Category Archives: The Gospel

"So shall my word. . .accomplish that which I please"

Posted by Dan C. on

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” – Isaiah 55:11

"So shall my word. . .accomplish that which I please"

Whenever God’s word goes forth, it accomplishes what it is intended to do, in every single instance. Of that I am convinced.

So it is whenever the true gospel is preached. By true gospel I mean that, as Paul stated so clearly, “Christ died for our sins.”

It pleases God to save men, so he sends his spirit to give life to the ‘dead in trespasses and sin’ (Eph 2:1), shows them their condition apart from Christ (deserving of just wrath [Eph 2:3]), offers them the substitute who drank that cup of wrath on their behalf, and they freely and willingly embrace Christ.

I have found nothing in scripture that tells me that God only brings lost men and women half-way,but only that the work he begins in a person, he also brings to completion in Glory.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. “ – Phil 1:6

The Manger and The Cross

Posted by Dan C. on

The days before Christmas can be a tiring season of preparation, planning, shopping, and wrapping. But I think as we prepare for the Christmas celebrations, dinners, travel, and gift giving, it’s equally important that we pause and prepare our souls for Christmas.

During this time of year, it may be easy to forget that the bigger purpose behind Bethlehem was Calvary. But the purpose of the manger was realized in the horrors of the cross. The purpose of his birth was his death.

Or to put it more personally: Christmas is necessary because I am a sinner. The incarnation reminds us of our desperate condition before a holy God.
Several years ago WORLD Magazine published a column by William H. Smith with the provocative title, “Christmas is disturbing: Any real understanding of the Christmas messages will disturb anyone” (Dec. 26, 1992).

In part, Smith wrote:

Many people who otherwise ignore God and the church have some religious feeling, or feel they ought to, at this time of the year. So they make their way to a church service or Christmas program. And when they go, they come away feeling vaguely warmed or at least better for having gone, but not disturbed.

Why aren’t people disturbed by Christmas? One reason is our tendency to sanitize the birth narratives. We romanticize the story of Mary and Joseph rather than deal with the painful dilemma they faced when the Lord chose Mary to be the virgin who would conceive her child by the power of the Holy Spirit. We beautify the birth scene, not coming to terms with the stench of the stable, the poverty of the parents, the hostility of Herod. Don’t miss my point. There is something truly comforting and warming about the Christmas story, but it comes from understanding the reality, not from denying it.

Most of us also have not come to terms with the baby in the manger. We sing, “Glory to the newborn King.” But do we truly recognize that the baby lying in the manger is appointed by God to be the King, to be either the Savior or Judge of all people? He is a most threatening person.
Malachi foresaw his coming and said, “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.” As long as we can keep him in the manger, and feel the sentimental feelings we have for babies, Jesus doesn’t disturb us. But once we understand that his coming means for every one of us either salvation or condemnation, he disturbs us deeply.

What should be just as disturbing is the awful work Christ had to do to accomplish the salvation of his people. Yet his very name, Jesus, testifies to us of that work.

That baby was born so that “he who had no sin” would become “sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” The baby’s destiny from the moment of his conception was hell—hell in the place of sinners. When I look into the manger, I come away shaken as I realize again that he was born to pay the unbearable penalty for my sins.

That’s the message of Christmas: God reconciled the world to himself through Christ, man’s sin has alienated him from God, and man’s reconciliation with God is possible only through faith in Christ…Christmas is disturbing.

Don’t get me wrong–Christmas should be a wonderful celebration. Properly understood, the message of Christmas confronts before it comforts, it disturbs before it delights.

The purpose of Christ’s birth was to live a sinless life, suffer as our substitute on the cross, satisfy the wrath of God, defeat death, and secure our forgiveness and salvation.

Christmas is about God the Father (the offended party) taking the initiative to send his only begotten son to offer his life as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, so that we might be forgiven for our many sins.

As Smith so fitly concludes his column:

Only those who have been profoundly disturbed to the point of deep repentance are able to receive the tidings of comfort, peace, and joy that Christmas proclaims.

Amen and Merry Christmas!

____________________________________

C.J. Mahaney leads Sovereign Grace Ministries in its mission to establish and support local churches. After 27 years of pastoring Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, C.J. handed the senior pastor role to Joshua Harris on September 18, 2004, allowing C.J. to devote his full attention to Sovereign Grace. He serves on the Council of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and on the board of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

What Did Jesus Come To Do?

