TTUF TOPIC # 5: What About The Gospel and How to Share it? PART 2 of 3

The Bible states that GOD is holy. In order to keep His holy integrity, He must judge sinners (all of us), no exceptions except One: the LORD Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh – GOD Who became a human being but was totally sinless (JOHN 1:14).

His judgment justly rendered will mean eternal punishment:

QUESTION: Why is punishment for sin eternal when a lifetime of sins committed last only 60, 70, 80 years?

ANSWER: If four people committed the same crime in one of each of these countries: USA, Germany, Japan, and Iran, they’d receive different degrees of punishment; some courts in these various lands would render a very harsh punishment; some others, more lenient.

But the highest, most righteous, and severest court of all is GOD’s court – where His Law is upheld to the greatest degree, showing absolutely no mercy: only pure holiness and justice (10 commandments, just for starters – if anyone you talk with thinks they’re a good person, run these by them and see if they obeyed these laws perfectly). See GAL 3:10,19-24).
Now, check out Ray Comfort’s videos where he shares the Gospel, and how he shares it.

HE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT GOD

...BUT WAS IN TEARS AFTER HEARING THIS

Because GOD is eternal, and the holiness of His Law is eternal, therefore the punishment likewise must be eternal.

This is why it took no one less than Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of GOD (JOHN 1:1-2; 8:58; 17:5) to take on our sin (2 COR 5:21): He being purely holy and absolutely eternal, is a propitiation (“a satisfactory sacrificial substitute”) for our sins!

JESUS is the for real “scape goat” who can take the blame for us all and render GOD’s holy judgment over sinners as ‘not guilty’ if they repent and receive Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior.
Not ONLY are sins forgiven through Christ, but eternal life is given to all who by faith receive Him! They are justified by grace alone, through Christ alone, by faith alone – no works other than believing in Jesus can accomplish this work of justification (JOHN 6:29).
Born again believers of Christ are transformed from condemned sinners to commended saints: children of GOD! He becomes our heavenly Father. THAT is good news!!

Which leads us to the next part of this section: evangelism: that is preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. Declaring the Scriptures that reveal the Truth of GOD and His plan of the ages, centering around the death, burial and resurrection of Christ is what the Gospel is all about, and therefore so is evangelism.

We are commanded by our LORD to share His Gospel. Are all obligated to stand on street corners and evangelize? No, not necessarily – but whether in groups or with individuals, we are to share our Christian faith.

Evangelism takes place through lots of ways: street evangelism and gospel crusades are just two; there is mission work; publication through printed articles, and tracts, Internet sites, videos; also personal correspondence, and one on one ministry.

Got questions? Email me! KNYHTF1RE@gmail.com

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TTUF TOPIC # 5: What About The Gospel and How to Share it? PART 1 of 3

The foundation of every Christian, and every church is the gospel.

It’s both necessary and foundational, Why?

Because if one’s gospel is wrong at the start, then their life as a Christian based on such wrong belief will be wrong. If an archer’s aim is wrong at the start, then he won’t hit the bullseye.
Paul the apostle made the Gospel message simple:

1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-4
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

The Gospel, Evangelism, Fundamentals

We have provided a simple, straightforward explanation of the Gospel in the previous section of Fellowship, but in case you missed it, here it is again: The True Gospel: Accept No Imitations

For a more detailed series, on this, go here.

~ The Gospel of Salvation is the foundation and central message of the Christian faith: take it away, and there is no Christian faith.
~ And the foundation and central message of the Gospel is the resurrection of Jesus Christ: take it away and there is no Gospel.

3rd      The CHRISTIAN FAITH

 

2nd     The GOSPEL of SALVATION

 

1st    The RESURRECTION of JESUS CHRIST

Before one can truly appreciate the Gospel, which means “good news” one must first understand the bad news, otherwise the good news will have no meaning.
For example: let’s say you were approached by someone that said, “Good news, your saved! Because your insurance really does cover fire damage!” – That wouldn’t mean very much to you unless you learned that your house caught on fire! It’s the same with the Gospel.”

The holy, eternal Law of GOD shows us to be hopelessly lost sinners (ROM 3:19) without a trace of any righteousness that GOD the Holy Judge can accept. The fact is our human hearts are “desperately” (meaning “incurable” JER 17:9) wicked. But let’s not talk about our sin. What about our own works to prove ourselves to be good and acceptable to GOD. How do these measure up? How GOD see them?

ISAIAH 64:6
But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

TITUS 3:4-5
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

Got questions? Email me! KNYHTF1RE@gmail.com

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TTUF TOPIC # 4: What About Church Life? PART 3 of 3

It is vital that every Christian be involved in a local church body. This cannot be replaced with social media or watching services online.

In order for fellowship (body ministry) to work, each individual Christian must be present with other Christians. As each operates in the gift(s) GOD has given to them for the mutual edification (building up) of one another, the entire body is blessed and progresses spiritually (ROM 1:12; 14:19; 1 THESS 5:11).

