Monday, October 2, 2017
GOSPEL NUGGET #525
Mr 7:21 "...out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
23 "All these evil things come from within and defile a man."
“Out of the heart of men” comes all kinds of sin and evil. Man has a plague within. It's called the depravity of man. Not all may have committed the sins enumerated here but we all have the potential and capacity to do it.
My friend, if you are still unsaved, realize that you have a desperate heart problem. Religious therapy of praying, kneeling, going to church etcetera won’t do it. Regular exercise of good works won’t do it. It’s that desperate. My friend, you need a heart transplant. Go to Ezekiel 36:26 please:
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
And you can only experience this heart transplant if you come to Christ in faith. Come to Him, trusting in Him and what He did on the cross for your salvation.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
GOSPEL NUGGET #524
“...the atonement money..." Ex 30:16
God is teaching Israel here that sin is also a spiritual debt in the reckoning of God. And our sins (our debts) must be paid for.
Applying the principle to ourselves, we are all sinners before God, we are all debtors. Each of us is responsible to pay the debt. But the price is too costly and infinite to pay and we are spiritually bankrupt. But God provided us an atonement money in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
If we want to pay out debts, we must appropriate for ourselves the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross by faith, then and only then can we pay our debts before God.
There is no other "atonement money" that can pay our debts before God. We only have Christ. Come to Him now in faith and have your debts all paid for.
God is teaching Israel here that sin is also a spiritual debt in the reckoning of God. And our sins (our debts) must be paid for.
Applying the principle to ourselves, we are all sinners before God, we are all debtors. Each of us is responsible to pay the debt. But the price is too costly and infinite to pay and we are spiritually bankrupt. But God provided us an atonement money in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
If we want to pay out debts, we must appropriate for ourselves the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross by faith, then and only then can we pay our debts before God.
There is no other "atonement money" that can pay our debts before God. We only have Christ. Come to Him now in faith and have your debts all paid for.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
GOSPEL NUGGET #523
The CGR Or The Commission Of God's Rights
In the Philippines, September 12, 2017, many people reacted strongly against congress' decision, particularly that of the lower house, that the Commission of Human Rights would be allocated a mere 1000-peso annual budget for the following year, 2018. It is practically a move to dissolve the commission.
A sea of dissenting voices was heard all over. Many people of the land clamored for the upholding of human rights. And yet, one glaring thing about this nation is that practically, as a nation, for decades,
God's rights were not upheld!
What about God's rights to be obeyed and honored in this nation?! What about upholding God's just claim that there should be no immorality in the land?! What about crying down premarital sex, the addiction to sexual lust, in this land, a thing that He hates? Why is it that practically no one went against the showing of Fifty Shades of Gray in this land? Why did it become a hit here in this nation? What about the filthy mouths of the youth of this nation, a thing which is as common as the air?
What about the rampant cheating or corruption in schools, which are later on carried and practiced in the workplace either in the private or government sector when they graduate? What about the utter hypocrisy of this nation? It professes to be Christian and yet it tops in corruption, teenage pregnancy, etcetera in world surveys?
And the things I mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. Miles and miles of shameful list are still down there at the bottom. In all these things, God's rights as God are flung to the ground. You clamor for your rights?! What about His rights?! Huh?!
First things first --- recognize God's rights. Turn, repent and come to the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Seek first to be right with God, then and only then can you be right with each other.
In the Philippines, September 12, 2017, many people reacted strongly against congress' decision, particularly that of the lower house, that the Commission of Human Rights would be allocated a mere 1000-peso annual budget for the following year, 2018. It is practically a move to dissolve the commission.
A sea of dissenting voices was heard all over. Many people of the land clamored for the upholding of human rights. And yet, one glaring thing about this nation is that practically, as a nation, for decades,
God's rights were not upheld!
What about God's rights to be obeyed and honored in this nation?! What about upholding God's just claim that there should be no immorality in the land?! What about crying down premarital sex, the addiction to sexual lust, in this land, a thing that He hates? Why is it that practically no one went against the showing of Fifty Shades of Gray in this land? Why did it become a hit here in this nation? What about the filthy mouths of the youth of this nation, a thing which is as common as the air?
What about the rampant cheating or corruption in schools, which are later on carried and practiced in the workplace either in the private or government sector when they graduate? What about the utter hypocrisy of this nation? It professes to be Christian and yet it tops in corruption, teenage pregnancy, etcetera in world surveys?
And the things I mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. Miles and miles of shameful list are still down there at the bottom. In all these things, God's rights as God are flung to the ground. You clamor for your rights?! What about His rights?! Huh?!
First things first --- recognize God's rights. Turn, repent and come to the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Seek first to be right with God, then and only then can you be right with each other.