Posted by Dan C. on

To reveal the Father (Matt. 11:27)

“All things have been committed to me by my Father.  No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

To be a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28)

“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

To serve (Matt. 20:28)

“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

To save the world (John 3:17; Luke 19:10)

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

To preach the good news of the kingdom of God (Luke 4:43)

“But he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”

To bring division (Luke 12:51)

“Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.”

To do the will of the Father (John 6:38)

“For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”

To give the Father’s words (John 17:8)

“For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.  They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.”

To testify to the truth (John 18:37)

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.   Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king.  In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

To die and destroy Satan’s power (Heb. 2:14)

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil.”

To destroy the devil’s works (1 John 3:8)

“He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”

To fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 5:17)

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

To give life (John 10:10,28)

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full… I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”

To taste death for everyone (Heb. 2:9)

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

To become a high priest (Heb. 2:17)

“For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

To atone for sin (Heb. 2:17)

“For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

To proclaim freedom for believers (Luke 4:18)

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.”

To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:19)

“to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

To bring judgment (John 9:39)

“Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

To take away sin (1 John 3:5)

“But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.”

To preach (Mark 1:38)

“Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.'”

To call sinners (Mark 2:17)

“On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'”

To know who is true (1 John 5:20)

“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.  And we are in him who is true — even in his Son Jesus Christ.  He is the true God and eternal life.”

The above list represents only some of the things Jesus came to do. Most of us are familiar with them all, and you might even have a favorite reason among them. Regardless of whether you know them all or not, or which one might be your favorite, they are all wrapped up what the Angel told Joseph about his betrothed, Mary, and in the command given to Joseph:

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

The reason we hold that to be true is because all of the problems of mankind are the result of the first Adam willfully disobeying God and ushering sin into God’s perfect world.

So if, in this Christmas season, or any other time the question “What did Jesus come to do?” comes up, just repeat what the Angel told Joseph. What an opportunity it might bring to share the ‘rest of the story’, and lead a lost soul to the Savior!

What are the essential elements of the gospel?

Posted by Dan C. on

Whenever we talk about the gospel, it is helpful and important to remember the four essentials: God, Man, Christ, Response.

God is both our sovereign Creator and our righteous Judge.

  • You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You (Neh 9:6).
  • Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity (Ps 98:9).
  • God therefore has the right of ownership over us by virtue of creating us, and he has the right to punish or reward us by virtue of his royal, judicial office. And because God is both our Creator and Judge, we are doubly accountable to Him for all our behavior – word, thought, and deed.

Man was created by God, in God’s image, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. But man sinned against God by disobeying His holy law. Man therefore separated himself from God’s holy and satisfying presence, and incurred His wrathful displeasure.

  • God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Gen 1:27).
  • For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).
  • For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18).

Jesus Christ’s death was the substitute payment for the penalty that we deserved for our sin. His death is God’s only provision for the forgiveness of man’s sin and the appeasement of God’s wrath against him.

  • All we like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Isa 53:6).
  • He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36).
  • And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

We are called to respond to this good news in repentance and belief – turning away from our sin and self-sufficiency toward God, and trusting in the shed blood of Jesus Christ as the substitute penalty that we deserved for our sin.

  • The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15).
  • Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Luke 24:46-47).

Provided by 9Marks.org.

What’s Your Gospel?

Posted by Dan C. on

How many lost souls are going to appear before Christ at the Judgment and say after sentencing, “But I ‘accepted’ Jesus and asked him into my heart! When my friend told me how Jesus could change my life and make it better, I prayed those words!”

And Jesus will say, “Depart from me!

One question: What’s your gospel?

The Old v. The New Gospel

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The following is a quote from Dr. J. I. Packer, from his Introduction to John Owen’s “The Death of death in the death of Christ”:

There is no doubt that Evangelicalism today is in a state of perplexity and unsettlement. In such matters as the practice of evangelism, the teaching of holiness, the building up of local church life, the pastor’s dealing with souls and the exercise of discipline, there is evidence of widespread dissatisfaction with things as they are and of equally widespread uncertainty as to the road ahead. This is a complex phenomenon, to which many factors have contributed; but, if we go to the root of the matter, we shall find that these perplexities are all ultimately due to our having lost our grip on the biblical gospel. Without realising it, we have during the past century bartered that gospel for a substitute product which, though it looks similar enough in points of detail, is as a whole a decidedly different thing. Hence our troubles; for the substitute product does not answer the ends for which the authentic gospel has in past days proved itself so mighty. The new gospel conspicuously fails to produce deep reverence, deep repentance, deep humility, a spirit of worship, a concern for the church. Why?