Christians who believe that they can “go it alone” will typically end up ‘warped’ in some way and may fall to spiritual pride, doctrinal error, a feeling of not needing or caring about fellowship with others. They will most often not receive correction, but freely give it to others.

Fellowship among believers helps us all as individuals to ‘stay on track’ in our lives as Christians.
Also, it’s extremely important during times of persecution and severe trials.

I believe that as we approach the time of the reign of the Beast, Scripture teaches that deception will increase (MATT 24:4-5,8,11,24; EPH 4:14; 5:6) as will wickedness (2 TIM 3:13; MATT 24:12), and both of these influences will cause Christians a great deal of spiritual trouble, in discouraging their faith, and causing zeal to cool off.

HEBREWS 10:24-25
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Christians in countries where persecution is severe and intense, individuals find themselves isolated, alone, apart from any available fellowship with the body of Christ. It’s of greatest importance that one’s relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ be strong and stable because persecution may very well find its way here to America. Again, this fellowship with the LORD that will carry us through difficulties is found in the WORD of GOD and in prayer.

We may not always have a pastor or elder to encourage us in such times of difficulty, so we must learn how to encourage ourselves in the LORD
 
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The G.E.P.C. Study Series – GALATIANS 1

Going Through Paul’s epistles to Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossi

As a new believer, being voracious about consuming the Word of GOD, I was a bit impatient because I wanted to “know everything now!”. But the Bible is a big book, and even learning all the names of each of its 66 books, and in the right order was something of a challenge.

I could recite the names of the Gospels, Acts, Romans and 1 and 2 Corinthians, but after that, it all got a bit jumbled.
Then someone once said to me, “Great Electric Power Company” and I was like – “What??”

They smiled and said, “Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians!” I always remembered that little bit of help, and having read and studied these small but powerful books for my entire life as a Christian, I feel like I want to dive in and exposit the truth found in them at this time, LORD willing…

I already did a study on EPHESIANS, and so, I have three more to go, starting of course with GALATIANS, and move on from there. GALATIANS has been referred to as the other epistle by Paul and considered “ROMANS-lite”. Many of the same doctrinal issues that were dealt with comprehensively in ROMANS are concisely addressed in GALATIANS. There are also parallels between GALATIANS and HEBREWS as well.

HEBREW ROOTS Movement folk and WORKS-BASED Salvationists don’t like GALATIANS too much. I love it, because it secures my salvation exactly where it should be, where it needs to be, and where it is in a doctrinal and epistemological sense: squarely on the shoulders of my LORD and Savior Who went through unimaginably extraordinary lengths to procure such for me!

So let’s delve into this four chapter epistle with a bit of background.

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DEUTERONOMY 24: A REHEARSAL ON HOLINESS, A CALL TO FAITHFULNESS –

Contributing commentaries by pastors Sonny Islas, Albert Lopez, and James Fire

DEUTERONOMY 24: GOD IS PLEASED WITH A MORAL SOCIETY – Sonny Islas; check out the complete teaching here!

All of God’s Word is true, powerful, and helpful for us today. The Old Testament has so many practical insights that we can glean from. Everything we read in the Old Testament and the New Testament tells us something about our God: who God is, how God thinks, how God works and what pleases or displeases our God. The entire Bible reveals God’s power, mind, heart, and ways to us.

The whole Bible is for the whole Christian.

I say this because there are many Christians that are turned off by portions of the Old Testament, reason being, they are still spiritual babies.

2 TIMOTHY 3:16, 17
‘’ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God (lit. God breathed) and is profitable (beneficial) for doctrine (teaching – this truth about every spiritual subject), for reproof (scolding or disapproval), for correction (improvement), for instruction in righteousness (how to live upright in the sight of God and men), that the man of God (or women) may be complete (whole, healthy, mature, experienced, knowledgeable), thoroughly equipped (fully prepared) for every good work (for anything and everything we do in life).

With that said, in DEUTERONOMY 24, we’re going to see how God desires a moral society – even more, a godly society, a society that will reflect His good and perfect nature – through obedience to His Laws of practical love. The chapter will start with laws regarding divorce, then cover some miscellaneous laws – laws that were meant to protect His people.

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The POWER of the WORD (a sequel to The POWERof the HOLY SPIRIT)

A sequel to The POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT

HEBREWS 4:12
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

JOHN 1:1-5
 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

We as Christians when facing temptations or spiritual attacks have this idea that if we just quote a Scripture verse, that the temptation will cease, the spiritual attack will be thwarted.

Yet the Holy Scriptures are not a grimoire, that is, a book of spells where we can recite the proper incantation and then power will issue forth to bring about the desired effect. Please understand, what I am NOT saying is that there is no power in the inspired Word of GOD – there MOST ABSOLUTELY IS!! – rather, that in order to make the power of the Scriptures effective in our lives against temptations, worries and frets, spiritual attacks as well as walking in holiness and victory is something beyond mere recitation of the Word.

The Word first of all must be mixed with faith:

HEBREWS 4:2
For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

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