(Mar 1:15) and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.“
God clearly requires repentance and belief in this news.
What are we saved from?
(John 5:24-34) Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (25) "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (26) For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. (27) And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. (28) Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice (29) and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (30) "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
(John 3:36) Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
(1Co 15 1-2) (1)Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand (2) and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.
Chapter 11: Of Justification (London Baptist Confession of 1689)
Those whom God effectually calls, he also freely justifies, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness by faith, which faith they have not of themselves; it is the gift of God.
(1Co 15 1-2) (1)Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand (2) and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.
Chapter 13: Of Sanctification (London Baptist Confession of 1689)
They who are united to Christ, effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, are also farther sanctified, really and personally, through the same virtue, by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them; the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified, and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of all true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
Thanks for these reminders, Jimmy. I love reading them each day when you post. I must say, I am very encouraged today to go out and share the gospel with someone. I went to a wonderful funeral yesterday. The minister preached out of 1 Corinthians 15, pretty much the entire chapter. It was terrific and he made it clear that the only hope we have is in the fact that Christ Rose, the wonderful resurrection. I love hearing about this fact. I left the funeral so encouraged, but also sad for the grieving family. Yet, I know today, I can go out and proclaim boldly that Christ rose from the grave, that in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive! And then verse 55: "O Death where is your sting? Hades where is your victory?" in verse 57: "But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ". I am excited to see who God will put in my path TODAY to share the gospel with.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the end of 1 Corinthians 15 says this: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" Brethren, let's all go out today and find someone to share the good news with! What else is there of real value, to talk about, really? Our labor is not in vain. Press on, wherever you are. I think of our brethren who are recently facing death of loved ones. James says this "whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."
ReplyDeleteOkay it is me again. I feel like I am "hogging" this blog. Oh well. Bill and I are on a wonderful little vacation. We are in Heber Springs, Ark. Had a wonderful conversation with our waitress this morning at breakfast. Her name is Alex. She gave us our bill and we noticed she wrote "God Bless" on the ticket. So............I asked her about that and told her it was so sweet. She then said she puts that on every bill she gives. I asked her what she wanted God to bless us with. She just smiled and said she didn't know. I asked her what she thought it took for one to go to heaven. She said to believe in God. We pressed it with her and asked if she would say it is through Jesus Christ alone. She said, well yes, there is no other way. We had a wonderful time talking to this young girl. She is about 19. She told us about how much she has to work, etc. Missing church on several Sundays because of working here at this inn. When she does go she told us she attended a Baptist Church nearby. We discussed the work of Christ with her and she stayed by our table a good 25 minutes, wonderful discussion on the gospel. Then she said she was even reading this neat little book, by Depak Chopra. Bill and I had heard of this guy, he has been on Larry King Live with John Mac debating him. She showed us the book and this led to me getting her address and I told her I would send her two great books for her to read. One "Don't waste your life" by Piper and another, "The Cross Centered Life" by Mahaney. So, we look forward to communicating with Alex in the future and told her we would be praying for her.
ReplyDeleteSurprise, Maggie again.
ReplyDeleteWe had another great encounter on our trip so I have to share. We met this girl named Heather, another waitress. We asked her what we could be praying for, for her, and she told us her grandpa, 87, needs lots of prayer. So, we did. Then she came back and I just decided to ask her the ultimate question. I asked her if she was a follower of Jesus Christ. She said yes. She was confident in her reply. Then I asked her what she thought the gospel was. She looked shocked. Then she said, "believe". I asked her, believe in what? She then said you must believe what the bible says and do what the bible says. So, we pushed it further with her. We asked her if she would agree to the statement that a person only gets to heaven by trusting in Christ alone. She agreed. Then Bill, the great teacher that he is, continued with her. He discussed the gospel with her and then she said "I believe all religions are valid, as long as they follow the bible." Bill told her as long as the specific religion follows the bible it is valid. Bill went on to discuss with her the finished work of Christ. His life, death and resurrection. He spoke to her of His atoning work for sinners. We both brought up judgement and sin, "it is appointed a man once to die and then judgement". We told her whether you believe the gospel or not, all men will face a Holy God on judgement day- at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess, on heaven and on earth. We told her that about 80% of the answers we get to the "heaven" question are that you must be good to gain entrance into heaven. Then she said somethihng interesting, "the road To Hell is paved with people with good intentions". Bill then discussed with her salvation, that we all need a savior, we cannot save oursleves. He discussed justification with her. She listened intentely. It was a great encounter and we praise God because we prayed on the way down for our trip to be one of evangelism and for God to put people in our way to discuss the things of God with. Praise His Holy name. p.s. I beat Bill in golf three days in a row. Hee Hee.
Jimmy, I guess you need to put a new day up so that people do not have to keep reading "Maggie" encounters! Ha Ha.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I was able to share the gospel this morning at a birthday party. It was for our friends from church, their daughter had her 3rd bdy party this morning. I met a really neat lady there. We talked about kids, her husband (he was not there) his job, her newest baby, etc. We had a sweet time talking. Then I asked her where she went to church. She said they didn't go anywhere but had visited some in the area. I asked her what she liked and didn't like about them. She told me some had too much music, some sounded much like a rock concert, etc. She has a Baptist background but said her husband grew up in a non Christian home, never going to church. We continued talking and I told her about our church and what we have to offer. I told her the gospel as I spoke of bro Bill's teaching. I told her he was currently teaching thru Galatians on Sunday mornings and then also Philippians for the ladies on Tuesday mornings. It was a neat encounter and I am praying for she and her husband to be at Bethel in the morning! Pray with me!
Jimmy,
ReplyDeleteI miss your daily posts.
I had a neat encounter today with a lady I met at the pool in the hotel we stayed at in OK City. Sweet gal. She initiated conversation with me, asking how long we would be staying. I told her only one day, she was there for two weeks and I could tell wanted some fellowship for she and her 2 yr. old while her husband was at training.
We chatted for a long time while the kids swam. I found out they were from Minnesota. I asked her if she had ever heard of John Piper. She said no. Then we talked some more. I mentioned different things about our church. Still no draw for her. Seemed like all of my hints about spiritual things weren't working. So, me and the kids asked her if she attended a church and she said yes. She described it to be similar to our Life Churches in OK. I said I was familiar with them. She even said they would be checking out the one in Ok City while they were there. Then I just blurted out "what do you think it takes for a person to make it to heaven?. She said three things. Believe in God, be a good person and be nice to other people. We then gave her the gospel and had a neat encounter. We told her it was all about the person and work of Christ. I then jotted down my e-mail and John Piper's church info in Minnesota (Thanks Carrie!). She said she lived about 20 minutes from Piper's church so that was cool.
I pray she will e-mail me. Sweet gal.
Maggie
I thought of something I posted on my blog some time ago when I was participating in a Bible study on John Piper's Spectacular Sins, as I read this. I think that many people really don't believe that they have anything to be saved from. Statements like "I'm a good person" and "a loving God wouldn't send me to hell" are so far outside of what the Bible teaches, but people don't realize it. They are so used to hearing that God is love, that they have a one dimensional view of His character.
ReplyDeleteHere is what I wrote:
http://heart-of-service.blogspot.com/2009/02/spectacular-sins-chapter-4.html
Xandra