The Basics of the Gospel

Transcript

GRM 1160
05/22/2016
The Basics of the Gospel
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

I want to talk with you this morning about the biblical subject of the Gospel. I think it is important that we don't begin to take for granted some of the basic foundational things that are true for us as believers, those that are true for us as a Bible-believing church. And one of those is the Gospel, the content of the Gospel and how the Gospel comes to impact and change a life. And we'll spend more time on the responses to the Gospel than we will the content, although the content is foundational. If you don't understand what the Gospel is, then everything else will be confusion.

So why don't you turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15. We're just going to be looking at a number of passages, first I want to talk about what is the essence of the Gospel. The word Gospel is simple, it is the good news and it is good news but we need to understand what is that good news, why is it good news. If we don't have the content of the Gospel fixed in our minds, then we could be on the road to destruction. You are coming to 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote a letter to the Galatian churches, churches in the region known as Galatia. And he said there were those teaching a Gospel there which had nothing to do with the Gospel that God had revealed to him. It had points of similarity but it had additions that meant those who taught that and believed that were cursed to hell. So it's a serious matter that we have the content of the Gospel correct.

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul begins by saying, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the Gospel which I preached to you.” So this is the subject, the Gospel which he preached to them. He's going to remind them of that Gospel. This is the Gospel that they received, that they responded to, the Gospel that enables them to continue to stand firm in a relationship with God. It's the saving Gospel if they hold onto it. If it were just a passing fad, an emotional experience, then they believed in vain, it did nothing.

And he goes on in verse 3 to say, “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received.” Here is the first point of the Gospel—“Christ died for our sins.” That's the first point of the Gospel. The second point of the Gospel comes a little bit later, the end of verse 4, “He was raised on the third day.” Christ died for our sins, He was raised from the dead. That summarizes the Gospel—the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now here we are told “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” because the Old Testament Scriptures also taught that and prepared the way for His coming. He was buried, that is an evidence that He really died. Then we have the point, “He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” The Old Testament also anticipated that in its teaching. “And He appeared to Cephas and other witnesses.” His appearances were evidence and proof that He had really been raised from the dead. His burial was the evidence that He had died, His resurrection was the evidence and the witnesses were the evidence that He had really been raised.

But the two basic points of the Gospel—Christ died for our sins and He was raised from the dead. Now if you add things to that you begin to corrupt the Gospel. Well, Christ died for our sins and it His death on the cross plus our baptism, our observing the communion, our partaking of the sacraments, our keeping the Ten Commandments, whatever you add to that means you are anathema—cursed to hell. Because the Gospel has to include these basic facts but you cannot be adding other material to the Gospel. “Christ died for our sins.” That summarizes the fact that His death paid in full and finally the penalty for our sin. That did it! You don't have to try now to keep the Ten Commandments to further pay the penalty for your sin, be baptized, partake of sacraments. Christ died for our sins, that pays the penalty, deals with the issue of sin for all time. “He was raised from the dead,” that is the seal, proof and guarantee that everything necessary for paying the penalty for sin and making it possible for us to be declared righteous in God's sight has been done.

There can be nothing less than these basic facts, there really can be nothing more. Now I understand, this puts the world of “Christianity” outside the bounds of what the Scripture says. I am talking about the majority of Protestants and Roman Catholics who have come to think that they would agree with the statement, Christ died for our sins. Yes, and I am trying to be a good person and I think God will be pleased with me and accept me. I'm a good father, a good mother, good parent, good child, good church-goer. Wait a minute, Christ died for our sins. That paid the penalty. His resurrection is God's seal to that fact.

Come back to the Romans 4, look at the last verse of Romans 4. And you can stay in Romans because we'll be looking at some other passages here. Romans 4:25, talking about Christ from the earlier part of the sentence. “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions,” that refers to Christ being turned over for crucifixion, to be crucified for our sins, our transgressions, our offenses against a holy God. “And He was raised because of our justification.” The word justification, basic word to justify means to declare righteous. He was raised because righteousness had been provided for us by the death of Christ on the cross. All that was necessary for us to be declared righteous by a holy God was accomplished by Christ dying on the cross. His resurrection was because the work was done. How sad it is that multitudes of people call themselves Christians. You ask them why they think they are going to heaven. Well, I've been baptized, I go to church, I'm a good person. Wait a minute, have you never heard the good news? It has been done. Christ died for our sins, He was raised because everything necessary for God in His holiness to declare us righteous because of the provision of Christ has been done. You understand it is an offense to God for you to say that that was not enough and it's a lie from the devil for pastors, priests, religious leaders to say, “do your best.” God understands if you just try your best to be the best person you can. Or if you join this church, you get baptized, you partake of the sacraments, that's what it will take. No. The work has been done.