We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character and content. It fails to make men God-centred in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do. One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be “helpful” to man—to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction—and too little concerned to glorify God. The old gospel was “helpful,” too—more so, indeed, than is the new—but (so to speak) incidentally, for its first concern was always to give glory to God. It was always and essentially a proclamation of Divine sovereignty in mercy and judgment, a summons to bow down and worship the mighty Lord on whom man depends for all good, both in nature and in grace. Its centre of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the centre of reference is man. This is just to say that the old gospel was religious in a way that the new gospel is not. Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach men to worship God, the concern of the new seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and His ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference. The whole perspective and emphasis of gospel preaching has changed.

From this change of interest has sprung a change of content, for the new gospel has in effect reformulated the biblical message in the supposed interests of “helpfulness.” Accordingly, the themes of man’s natural inability to believe, of God’s free election being the ultimate cause of salvation, and of Christ dying specifically for His sheep, are not preached. These doctrines, it would be said, are not “helpful”; they would drive sinners to despair, by suggesting to them that it is not in their own power to be saved through Christ. (The possibility that such despair might be salutary is not considered; it is taken for granted that it cannot be, because it is so shattering to our self-esteem.) However this may be (and we shall say more about it later), the result of these omissions is that part of the biblical gospel is now preached as if it were the whole of that gospel; and a half-truth masquerading as the whole truth becomes a complete untruth. Thus, we appeal to men as if they all had the ability to receive Christ at any time; we speak of His redeeming work as if He had done no more by dying than make it possible for us to save ourselves by believing; we speak of God’s love as if it were no more than a general willingness to receive any who will turn and trust; and we depict the Father and the Son, not as sovereignly active in drawing sinners to themselves, but as waiting in quiet impotence “at the door of our hearts” for us to let them in. It is undeniable that this is how we preach; perhaps this is what we really believe. But it needs to be said with emphasis that this set of twisted half-truths is something other than the biblical gospel. The Bible is against us when we preach in this way; and the fact that such preaching has become almost standard practice among us only shows how urgent it is that we should review this matter. To recover the old, authentic, biblical gospel, and to bring our preaching and practice back into line with it, is perhaps our most pressing present need.

The Aroma of Christ

Posted by Dan C. on

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.  For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?” – 2 Cor 2:14-16

The Apostle Paul, in this short passage, tells the Christians at Corinth that they are “the aroma of Christ” to the people around them. Those people are divided into two groups, with the “aroma of Christ” smelling quite differently to each group.

To those who are being saved, that is to those in whom God has done a work of regeneration through the Holy Spirit, the aroma of Christ is a fragrance ‘”from life to life”, from salvation to glorification.

To those who are perishing, that is to those who remain in their unbelief and rejection of Christ, the aroma of Christ is a fragrance “from death to death”, from being dead in sin as they breathe here on earth, to eternal judgment when they die.

It seems easy to understand why the aroma of Christ is a sweet fragrance of life to other Christians, but why does the life of a Christian carry the stench of death to unbelievers? One answer to that can be found in Romans 1:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.” vv 18-19

Paul then tells us that because of such knowledge, men are ‘without excuse’ before the judgment seat of God. He describes how men are given over to all sorts of sin and degradation because they suppress the truth that they already know. He completes this dire scenario with these words:

“Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” – v 32

Paul is telling the Christians at Corinth, and us today, that the reason that the life of a Christian carries with it the stench of death to unbelievers because they not only know God exists, they know their sin and they know they deserve God’s death sentence! Is it any wonder that the aroma of Christ stinks of death to those who are perishing? I think not.

One question comes to mind in this. Why is it that we have so many churches and so many Christians try to ‘attract’ people to Christ by making Him smell ‘sweet’ promises of a better life here and now, instead of letting the aroma of Christ smell to them like it ought, and in fact needs to smell to them, if they are to come to repentance and faith?

WHY?

“Avoid a sugared gospel. . .”

Posted by Dan C. on

“Avoid a sugared gospel as you would shun sugar of lead. Seek the gospel which rips up and tears and cuts and wounds and hacks and even kills, for that is the gospel that makes alive again. And when you have found it, give good heed to it. Let it enter into your inmost being. As the rain soaks into the ground, so pray the Lord to let his gospel soak into your soul.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon

An "Attractive" Gospel?

