Good News!
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Our discussion today revolves around the Good News presented in God's
word. The Good News is the free gift of eternal life that is granted to
those that believe in The Lord Jesus Christ. Anyone can receive this gift.
Noone is outside of the love of God. The Good News is you don't have to
be chained down to the world system. You can have the victory of reigning
with Jesus for all of eternity.
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the
world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Matthew 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to
be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his
life a ransom for many.
John 17:1-4 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up
his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come;
glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As
thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he
should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him. And this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have
finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Revelation 21:6-7 And he said unto me, It is done.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will
give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the
water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my
son.
The Love of God has been shown to us by the death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is no other act in history that shows
such an act of love. Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. God became a
human being and laid down His life for His children. He was rejected by
His own, yet He endured the Cross in our behalf. He paid the price in His
own blood for our sins. When the Father raised Jesus from the dead, the
plan of God was fulfilled. We can enter into eternal life because of what
Jesus has done for us.
The Good News of eternal life requires an action on our part. We must
believe in Jesus Christ to be saved. We must be born again. Belief is an
action. Do we believe God? The act of belief is repentence. If we
continue in sin then we bare record against ourselves. We make our
witness of God to be a lie. God's word clearly sums up repentence and
belief in the following scriptures.
John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye
believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's
house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would
have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if
I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye
may be also.
John 14:6-7 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my
Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have
seen him.
Mark 1:14-15 Now after that John was put in prison,
Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the
kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe
the gospel.
Isaiah 53:1-6 1 Who hath believed our report? and
to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall
grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out
of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and
when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we
should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid
as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for
our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with
his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and
the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Jesus Christ paid it all. He bore our sins in His own blood and was
wounded for our transgressions. It is because of what He did that we can
have access to the Father and eternal life.
There is nothing we can add to what Jesus has done to make us any
more righteous in God's sight. We aren't scoring points with God based on
our performance. Being a better person and trying to keep the law is not
the pathway to eternal life. Believing in Jesus Christ and what He has
done for us is what saves us.
Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we
might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by
the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified.
Romans 3:19-28 Now we know that what things soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law:
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may
become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for
by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the
righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the
righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is
no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of
the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith
in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the
forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his
righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then?
It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the
law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is
justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
It doesn't get any clearer. We cannot be justified or declared
righteous by the law. Let us not be prideful and boastful thinking we can
add anything to what Jesus has done. It is quite obvious that Jesus Christ
has adequately satisfied God's wrath. There is nothing more we can add
that will change God's mind. It is truely a matter of belief versus not
believing. Is Jesus really God to you? Let's conclude with a classic
example from Thomas. Understand that Faith in Jesus Christ begins with true
repentence.
John 20:26-29 And after eight days again his
disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came
Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst,
and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas,
Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach
hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not
faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him,
Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed:
blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have
believed.
Written by Mark Dickens 11/22/2022