Look at Romans 5:6, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Verse 8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” The biggest problem people have with the good news is they don't like the bad news that precedes it. Christ died for our sins. If you think you are already a good person, you think I am already acceptable to God. I mean, I've joined the church, I've been baptized, I'm faithful, I'm a good person, I try to treat people right. Wait a minute, you are not a good person when you tell God He lies. You are not a good person when you tell God He is wrong and you are right. Now you are challenging Him. He is God, He tells us. Christ died for our sins.

Verse 6 we just read, “While we were still helpless.” Helpless, there is nothing we could do, the penalty for sin is death. It's not good works, it's not baptism, it's not taking communion, it's not keeping the Ten Commandments. It is death, and that includes physical death, separation of a person from their body; spiritual death which is the condition of every person until they experience the salvation God has provided, and eternal separation from God in hell. That's how serious it is. People like to talk about the love of God, and He is a God of infinite love. But you know what really demonstrates God's love? That's a good place for you to start talking to a friend or a family member. Start out telling them, isn't it amazing that God loves us? Isn't it comforting to know that He is a God of love? Most people, yeah, that's what I think of God. If there is a God, I think He would be a God of love.

But do you know what the Bible says? The real demonstration of God's love for you is He had His Son die for you even though you are a sinner. “God demonstrates His own love toward us in that we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” “Now we can be justified by His blood,” verse 9. And that saves us from God's wrath. His death, now we can be justified, declared righteous by God. That hell-bound sinner now can be declared righteous, slate is clean, it is forgiven. God says I will credit him with My righteousness. We can become the righteousness of God in Christ.

That's the simple Gospel and we want to have a good handle on this. If you are going to say I shared the Gospel with someone, did you share those facts with him? Christ died for your sins, He was raised because He had provided righteousness through His death on the cross. If we talk about God, if we talk about Jesus but we don't bring it to the facts of the Gospel, we really haven't told them the good news. Now I realize it gets delicate because people don't want to be told they are sinners. That was the big issue when Christ came, they weren't ready to welcome Him, receive Him because they saw themselves as already righteous—we have the Law, we have the Ten Commandments, we have priests, we have sacrifices. I am greatly offended that you would come and tell us we are sinners and we are not acceptable to God as we are. That's the average religious person today.

Some of you get the testimonies of people who go out and share the Gospel on Monday nights. I encourage you to join them as they go knock on doors. How many people don't want to hear it? I have my church, I'm not open to that. Why not? This is good news. Don't you want to hear about God's love? Yes, but don't tell me about my sin. Then you don't want to hear about God's love. Why did Christ come? Why did Christ die if you are not a sinner? What a waste. That's the Gospel. Most Protestants, most Catholics would say I believe Christ died for my sins, I acknowledge that. We don't have any disagreement there.

I want to talk about how the Gospel is applied to our lives. We talk sometimes about the terms of the Gospel. What we are really talking about, what enables the death of Christ to be credited to your account. Upon what terms does God offer you the free gift of eternal life? It's a free gift, it's given by grace, it can't be earned and yet it is not automatic. What is required? So we're talking about how is the Gospel applied to a life? You understand you can know an awful lot about the Gospel, an awful lot about the Bible and be lost. So how is the Gospel applied to us? We are going to look at certain basic words or terms.

The first one is the most obvious, the word faith or believe. We're talking about the same basic word, they are two different words but we understand, in English and in Greek they are just the same basic word with different endings to make a noun and a verb. The noun is faith, the verb is to believe. That's the basic word to talk about what you must do to be saved. You must respond in faith, you must believe what God has done for you in the death and resurrection of Christ. These words, faith and believe, I didn't do an accurate count because it was too much trouble for the result, but I just went down the list of those Greek noun and verb for faith and did a rapid count. And we have over 300 times these words are used in the New Testament. This is the overwhelming emphasis of the response God says is necessary for salvation. This has always been true. You understand no one could ever at any time in the history of the human race be saved by their works, be saved by baptism, be saved by the Ten Commandments, be saved by communion or sacraments. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever.

