GOSPEL NUGGET #477

Misconceptions About Salvation # 16 --- The minimization of sin

One of the most common misconceptions about salvation today is the minimization of sin. Sin is minimized in many people's minds that they get horribly wrong about salvation. You see, if you are wrong about sin and self, you will be wrong about salvation. The cause of this misconception is the failure to see sin as it really is..

You see, sin is a spiritual heinous crime against God. A sinner is a spiritual criminal in God's eyes. Hell is God's infernal prison house. Every single sin is big enough to plunge us to hell. And just as you only have to commit one single crime to be viewed as a criminal in the eyes of civil authority here on earth, so you only have to commit one sin to make you a spiritual criminal in God's eyes. .

You and I are criminals, spiritual criminals. There is no such thing as a good sinner because there is no such thing as a good criminal. All criminals are bad. The term "good sinner" is an oxymoron. It's a combination of words that do not agree with each other. "Good sinner" is like saying "an honest liar" or "a respectful rapist" or "a loving murderer." .Friends, it's time to face the truth hard in the face. Houston, we have a problem. And that problem is us. We are sinners. We are spiritual criminals. None of us is good enough for God. To be confident about ourselves in meeting with God is to be blind as to who we are in His eyes. Our rightful place is to be humble and see our desperate need for the Savior.

GOSPEL NUGGET #476

EZE 36:31 “Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.

Though the verse is talking primarily about Israel in the future when they will eventually repent and turn to the Lord, it could be applied to any individual sinner now who repents.

You see, repentance is also a change of attitude towards self. Instead of viewing ourselves as good sinners unlike those "bad" sinners out there, we now take sin seriously and view ourselves in a different light. We now loathe ourselves in our own sight for all the sins we've done. We now view ourselves as spiritually bankrupt and mourn over our condition before God.

We take the lowly place and acknowledge our needy condition. It is at this point that we are ready for the good news of what the Lord Jesus Christ did on the cross. Looking away from ourselves to Him, entrusting ourselves to Him, who died on the cross for all our sins, we receive forgiveness and salvation.

Have you allowed God to bring you to this humbling experience of yourself? Do you now realize that, as a sinner, you can't even stand yourself? Have you come to the Savior because of it? Come now, humble yourself and turn to the Savior.

GOSPEL NUGGET #475

Ex 25:22 "And there (in the mercy seat) I (God) will meet with you...

Here we find God instructing Moses about the construction of the mercy seat. The mercy seat was the place on top of the ark of the covenant where the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled. And it is here where God meets with man. Tremendous thought! God meeting with man!

The mercy seat was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, God meets with man, who was separated from God because of sin. There is only one place/person where man can be reconciled to God---the mercy seat/the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is the result of God's mercy. And the place/person where you can find it is in Christ Jesus.

My friend, as a sinner, you are separated from God. But you can come to God in Christ Jesus. Come to Him now in repentance and faith and be reconciled to God.

GOSPEL NUGGET #474

Mt 27:40 "...save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."

He did not save Himself in order to save sinners. He did not spare Himself so we could be spared. Instead of coming down from the cross for Himself He would come out of the grave for us.

Learn a humbling spiritual fact about ourselves here. We could never save ourselves. The fact that the Lord Jesus did not spare Himself implies that we could never do it. His death is a must for the sinner's salvation.

My friend, don't attempt to save yourself. Accept the humble fact that you, as a sinner, can't do it. Instead, come to the One who could have saved Himself but chose to remain for your salvation.

GOSPEL NUGGET #473

Chinese Character For Righteousness

Let me share with you what I learned from Hudson Taylor who was probably one of the greatest missionaries to China ever; one of the greatest Christians to ever walk this planet. He said: "If I have 1000 lives I would give it all to the spreading of the Gospel in China."

In his evangelism to the Chinese people he used this wonderful illustration about the Gospel. You see, the Chinese character for righteousness is actually composed of two characters, with one on top of the other. The top character is yang, which means a lamb, while the bottom character is wo, which means self. Together the word "righteousness" in Chinese is formed.

You want to be viewed by God as righteous? Then put yourself under the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus, who takes away the sin of the world. Under the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus, your sins disappear from God's sight, all He sees is the Lord Jesus, the Righteous One. Before He sees you, He sees the Lord Jesus over you.

Come to Him in faith. Take refuge in what He did on the cross. Put your trust in Him for your justification.

GOSPEL NUGGET #472

Lk 19:41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
Lk 19:42 and said, “If you... had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
Lk 19:43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.

Calamity and destruction will descend on Jerusalem because they had rejected their Messiah. 70 AD came, and Jerusalem, particularly its temple, was leveled to the ground. More or less 1 million Jews were killed when the Romans came and sacked Jerusalem. IF ONLY THEY HAD KNOWN WHAT WOULD HAVE BROUGHT THEM PEACE it would have been different. The Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus, was right there, offering Himself to them, but they rejected Him.

My friend, you don't have to be like the Jews. My friend, like everybody else in the world, you are a sinner, a spiritual criminal in the eyes of God, at enmity with Him, subject to His just judgment that will be executed upon you when the time comes.

But here's what will bring you peace with God: Jesus Christ, the Savior. He died for your sins and rose again from the dead. Through Him you can be reconciled to God. Now that you have known the way of peace with God, come to Christ in repentance and faith, trusting in what He did for you at the cross. Come and be at peace with God.