GOSPEL NUGGET #619

 Biblical Saving Faith is not the mental nodding or mental assent to a proposition. It begins with this but it is not entirely this. If what you call faith stops here then it is not true faith. For Biblical Saving faith is more than this.

Saving faith is trust, confidence, and reliance on an effectual work that could truly affect your spiritual position and condition before God. Mental Assent --- You see an elevator and you nod your head that yes it could carry you up. Saving Faith --- You don't just mentally agree that the elevator could carry you up, you take it to the next level --- you step into it. You put yourself in it, trusting and relying on it to actually lift you up. Don't just mentally agree that the Lord Jesus is the Savior, rather, take it to the next level, trust and rely on Him and what He did on the cross that what He did there was sufficient and enough to save you completely.

GOSPEL NUGGET #618

 Church of God is not the name of God's religious organization. It does not refer to a visible and external organization. Rather, it refers to the spiritual condition of certain people. The word "Church" comes from a Greek word which means to be called out. 

1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who CALLED you OUT of darkness into His marvelous light;

It refers to the condition of people who were called out of spiritual darkness into God's marvelous light. 
It's not a visible and external religious organization, no, rather, it's a spiritual experience and condition that one must undergo and be brought to.

Motherhood is not a visible and external organization. No, it's an experience and a condition. So it is with the Church of God, the called-out ones of God. You must personally experience and respond to God's call and then and only then can you be part of the Church of God, the called-out ones of God.

How does God call a sinner?

  2Th 2:14 to which He CALLED YOU BY OUR GOSPEL, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is the message of salvation about the death of the Lord Jesus for our sins and His subsequent resurrection (see 1 Cor. 15:1-4). The moment we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for our salvation, that's the very moment we are called out from spiritual darkness into God's light. That's the moment we can say truly that we have been called out from darkness to light.

GOSPEL NUGGET #616

The Tree Of Life --- Removed, Redeemed and Restored 

* The Tree of Life Removed

Ge 3:23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

When man fell into sin, the tree of life was removed from fallen man. God barred it so that man could not get to it.

* The Tree of Life Redeemed

Ga 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree")

1 Pe 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree...

If you think about it, the cross of Christ, which was made from a tree, was in a very real sense a tree of life. Out of it, life could be had. When He died on the cross He, in effect, redeemed the tree of life back to man. This we will see in the new heavens and the new earth to come.

* The Tree of Life Restored

Re 22:2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Here, we see the tree of life restored back to redeemed man. 

Between the tree of life removed and the tree of life restored is the tree of life of redemption. My friend, the way back is through the cross. Trust in it for your redemption! 

GOSPEL NUGGET #617

"Behold My hands..."  Lu 24:39

Behold His hands and see His compassion and redemption

* Behold and see His compassion:  

Isa 49:15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.
16 See, I HAVE INSCRIBED YOU ON THE PALMS OF MY HANDS; Your walls are continually before Me.

Those nail prints on the palms of His hands demonstrate His love and compassion for us sinners. He has regarded our helpless condition. 

* Behold and see His redemption:

 Phm 1:19 I, Paul, am writing WITH MY OWN HAND. I WILL REPAY---not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.

Those nail prints on the palms of His hands guarantee that He has paid the penalty of our sins. 

* What must you do?  "Look to Me, and be saved..." Isa 45:22 

Behold His hands. Behold His compassion and redemption. Behold it in faith, trusting in what He did on the cross for you and be saved. 

GOSPEL NUGGET # 615

The Power Of Soap

One time an evangelist and an atheist were at it. The atheist said: "I don't believe there is power in the blood of Jesus. If Jesus died for the world then why is it that the world today is worse than ever!"

The evangelist replied: "There is also soap in this world and yet many people are still dirty. Let me explain to you how soap works in case you don't know. You can' be clean if you get near a soap. It won't do a thing for you even if you work in a soap factory. You have to reach for it, hold it with your own hand, and apply it on you. Then you will see the power of soap."

It's the same way with the blood of the Lord Jesus my friend. It's availability by the death of the Lord Jesus for you won't do a thing for you. You have to reach out to it in faith and then you will see its power in your life to save you. 

1Ti 4:10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe (that is,  especially of those who trust in the Lord Jesus and what He did on the cross).

GOSPEL NUGGET # 614

How To Save Yourself As A Sinner

Here's how --- You go back in time and undo all your sins and then henceforth live a perfect sinless life.

The first is impossible. You can't go back in time. Time machines are only real in real fantasies.
The second, that is, living a perfectly sinless life, is equally impossible. We are sinners by nature and we can't go against our nature. Sin just flows naturally from us.

Your only option? Here it is ---

Have all your sins, past, present, and future atoned and taken away by a Savior. Get yourself a perfect record in the sight of God through Someone who will act as your Substitute and Representative.

And the Lord Jesus is all that. He died for all our sins and He has perfect righteousness that can be ours by imputation if we trust in Him and what He did on the cross. 

Don't save yourself! Have yourself saved by the Savior.

GOSPEL NUGGET #613

The Biggest Mining Scam Of All Time Did You Know That the biggest mining scam of all time was pulled off by a man working in Indonesia. The scam involved 6 billion dollars. He duped Indonesians, Americans, and many other investors. He even bamboozled his way to the US stock market by managing to include his company to be recognized and listed there. The conman's name was Michael De Guzman. In the end, when his fraud was exposed, he jumped off a helicopter to his death. This happened in the 1990s.
But the biggest scam of all is in the area of the salvation of our souls. What profit is it for a man if he gained all the gold in the world but in the end, he loses his soul? My friend, in salvation, be sure that you are searching and looking for it in the right area --- in Calvary where the Savior died for your sins. It's in Him, and not in any other, where you can find the gold of salvation.
Ac 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."