All right, Romans 4:3, going to use Abraham as an example because the Jews thought they were descendants of Abraham, they are Jews. God had given covenant promises to their ancestor Abraham. Then later He gave the Mosaic Law. We are in. We are home free. All you have to do is be born with the right lineage and we Jews have it! We are descendants of Abraham. So he says as Romans 4 opens up, Let's use Abraham as an example. “If Abraham was justified by works,” verse 2, “he could boast” because a work is something you do, you accomplish. But what does the Scripture say? Verse 3, this is Genesis 15:6, “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Now to the one who works his wage is not credited as a favor but what is due.” Most of you at least in your family, you have somebody who works for a living, as we would put it. He goes to work and gets a paycheck. And at the end of the week or the month or whenever you get paid. If the boss gives you your paycheck, and says, “here is something I am giving you as a gift. It is by my mercy and grace.” And you look and you say, “That's not a gift. I worked hourd for that.” That's what he is saying.

Verse 5, “But to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” Now it's not just faith, I have my faith and you have your faith, it's the one who believes in Him who justifies the ungodly. How does He do that? That's what he has been talking about previously, up in Romans 4. “The righteousness of God,” Romans 3:21, “has been manifested.” Romans 3:22, “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” So the fact that you have faith doesn't mean you have been forgiven and declared righteous by God. Everybody has faith. You got in your car and drove here by faith today, faith that we would be here. You go to bed by faith at night, believing the roof won't fall in. It's not maybe something, but there is a presupposition you had there that you believed.

Could it be any clearer than Romans 4:6? “But to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” Isn't it sad that you have a verse like that and there are people that attend Indian Hills and go away under the mistaken assumption that they are good people? I go to a church where they believe the Bible, I'm a good person. Maybe they even got baptized here. But you understand that won't save anyone. Isn't it sad that multitudes of people around the world are on their way to an eternal hell, thinking they are going to do things to make themselves acceptable to God, when God says I have already done everything that can be done?

So the response required is faith. Look down in Romans 5:1, “Therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.” It just keeps multiplying. We stand in grace. Why? Because God has bestowed this gift upon those who are undeserving. I didn't deserve to have Christ die to pay the penalty for my sin. It was my sin, I'm the guilty one. But God in love had Him go take my place. Then He said, I want to give you a gift. You can't work for it, you can't earn it, you can't clean up your own life. You are on your way to hell. There is nothing you can do to change that, I had to do what was necessary by providing My Son to die in your place. Now you can have this for free if you will believe that He died for you, paid your penalty and you are going to put your trust in Him.

The whole chapter of Romans 4, coming from Romans 3:21 all the way down into Romans 5, it's all about faith, believe. When we studied this, we took the time to go through. Many of you marked or highlighted the word faith or the word believe. It just permeates this whole section because that's what God is saying.

Romans 4:24, it is written for our sake that when Abraham believed God it was credited to him as righteousness because when you believe, it will be credited to you. Romans 4:24, “who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” That's all. We say our church, our religious group believes that. But do they believe that did it? Do they believe that does it plus your baptism? That does it plus your good works? That does it plus (fill in the blank). So it is simple faith.

Now there are other related words and expressions because when you place your faith in Christ, there will be certain actions associated with that. In all of this it is the Spirit of God working on a heart and mind. We live in a world that delights in denying sin, they reject God. They reject what He says. He says He plans marriage, they like to encourage young people to live together without being married, do a test before you commit. And on it goes. People like to think they are all right. Certain things have to happen and the Spirit of God, I can't change a heart, you can't change a heart. You can share the truth of the Gospel, the reality of sin, but Jesus said, “I didn't come to call the righteous, I came to call sinners.” People who see themselves as already righteous, Christ says I can't help you. You don't see yourself as in need of Me.

There are other words used in context of believing, placing your faith in Christ. I want to look at some of these words with you so we are not confused. It is faith alone in Christ alone that saves. Now when you place your faith in Christ alone for your salvation, you die with Him, you are buried with Him, you are raised with Him to new life. That's the picture, spiritually, that happens. Now you will live your life differently. But if you believe to be saved you must place your faith in Christ and also live your life differently, in other words do the right works in order to be saved, then you are lost. So you have to get things in proper order, proper sequence.

