“Our Daily Bread” http://odb.org/
The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie http://www.harvest.org/devotional
Written by bruce r. mills @ www.Godsmanforever.com
“Understanding the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ”
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9… in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, (NKJV)
This scripture, written by the apostle Paul, is one of a couple of what I call eye-opening scripture verses…that I believe God uses to draw unbelievers to Himself...John 6:44…
I don’t like to share the Gospel of Christ in a way that scares people into making a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ… Sometimes people pray what is commonly called “The Sinners Prayer” – (Romans 10:9-10), to avoid eternal damnation… But this may produce a false sense of security that one is now a child of God because they have made this prayer…
This false belief that one is now a Christian because of a prayer made, is the result of only a mind change…with no regeneration of the heart by God… It represents someone hearing the Gospel of Christ, which was planted in the second rocky soil (Matthew 13:20-21)… I wrote 7 days about the parable of the 4 soils, which can be found at the link in 1. below…
Matthew 13:20-21… But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. (NKJV)
God is love… The word Gospel means “good news”… The message of the cross, or the Gospel of Christ…is the means God has given to His redeemed children, to share this good news message that there is a way to be forgiven of our lifetime of sins…
Jesus tells us this, in…
John 14:6... Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (NKJV)
The “way” is through understanding and obedience to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ… The “truth” is found in the Word of God, and it will set the sinner free from Satan’s chains of bondage to sin…John 8:32… “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (NKJV) And the “life” that Jesus speaks about, is eternal life in heaven with His Father…
There are some religions that believe we can earn our way into heaven… Some believe if our good deeds outnumber our sins, we will be “good to go”, so to speak… One religion believes its members must fulfill the 7 Sacraments’, in order to be good enough to possibly enter heaven when they die… But Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it clear, that it is not good works, but a gift of God’s grace, through saving faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ…
Ephesians 2:8-9… For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. (NKJV)
We see Jesus warning those around Him about this false idea of good works being done in the name of the Lord, to get one past those pearly white gates into heaven, in this second “eye-opening” piece of scripture…
Matthew 7:21-23… “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (NKJV)
So how does one do “the will of My Father”, to be able to enter the kingdom of heaven when they die ?? It is plainly seen in the opening scripture when a person understands and then must “obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” AFTER, they have been drawn in by God Himself
For those who want to learn more about what obeying the Gospel of Christ is all about…see 2. below… For those of you who aren’t ashamed of sharing the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16)…hit the share button if you are on Facebook, and send this days writing to all of your friends… God may use His Word to call an unsaved friend to Himself !!
Heavenly Father, I thank You and praise You for who You are… I pray Father, that You would use this writing to share Your good news message of the cross with those in need of hearing the truth from Your Word… I pray Lord, that those You don’t know as Your redeemed, “born again” children, would be drawn in by You to understand and then obey the Gospel of Your Son Jesus Christ… I pray for Your grace and Your mercy to fall upon those in need, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…
Blessings in Christ, bruce
Additional resources:
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Parable of the 4 soils – https://godsmanforever.com/2015/04/10/7-days-of-writing-on-scattering-the-seed-into-4-soils-that-jesus-teaches-4102015-from-3152012/
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Here is a link for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, after first being drawn in by God…John 6:44… https://godsmanforever.com/2014/10/26/the-truth-about-sin-10262014-by-bruce-reposted-from-7112013/
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Brother, I truly love you for this post! You tackled an issue that many don’t want to delve into, speaking of the depth that you went. We have to look at the WHOLE counsel of God and not just the parts that fit our theology. I was “saved” in a little Pentecostal church when I was almost 17 years old and for me, it WAS life-changing, but then as time went by, I started to see what I “sarcastically” called “assembly line christianity” (lower case intentional) because anyone who would come up, repeat this “magic formula” would instantly be a new babe in Christ. Many of these “new babes” ended up using their new-found conversion to manipulate and use those brothers and sisters that took everything SAID at face value.
Now I know what some brothers and sisters are saying; I’m a cynic! Well, no, not really, but the Whole counsel of the Word tells us that what we confess comes from a change of heart and that WORKS, yes, works as the Apostle James writes about shall be the evidence and I have seen this even in the newest of Christian babes; their lives DO change. Doesn’t mean they don’t make mistakes, even babies stumble and fall when trying to take their first steps! But coming to the Lord and surrendering our hearts, spirit and will to the Cross of Christ is not some magic event, it is deeply, deeply spiritual wrought through the power of the Holy Spirit!
Brother, Bruce, I am so like you when dealing with someone searching for truth and asking honest and sincere questions, I would rather share with them the HOPE and LOVE and yet, there ARE times when you have to let someone know that the alternative is an eternity of darkness, isolation from even the barest sense of LIGHT and LOVE. Yet it will be by their choice and not of God Almighty. God WILL honor a person’s choice to either continue to reject Him throughout eternity or to spend time in His presence. Real, unconditional, Agape Love, DEMANDS honesty and TRUTH in ALL situations and we do a disservice to those searching if we don’t share with them the Whole Truth.
The truth is, if and when you confess Jesus Christ as Lord and you surrender your being to Him, you WILL change the way you do things. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen and it is faith AND works, just as James and even Paul has written. You cannot have one without the other. It’s just like Godly Love, it isn’t some mushy, sweet, warming feeling from deep down within, it is ACTION and only after we ACT in love does the “feeling” start to make itself know. So it is with salvation, it isn’t JUST the words despite what others want to believe, it is the actions coinciding with the words as proof of a changed and awakened spirit. The TRUTH, the WHOLE truth and nothing BUT the TRUTH!! 😉
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Brother Roland, thanks for the compliment !! We are a lot alike !! Praise the Lord for His grace and mercy…hopefully visible in all that we say and do !!
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