matter is attended to), simply by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ.

Moreover, one need not confess ALL their sins to be saved, because if that was the requirement, then one can't be saved since no man living or dead can absolutely remember ALL the sins he or she committed before encountering the Lord nor even after.

The Lord Jesus in John 16:7-11, said, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

Verse 9 clearly states that the only sin God will convict the world of is the sin of not believing in Jesus as the Messiah sent from heaven. So with this understanding, people do not go to hell because they refuse to stop sinning, they would be permanent residents of hell because they refused to accept and believe Jesus.



So if we are not to confess sins, what then are we to confess? Romans 10:8-10 gives us the answer to this burning question.

“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

We are to confess the Lord Jesus with our mouth and believe in our heart that He was raised from the dead. 

You may well ask; “Is it this simple?” Of course, it is! God Himself made it very simple, you would only need a preacher to confuse you. Apostle Paul warned the believers in Corinth that they should not be deceived away from the “simplicity, which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Paul the Apostle on his way to Damascus encountered the Lord Jesus and during this encounter, he did not even know who Jesus was but he confessed His Lordship and not his sins as seen in Acts 9:4-5, “Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

From that time on, Saul became a believer by simply calling Jesus, “Lord”. In Acts 9:17, we see Ananias the disciple calling the once dreaded terrorist, “brother”.

So dear friend, if you are yet to receive the life of Jesus already freely given, you can say this simple prayer:



“Heavenly Father, thank You for sending your Son, Jesus Christ to die for my sins, I believe in my heart that He was raised from the dead, so I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus and in accordance with your word, I am NOW saved.”

If you just said this prayer, welcome to the Family of our Father God.

If you need to know more and grow in close relationship with Him, you can contact me via:

Mail: adelanadolapo@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DolapoAdelana
Twitter: @DolapoAdelana
Instagram: DolapoAdelana

God bless you.

Comments

  1. Word! The gospel is definitely good news, call to Salvation not condemnation. Thanks for keeping it simple just like the scriptures say. More grace MoG

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