A word that is used to refer to the same thing, your salvation, is the word repent. So it's used interchangeably with the word faith. It's not used nearly as often, the noun and the verb for repent are used 56 times so the words for faith are used six times or more what the words repentance are, but the word repent is a genuine word. The word repent is a compound word, it just means to be of another mind, to change your mind. So sometimes it is used as a synonym for to turn because you change your mind about something. It is a turning in its own sense. So the Bible talks about repenting. Crying isn't repenting although sometimes when you repent of something you've done, there may be tears. But the emotion itself doesn't mean it is repentance. Repentance indicates a change in your thinking which will ultimately lead to a change in action.

Come back to the Gospels, we'll start with Mark, Jesus preaching and He is clear on what the Gospel is, obviously He is clear on what your response to the Gospel must be. And “Jesus came into the region of Galilee,” verse 14 says, “He was preaching the Gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand,” verse 15, “repent and believe the Gospel.” Now those are not two separate, distinct entities, they are part of what is necessary in the package for salvation. True faith involves repentance. I mean, if you don't change your mind about your sin, your guilt, if you don't change your mind about Jesus Christ is the one and only Savior, how can you really believe in Him? So He says repent and believe, He is challenging them to change their opinion, to change how they see Him, how they see themselves. These Jews saw themselves as already righteous. They will be greatly offended by Christ telling them they are just as lost as the Gentiles. Their wrath about that will build to the point they will crucify Christ. But He says repent and believe the Gospel. And if you really, truly do biblical repentance, you will believe; and if you really believe, you will repent. The words don't mean exactly the same thing, but they are part of that same action. I saw myself as God says I am, I changed my thinking on that and I turned and placed my faith in Him is the picture.

Come over to Luke, we are not going to look by any means at all 56 references any more than we looked at all 300+ on faith. But I want you to be clear, this isn't adding anything to faith, it is part of what happens when you truly believe. And so you can use these words as part of that transaction. You could say repent and that's what we are going to have in Luke 5. Look at verse 32. Verse 31 is the reference I referred to, “Jesus said, it is not those who are well who need a physician but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” That's what He is saying—you see yourself as already well, you reject Me as the physician of your soul. You are closed to what I have to offer you. I didn't come to call righteous people, I've come to offer salvation to sinners. Sad thing is the multitude of “Christians,” as that word is broadly used of Protestants and Catholics, are lost. They are just like these religious Jews. They think they are already right. That's why they are offended when you start to tell them that Jesus Christ is the only way. They are sinners, their sin is too serious to be rectified by being baptized. It could only be dealt with by the death of the Son of God.

So I came to call sinners to repentance. Incidentally, while you are here, have you ever come to the clarity of that, where you see yourself as a sinner? Maybe you grew up here and it is just part of the atmosphere and environment—yes, we all believe in Christ; we all believe we are sinners, I realize that. Has it really gripped your mind that you are a sinner guilty before a holy God? If you would drop over dead in that seat right now, where would you be? That's what He is talking about.

How sad, here the Savior of the world stands in their presence and they said, “we don't need you, we are not sick. We are already righteous, we are doing it our way.” The song that has been so popular at different times—I did it my way. Somehow people think that God should be pleased with that.

Come over to Luke 13, we'll just stay with Luke a moment. Verse 3, and He is dealing again with the people He is addressing. They looked at some people, they had catastrophe in their lives, they said they must have been worse sinners. God was showing He didn't like them and He judged them. Verse 2, “He said, do you suppose these Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans?” I want to tell you something. Look at verse 3, “No. Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Verse 5, if you didn't get the point. “I tell you no but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Understand that, there is no one who is ever saved who does not repent. But you said I thought you had to believe. Yes, there are two sides of the same coin or whatever. You have to stop, change your thinking by the grace of God, see yourself for the first time as God says He sees you, as a wretched, defiled sinner. All the righteous things you think you have done, like Isaiah the prophet said, they are all as filthy, polluted rags when God looks at it. You are trying to do what He says only He can do and it's not acceptable. Could Jesus be any more clear? He is talking to very religious people who offered sacrifices, who had a priest system, who tried to keep the Ten Commandments. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. There are no exceptions, there is no middle ground here. Well, I'm just sort of in the middle right now, giving it thought. There is no middle ground. You will perish if you die in your present condition. Well, I've been giving it serious thought. You perish if you die in your present condition. Jesus put it bluntly, “He who is not for Me is against Me.” Well, I'm on the fence. I'm sorry, you are on the wrong side of the fence. That's the picture.

