Thursday, July 16, 2009

Gospel Doctrine Lesson 27: Good News/Bad News

I have good news and bad news about this week's Gospel Doctrine Underground post(s) on Lesson 27. First, the good news: There is a really interesting post and discussion on the lesson going on at By Common Consent. You will want to check it out.

The bad news: Most of my ideas for a post this week have been addressed by the BCC post. I am not sure what I can add . . .

4 comments:

  1. I found this looking for a gospel tract entitled the good news / bad news. ever heard of it? :)

    1. (bad news first) the bad news is we are all sinners. Rom 3:23. Suppose you and I both threw a rock and tried to hit the North Pole. You would probably throw farther than I could, but neither of us would hit the target. Just like that, the Bible says we all fall short of God's standard of perfection.
    2. (bad news gets worse) the penalty for sin is death. Rom 6:23 Suppose I worked for you for a day & you paid me $50 as my wage. That's what I earned at the end of the day. the Bible says that by sinning we have all earned death. and that death is not only physical but eternity separated from God in hell. the Bible says we all deserve hell.
    3. (but. . . phew- the Good news!)Christ died for you. Rom 5:8 Suppose you are in a hospital dying of cancer. I come to you & say "let's take the cancer calls from your body and put them into my body." If that were possible, what would happen to you? and what would happen to me?
    You would live and I would die. I would die in your place. the Bible says that Christ took the penalty that we all deserved for sin, placed it upon Himself, and died in our place. Three days later he came back to life to prove that death and sin were conquered and His claims to be God were true.
    4. (the Good news gets better!) YOU can be saved through faith in Christ. Eph 2:8-9 Faith means trust. Q: What must we trust Christ for? A: You must depend on Him alone to forgive you and to give you eternal life. Just as you are seated right now in a chair to hold you up & read this, through no effort of your own, so you must trust Jesus Christ to get you to heaven- through no effort of your own. But you may say "I'm religious" "I teach Sunday school" "I'm not that bad, I'm a good person" "I help the poor"
    These are all good things, but no ammount of doing good can get you to heaven according to the Bible. You must trust in Jesus Christ alone, and God will give you eternal life as a gift.

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  2. Let's see what you're trusting in to get you to heaven:
    1. your good works. If you trust in your works to get you to heaven you are telling Jesus, "sorry, but you really didn't need to die on the cross. I can just work my way to heaven"
    2. Jesus and my good works. If you are trusting in both of these you are telling Jesus, "thanks for dying on the cross, but it wasn't good enough. I know you died for the sins of the world, but you missed a few & i'll take it from here" see Rom 11:6
    3. Christ's death alone. If you are trusting in His death alone to get you to heaven you tell Him "Your death on the cross was sufficient payment for my sins." before He died, Jesus said "it is finished" All the work that needed to be done was done. The work was finished on the cross.

    When someone asked Jesus what must we do to work the works of God. Jesus answered that you must BELIEVE in Him whom He sent" Jn 6:33
    For God so loved. . . He sent Jesus that whoever BELIEVES in Him will not get the wages they deserve but get life everlasting in heaven. Jn 3:16

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  3. Salvation is about believing in Christ's finished work on the cross and trusting that He alone can get you to heaven. Not a religion. Not good works. Not forgiveness after all you can do, maybe.

    Is there something keeping you from trusting Christ right now?
    think carefully. nothing is more important than your need to trust Christ. Mt 10:37-39 says if you love family more than Him, you are not worthy of Him. If you love a religion more than Him, you are not worthy of Him.

    One of the most sobering things Jesus says in the Bible is in Mt 7:23. He will tell people at the end of their lives who lived a "good" and religious life "depart from Me, I never knew you."
    Do not trust in your religion or belief to save you. It cannot. Only the one who died and rose again can save you. He offers you a free gift of salvation. a gift is not worked for, that's why it's called a gift. We don't work for it, we just receive it by faith. We don't deserve it, but we thank Him for it and try to live a life worthy of Him by the power of His Holy Spirit.

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  4. Prayer does not save you, but prayer is simply talking to God and telling Him what you believe. You can say to Him
    Dear God,
    I know I am a sinner and my sin deserves to be punished. I believe Christ died for me and rose from the dead. I trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness and everlasting life I now have. In Jesus' name, amen.

    If you prayed that and believed it, John 5:24 says you have passed from death to life. Eternal life is based on a fact and not a feeling.
    If you have trusted Christ now you can grow in your relationship with Him.

    tell God what's on your mind through prayer
    Phil 4:6-7
    read the Bible daily, learn more about Him and learn from Him
    2 Tim 3:16-17
    worship with other believers in a local church
    Heb 10:24-25
    tell others about Jesus Christ
    Mt 4:19

    Praise God & hope to see you in heaven

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