True Gospel

Are we shying away from the message of the one true gospel…
“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of UNDESERVED privilege where we now stand….” (Rom. 5: 1-2).
We look and see that the privilege to dwell with God wasn’t possible because of sin, it was an undeserved privilege. Only because of Christ and his obedience to the father can we come and stand, but what does that show me on what I need to give up?  Today the false promise that you can find eternal life but still continue to live in rebellion against God, claim Jesus as Savior and wait till later to commit to him and obey him as your Lord, a belief that your behavior has no correlation with spiritual status, or the option of obedience…..This is not the Gospel of Jesus.
“But he was pierced for OUR rebellion, crushed for OUR sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” …’He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. NO ONE cared that his life was cut short in mid stream. But he was struck down for the REBELLION OF PEOPLE.” (Isaiah 53) This chapter in Isaiah is huge! Christ gave up his life for people who never would or never cared to. In Christ’s obedience he gave us the example….the example to follow just as Christ was obedient until death. So what does this say about the false claim to live in rebellion against God. You can read through John and see Jesus’ life. We say that we are Christians, but that saying that “I am a Christian” is sloshed around and the meaning of a true follower of Christ is being blurred by the false claims of the world that we ourselves our creating or we are sitting back and letting them become what people believe.
“The belief that someone could be a true Christian while that person’s whole lifestyle, value and speech, and attitude are marked by stubborn refusal to surrender to Christ as Lord is a notion that shouldn’t even need to be refuted.”—John MacArthur.
Jesus’ teaching and ministry always kept the issue of his Lordship at the center! You can not separate Jesus as your savior with out seeing him as your Lord. It is a two for one….Lord + Savior= Christ! He demands unconditional surrender. So the true message of Jesus CANNOT be divorced from the reality of his Lordship over your life. As Christians we are not sidekicks or admires who he can entertain…he called us to be followers.
As followers our foundation is build on Christ. “Anyone who listens to my teaching and FOLLOWS it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.” (Matt 7:24). Jesus calls out to everyone to follow him, but for a majority, we aren’t willing to count the cost and see that through his submission to God in his death that is the call for us to die to ourselves and submit to God. We need to understand that Christ died, because he wanted to please God and the shedding of blood was the only way to punish our sins. Everything that Jesus ever did in his life was pleasing to the father. Christ’s motive wasn’t just to please the father, but his death was because of LOVE!...”And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.” (John 17:19). Christ gave himself up so that we could be made holy and righteous before God, because if we look and began to question our purpose, I think you will come to find that it is to know and bring Glory to the one true God! “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive Glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
If you know the one true God and the true Gospel that he sent forth through Jesus. Your life would change radically. You would no longer want to live in rebellion against God….”So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.You won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the spirit wants. The spirit gives us the desires that are the opposites of what the sinful nature desires…..” (Gal. 5:16-17)
Who are you living for and how are you living? Are you living in light of the false claims that says your actions and your attitude has no relationship with your spiritual life or are you trying to separate Christ as Savior and ignore his Lordship over your life?