Come over to the end of the Gospel of Luke, Luke 24. And He is telling His disciples now after His resurrection from the dead and He meets with them, He reminds them and shows them from the Old Testament Scripture passages like Isaiah 53 that prophesied and prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah of Israel who would have to suffer and die and be raised from the dead to pay the penalty for sin. And then what would happen? Verse 47, “and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations beginning in Jerusalem.” There is no other way for anyone to be saved at any nook and cranny anywhere in the world but by their hearing the Gospel and understanding they are sinners guilty before God and Christ died for them to pay their penalty. He was raised because He had provided righteousness. And if they don't repent, turn from whatever they are believing or trusting or doing, recognizing that only Christ can cleanse them, they are lost. They are lost! It's not popular to say that in this world. You have to be politically correct, you have to be tolerant. We are tolerant, in fact people have the right to be wrong. That's what Jesus said, I can't help you, I didn't come to call the righteous. But no, I cannot come and tell people, your thinking and way is as good as God's, when Christ came and died and was raised from the dead so we could carry the message throughout the world that you must repent for forgiveness of sins.

So repentance, that's what we are talking about. Well, is that different than faith? Well, it's part of trusting Christ. You change your mind, you have been thinking differently. When I trusted Christ the Spirit opened my eyes to see that I am a sinner. I wasn't saved by my baptism in that Methodist church when I was a baby, I didn't get saved by going to Sunday school every week. I was lost, I am a sinner. I repented, I changed my thinking. I put my faith in Christ. That's what repentance is.

Another word that is used for salvation in connection with believing is to receive. Receive Christ means to take, to receive, accept. It fits the picture of a gift, the free gift of God. What do you receive with a gift? You receive it. It's not something you earn, you take it from the hand of someone who gives it to you at no cost to you. That's the picture, we receive it, we welcome it.

Come back to John 1:12, “But as many as received Him to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe.” And there you see he is using receive and believe interchangeably—to those who received Him, to those who believed in Him. They welcomed Him, they accepted Him as God's provision for them, which was part of believing in Him.

You come over to John 5:43, “I have come in My Father's name and you do not receive Me,” you don't welcome Me, you don't accept Me. “If another comes in his own name you will receive him,” and that's what multitudes of people today, they believe what their preacher tells them, they believe what their priest tells them, they believe what their church or their denomination teaches. You understand that's a rejection of Christ, that's not acceptable. You don't receive Him, you reject Him.

Come over to John 12:48, we can't go through all the references, and note, I want you to see this, the opposite of receive is reject. “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings as one who judges him, the word I spoke is what will judge him in the last day.” “He who rejects me,” what does it mean to reject Him? You don't receive His sayings. This is what I was telling you, there is no middle ground, there is no in between. That's my concern with expressions like this is for seekers. I realize God may be drawing some, but there is no one seeking God. No matter how close you are, you are a rejecter until you are a receiver; you are an unbeliever until you are a believer. Remember when Paul talked to Herod, Herod said, almost you persuade me to be a believer. He died and went to an eternity in hell. Doesn't matter, here you are hearing it; doesn't matter, people stood face to face with Jesus Christ and heard Him talk, they rejected Him. Hearing is not believing. You must receive the truth, receive what God has provided.

Come to 2 Thessalonians 2:10. People who are going to perish, the end of verse 10 in the context here, but the point is the same—their response to the truth. The end of verse 10, “they are going to perish because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.” So when they heard the truth it wasn't something they received, they loved it, how precious, how wonderful that someone has told me I can be forgiven, Christ died for me. Verse 12, “In order that all may be judged who did not believe the truth.” You see in the context, receiving the love of the truth and believing the truth basically the same thing, and you have accepted it for yourself into your life.

The last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22, and this will lead us into our next word. Look at verse 17, “The Spirit and the bride say come, let the one who hears say come, let the one who is thirsty come, let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” That word take, some of you following Greek, dekomi and lombano, two synonyms here for to take, to receive, to accept. You take the water of life, it is without cost. People are still trying to work their way to heaven, earn their way.

That word come, that's another expression. You talk about come to Christ. Here is what He says in verse 17, “The Spirit and the bride say come,” wanting people to come to Christ, come to the salvation He has provided. “Let the one who hears say come.” When you have heard and been saved, go tell someone else, come I want to tell you there is life. He talks about the water of life, if you are thirsty, that desire of your soul for forgiveness, for fulfillment, for satisfaction. Come and it is free. Come to Christ. That water that is the refreshing of your soul, there is no cost. It is just amazing all that people will go through to stand firm in their rejection of what God offers for free.