Friday, August 18, 2017
GOSPEL NUGGET #522
Do Not Trust In Your Own Repentance For Salvation
To trust in one's repentance for salvation is but trusting in oneself to be saved. It is looking inward instead of looking Christward. To be sure, repentance has an essential place in the equation of salvation, but it is certainly not saving faith's object.
Repent, yes, absolutely, but trust in your own repentance? No!
For one, none of us has ever repented as we should. We can only repent imperfectly. Moreover, our repentance could never atone for our sins. And our sins must be atoned in order for us to be saved.
To trust in something that fluctuates, to trust in something that never promises an atonement for our sins would only result in uncertainty.
Yes, repent, repent deeply, but look away yonder to Calvary where the Savior has provided a perfect, complete and permanent once-for-all atonement for all your sins. Place your faith, your trust and your confidence where it should --- in the Savior and His work on the cross.
To trust in one's repentance for salvation is but trusting in oneself to be saved. It is looking inward instead of looking Christward. To be sure, repentance has an essential place in the equation of salvation, but it is certainly not saving faith's object.
Repent, yes, absolutely, but trust in your own repentance? No!
For one, none of us has ever repented as we should. We can only repent imperfectly. Moreover, our repentance could never atone for our sins. And our sins must be atoned in order for us to be saved.
To trust in something that fluctuates, to trust in something that never promises an atonement for our sins would only result in uncertainty.
Yes, repent, repent deeply, but look away yonder to Calvary where the Savior has provided a perfect, complete and permanent once-for-all atonement for all your sins. Place your faith, your trust and your confidence where it should --- in the Savior and His work on the cross.
GOSPEL NUGGET #521
Ro 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.
Israel was, and still is, God's elect earthly people. And yet membership into that nation did not automatically guarantee one's salvation. Notice, that Paul here had to earnestly pray for Israel's salvation.
Today, many people think that membership with the one external, visible, organized religious community would ensure one's salvation. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Just as being a member of the nation Israel did not automatically result in the salvation of a Jew, if he or she did not place his or her trust in the Savior and what He did on the cross, so joining and participating with an external, visible, organized religious community cannot save if one has not repented and trusted in Christ for salvation.
Just as salvation for a Jew then was not about being a member of the nation Israel, so salvation right now is not about being a local member of a church and participating in it. Salvation, my friend, is about being united to Christ through the bonds of living faith.
Israel was, and still is, God's elect earthly people. And yet membership into that nation did not automatically guarantee one's salvation. Notice, that Paul here had to earnestly pray for Israel's salvation.
Today, many people think that membership with the one external, visible, organized religious community would ensure one's salvation. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Just as being a member of the nation Israel did not automatically result in the salvation of a Jew, if he or she did not place his or her trust in the Savior and what He did on the cross, so joining and participating with an external, visible, organized religious community cannot save if one has not repented and trusted in Christ for salvation.
Just as salvation for a Jew then was not about being a member of the nation Israel, so salvation right now is not about being a local member of a church and participating in it. Salvation, my friend, is about being united to Christ through the bonds of living faith.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
GOSPEL NUGGET #520
MK 6:51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped...
The wind was raging hard against the disciples as they strained at the oars. But when the Lord came into their boat it suddenly stopped.
In the same way, until we claim the Lord Jesus as our Savior, by trusting in Him, the wrath of God will continue to blow hard against us, until we find ourselves capsized in the lake of fire.
Turn to Him and trust in Him and what He did on the cross for your salvation. Claim Him as your Savior.
The wind was raging hard against the disciples as they strained at the oars. But when the Lord came into their boat it suddenly stopped.
In the same way, until we claim the Lord Jesus as our Savior, by trusting in Him, the wrath of God will continue to blow hard against us, until we find ourselves capsized in the lake of fire.
Turn to Him and trust in Him and what He did on the cross for your salvation. Claim Him as your Savior.
GOSPEL NUGGET #519
Ex 29:37 “...whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
As sinners, we are therefore unholy in the sight of God. God is holy but we are unholy. God will never accept anyone who is unholy in His presence. God as a consuming fire against unholiness will break out against anyone who is unholy.
But the Lord Jesus came and offered Himself on the altar of Calvary. Symbolically, the altar here in Exodus 29:37 is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. Any sinner who touches the altar by faith will be made positionally holy in the eyes of God.
The apostle Paul, speaking of those who have repented and placed their faith on Christ, has this to say about them:
Col 1:21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight--
As sinners, we are therefore unholy in the sight of God. God is holy but we are unholy. God will never accept anyone who is unholy in His presence. God as a consuming fire against unholiness will break out against anyone who is unholy.
But the Lord Jesus came and offered Himself on the altar of Calvary. Symbolically, the altar here in Exodus 29:37 is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. Any sinner who touches the altar by faith will be made positionally holy in the eyes of God.
The apostle Paul, speaking of those who have repented and placed their faith on Christ, has this to say about them:
Col 1:21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight--
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