Posted by Dan C. on

The tendency today, in many churches, is to present a gospel that is attractive to the unbeliever. It sounds like a great idea, but is it Biblical to do so? Paul tells us this:

“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” – 1 Cor 1:18

“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” – Rom 8:7

Horatius Bonar, in the 19th century had this to say:

“For we know that the unrenewed will is set against the Gospel; it is enmity to God and His truth. ~ It is the Gospel that the unbeliever hates; and the more clearly it is set before him, the more he hates it.” –

I personally don’t know anyone who would deem attractive that which they consider “foolish“. Do you? And if we try to somehow make the gospel “attractive”, do we still have the gospel in our message? If the unrenewed (unregenerated, lost in sin) human will is at enmity (hostility, antipathy, antagonism, animosity) to God and the truth of the Gospel, what must happen in order to have an “attractive” gospel? 

That last question seems to have a two part, yet simple, answer. All we need to is remove that which is ‘offensive’ to the ears and hearts of unbelievers, and insert that which would be ‘attractive’ to the unbelievers we are trying to reach.

Well, what is it exactly that unbelievers find ‘offensive’? To answer that one, we need only consider the Apostle Paul’s definition of the Gospel:

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, . . . For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” – 1 Cor 15:1-4

In that definition of the Gospel message, we have three primary elements – Christ’s death for our sin,  His burial and His resurrection to knew life. Well, we tend to love the “resurrection to new life” part, and we don’t really mind the “Christ died for our sins” part, as long as it doesn’t get too personal. What is ‘offensive’ to anyone whose heart has not been opened to hear and believe the Gospel, is the need to personally confront sin, repent of it, and believe. Maybe Paul didn’t specifically articulate those requirements, but Jesus certainly did:

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” – Mark 1:14-15

Jesus also told Nicodemus, during a well known confrontation, why personally confronting sin is, as Paul says, is offensive to the unbeliever – they love their sin!

“And this is the judgment: the light  (Jesus) has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

No sweat, we’ll dump all that offensive sin, judgment and repentance stuff from our message and concentrate on the other half of Paul’s definition of the Gospel, the resurrection! It’s the part of the gospel message that appeals to everybody! We all want new, better, abundant lives and we all want to be loved! We’ll focus on all the promises God has for unbelievers if they just ‘accept’ Him. Get rid of the negative and accentuate the positive!

Well, that sounds good and gets lots of folks through the doors, but there’s one teeny weeny little problem. Unless the ‘negative’ is addressed first, unless the issue of ‘sin’ is dealt with, the ‘positive, God’s promises for the believer, just ‘ain’t gonna happen’.  Sorry I have to tell you that, but it’s true.

Christ’s atonement was all about the ‘sin’ issue, from the Old Testament through the New testament, from Genesis through Revelation. As Paul states,”Christ died for our sins”. All the promises connected to Jesus’ bodily resurrection and out spiritual resurrection to new life in Him, are ‘gravy’ – promises contingent upon having heard and believed that which is ‘offensive’ to the natural mind and hearts, but a beautiful symphony to hearts and minds enabled by the Holy Spirit to hear, comprehend, and receive it.

What we have today in so many churches is a ‘gospel of addition’, as John MacArthur has called it, that’s all about the good things God wants to add to your life, but void of the initial need to confront sin, deal with it at the Cross, and ‘subtract’ the penalty and bondage of sin from our lives. Friends, that’s worse than putting the cart before the horse, there’s NO horse!

Sadly, an ‘offenseless’ gospel is what we have in so many churches these days – at least it seems that way. And it’s not confined to churches and ‘stages’. What comes from the man in the pulpit or on stage, is adopted by the vast majority of those in the pews and/or theater seats. I was told by a sincere believer recently that his ‘calling’ is to just spread the love of Jesus, while dealing with the ‘sin’ related issues was the calling of the ‘spiritually gifted’ evangelist. He really believes that, and I find it incredibly sad. Evangelism is merely being able to convey man’s problem with sin, God’s solution in Christ, and inviting the lost and hurting to the Cross.

Dear friends, we don’t need an ‘attractive’ gospel message that omits the ‘offense’ of the cross. We just need to tell the salvation story to others, and leave the rest to God. Half a gospel never has, and never will, save anyone.

Food for thought. . .