We had dear neighbors many years ago. She got up every morning to go through her ritual at her Roman Catholic church, an elderly lady. And she got saved eventually, praise the Lord. But it wasn't through going down there. She spent her whole life going through that and by God's grace at the end of her life finds out that was all filthy rags. Christ had done it all. Probably spent 70 or 80 years trying to earn it. People go through everything and then they are offended when you tell them. Well, I have my church, we have our beliefs, I think I'm fine. God says, come. How gracious is He? Here all that He has said and He concludes by saying, come. If you have heard come, if you are thirsty come, come to the water of life. This will bring you spiritual life, God's forgiveness, God's cleansing.

And you know the promise; come back to John 6. How patient God is. John 6:35, “Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will not hunger, he who believes in Me will never thirst.” You see you can use these expressions interchangeably and the picture again of satisfying your desire. It's like physical food for physical hunger, here is the spiritual hunger. “He who comes to Me will not hunger, he who believes in Me will not thirst.” Verse 37, “All the Father gives Me will come to Me, the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” How gracious is this and the promise? “Everyone who believes in Him,” verse 40, “will have eternal life,” experience bodily resurrection at the last day. Matthew 11:28, “Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” How gracious God is, and He continues to say that to this day. The millenniums go by and He keeps saying, come, come, it is free. Christ died for you. Man persists in his rebellion, tries to close God out, close God's Word out, he is offended. We can practice every kind of perversion but don't talk about the Bible. We are inclusive of everyone and everything but truth in Jesus Christ.

Other expressions, prayer. Some people say prayer doesn't save you. Well, that depends on the prayer. Acts 2:21 quotes from Joel the prophet in the Old Testament, “Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” When you address God, isn't that called prayer? So call on Him. God, it is me, the sinner, lost and without hope in the world. God, I believe what you have said, I believe what you have done. I want to trust Christ as my Savior. Some people say you shouldn't ask them to pray, these are works. They are not works. They can be and faith can be empty, it can be demonic faith like the demons have and they are not saved. You must believe the truth concerning Christ, you must repent. That doesn't mean you had an emotional experience. It may have been emotional, it may not, but you must have turned from your sin and placed your faith in Christ. You must have received Him, you must have come to Him, to no one else, to nothing else. It is Christ and Him alone. Romans 10 Paul quotes from Joel 2 as well, “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” You have recognized you are a sinner, you have recognized Christ as the only Savior. Call upon the Lord. Lord, here I am, I'm a sinner, You know my heart, You know my condition. I want to place my faith in Christ and settle it before You. Just that easy. And you are brought into a relationship with Him.

There are other expressions. He comes into your life, John 14, Jesus said when you believe in Him, He will come in and reside within you with His Father, with the Holy Spirit. You will fellowship together. It's the beginning of an eternal relationship.

We want to be clear with the Gospel. Christ died for our sins, He was raised from the dead because righteousness had been provided. Now you must believe in Him, which will involve repenting, turning from your present thinking, hopes, confidence, trust and believing in Him. Receiving Him, stop rejecting Him. We steel our hearts so we are closed to truth. We welcome Him, receive Him, come to Him, welcome Him into your heart and life. He brings His salvation that is never ending. He changes our lives. He makes us new. He is the One who relieves the weary, the heavy laden, the burdens of life, the hopeless weight of sin. I will take it all. To know you are forgiven for time and eternity, how much would you pay for that? It has already been paid, it is yours, free because God has done it all.

That's the Gospel we believe, that's the Gospel we preach.

Let's pray together. Thank You, God, for Your grace, Your provision. It's all You have done. Lord, it reminds us of our sinfulness and all of us were in this condition, blind and closed to truth, rejecting You and the gift You provided of Your Son, unwilling to come to Him, unwilling to believe in Him. And Lord we testify to Your grace that Your Spirit moved in our lives and our eyes were opened to see and understand and believe. We did repent and turn, trusted the One who loved us and died for us. We came into a relationship with Him and we received all that was necessary for life and godliness. Lord, what a privilege it is for us to invite others to come to this Savior as we tell them the truth. Lord, I pray for any who are here this morning, Lord, they may have heard this message many times but they have never truly repented and seen themselves as you say they are and placed their faith in Christ. May this be a day when You touch their heart, they receive You. We pray in Christ's name, amen.