GOSPEL NUGGET #576

The Cross Leads Home

A policeman found a young boy crying his heart out on a street corner where he was stationed.
"What's wrong boy?" he queried. "I am lost! I can't find my way back home!" the boy replied whining.

Further questions proved useless because the young fella couldn't give any specific familiar landmark as to the location of his home. The policeman was in a quandary as to what he was going to do.

"Okay, what if I would convey you to that spot over there where a building stands tall, would you be able to find your way home?" The boy cried even more.

"Okay, what about that area over there covered with a lot of grass, would you find your way home from there?" This time the boy wailed loudly.

"Okay, what about that spot further away from the grassy area, where a big cross is, would you find your way home from there?" The boy stopped rubbing his eyes, looked up and enthusiastically nodded his head. And so, off they went to the spot and the boy ran back home.

Spiritually speaking, we are all lost and can't find our way back to God. But if we go by the way of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, there, we will be reconciled back to God. The cross leads home.

GOSPEL NUGGET #575

I made the waters of a 12 feet deep swimming pool literally my bed with no effort on my part at all. There I was lying on my back with the waters underneath me and the stars above me. I did it by getting myself into a lifejacket and allowed it to buoy me up.

Saving faith is like that. Spiritually speaking, as sinners, none of us can swim at all; we don't have spiritual buoyancy in us. Left to ourselves, we will all eventually sink and drown.

But God be thanked that He has made available for us a spiritual lifejacket in Christ Jesus and what He did on the cross. If we entrust ourselves to Him and what He did on the cross we will float, rest on water so to speak and enjoy the grandeur of heaven like what I did on that 12-feet deep pool.

GOSPEL NUGGETS #574

Does James 2:24 which says "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" teach salvation by faith plus works?

Reply:

Understanding the Aspects Of Justification would flood a lot of light on this matter. There are 7 aspects of justification.

* A sinner is justified by grace. Romans 3:24 says: "being JUSTIFIED freely BY HIS GRACE through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"
* A sinner is justified by faith. Romans 5:1 says:  "Therefore, having been JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"
* A sinner is justified by blood. Romans 5:9 says: "Much more then, having now been JUSTIFIED BY BLOOD, we shall be saved from wrath through Him"
* A sinner is justified by the power of the resurrection. Romans 4:25 says: "who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was RAISED BECAUSE OF OUR JUSTIFICATION.
* A sinner is justified by God. Romans 8:33 says: "...It is GOD WHO JUSTIFIES."
* A sinner is justified by words. Matthew 12:37 says: "For BY YOUR WORDS YOU WILL BE JUSTIFIED, and by your words you will be condemned."
* A sinner is justified by works. James 2:24 says: "You see then that a man is JUSTIFIED BY WORKS, and not by faith only.

* The cause of justification --- Grace
* The means of justification --- Faith
* The price of justification --- Blood
* The dynamic of justification --- Power
* The agent of justification --- God
* The manifestation of justification --- Works and Words

When we say that a sinner is justified by faith alone we are talking about the means of justification. How is a sinner justified? Well, he is justified by faith alone. Before God, he is justified by faith alone.

James 2:24, on the other hand, is talking about the manifestation of justification to men. Men cannot see faith in one's heart. Faith is invisible. Only God can see faith. And man has to deal with his fellow man. A justified man is not called by God to live alone by himself. How can a justified sinner manifest his justification to his fellowmen? By his works and words.

Two Justifications a) Godward and b) Manward

Godward, the means of justification is faith alone. Manward, justification is manifested by works and words.

It is possible for one to seem to be justified before man but not before God since it is possible to have a semblance of works and words without genuine faith in the heart. It is also possible for one to have faith in the heart without the apparent works and words of justification. In the eyes of those who are looking from afar, the repentant thief on the cross seemed to be heading for damnation. To them, he was a criminal heading for judgment. What they did not know was that he became a believer or a truster in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation on the cross. If given a chance to live, he would have manifested the works and words of justification.

Although faith is something that is enabled by God, we are still the one who is going to exercise it, not God. And so, if you want to be justified, come now to Christ by faith alone in Christ alone.

GOSPEL NUGGET #573

Was Christ's Death On The Cross A Suicide?

There are those who say that if Christ actively and voluntarily died on the cross then the whole thing was a suicide, and suicides are wrong.

Reply:

The death of Christ on the cross was a sacrifice, not a suicide. Know the difference:

Suicides are selfish. It has self as its motivation. Here's a man who has been having a very hard, difficult and painful life. He can't take it anymore. He wants to end it all to end his misery. And so, he takes his own life --- that's suicide.

Christ's death on the cross was never like that. It had others as its motivation. He sacrificed Himself for others. A soldier who gives his life fighting for his country is not suicide. A policeman who gives his life to protect the people he is serving is not suicide. A mother who risks her life and losses it in the process to save her baby is not a suicide. In all these examples, no suicide has been committed. Rather, each example is a picture of someone sacrificing his or her own life for the good of others.

The Bible never described Christ's death as a suicide. Rather, it is portrayed as a sacrifice.

Ga 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME

1Co 15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ DIED FOR OUR SINS according to the Scriptures,

The verb "died" here is in the active voice. In other words, the verse is saying that Christ actively and voluntarily died for others. The Bible is God's Word and God could never be wrong. He is never wrong in His usage of words and expressions in the Bible. What does God's Word say here? Christ DIED for our sins.

Yes, in one sense Christ was killed (Acts 2:22-23) but in another sense, He (the Lord Jesus Christ) voluntarily died for us too. You see, the reason why those nails penetrated his body, the reason why blood came out of Him was that He allowed it to take place. All the nails in the world would have been used up, the world would run out of nails if He did not allow those nails to penetrate Him. The Lord Jesus could have, in one word, decreed "No!" and those nails, by His miraculous power, would never enter His body.  But He allowed it to take place because He sacrificed and gave His life for our sins.

My friend, Christ sacrificed His life for you. Have you entrusted the salvation of your soul to Him?