GOSPEL NUGGET #200

Ephesians 2:1 to 10


Let me tell you 4 things about myself: a) What I Was By Nature b) What I Am By Grace c) What I Will Be In The Future and d) How It All Took Place

* What I Was By Nature: 

Eph 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

* What I Am By Grace: 

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

* What I Will Be In The Future: 

Eph 2:7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

* How It All Took Place:

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

GOSPEL NUGGET #199

You Can Have Assurance Of Salvation Now

Joh 6:47 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

"Most assuredly"--- How sure was the Lord Jesus Christ about this? 

"I say to you"--- Who is He who gives the guarantee about this? Is He reliable?

"he who believes/trusts in Me"--- Do you trust only in Christ and what He did on the cross for your salvation?

"...has everlasting life..." --- Does it say 'you can have it later after you die' or you can possess eternal life now?

GOSPEL NUGGET #198

Objections To The Gospel 

#6 "Those who believe that salvation is not by works are lazy people. They do not want to work to earn salvation." 

Answer

It is not an issue of being lazy or not. It is about realizing who you are in the eyes of God and what Christ did on the cross. 

* Who are we in the eyes of God? 

We are sinners, helpless and powerless in ourselves to save ourselves. We are spiritually dead in the eyes of God, impotent to redeem ourselves. It is not about being lazy, it's about realizing our total inability. 

* What did Christ do on the Cross? 

He provided a free and complete payment for all our sins. And now salvation is offered to each single sinner to be received by faith. It is not about being lazy, it's about realizing and resting in Christ's full ability.

GOSPEL NUGGET #197

Objections To The Gospel 

#5 "You guys keep on saying that a sinner doesn't have to do anything to be saved, that all one has to do is to trust in Christ. But isn't believing and trusting in Christ doing something?" 

Answer

When we say that you don't have to do anything to be saved, we mean this: "You don't have to do anything TO EARN salvation. But you must do something TO RECEIVE salvation. You receive it freely by faith."

Illustration

A disabled beggar fixed his eyes on the loaves of bread that was displayed in a bakery. His stomach all the more churned imagining the bread in his mouth. 

The heart of the baker who was also the owner of the bakery melted with compassion for the beggar. And so he stuffed a bag filled with bread and offered it freely to the man. 

The beggar looked down in shame and humiliation saying: "I am sorry. I don't have any money at all to buy those bread. I can't even earn them by working for them. I am invalid. My arms and legs are practically useless, I could only move an arm barely." 

The Christian baker replied: "You don't have to do anything TO EARN these bread, but you must do something for it to be yours. You must receive it freely from my hand." 

P.S. The illustration of course is not a point by point analogy of salvation. For in salvation, a sinner is totally and completely paralyzed. Even the faith to receive salvation is offered by God.

GOSPEL NUGGET #196

Eze 3:7 "But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.

Eze 2:5 "As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse-for they are a rebellious house-yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.

True Story

One time a preacher was earnestly preaching the message of salvation in Christ to hundreds if not a thousand people in a big auditorium, wherein he pleaded with them and tried to make them see their need of salvation in Christ. 

He was met with a cold response. 

He called for his assistant to take over while he walked away and slumped in his chair wondering, somewhat discouraged. He silently asked God: "What's wrong Lord? I did everything so that you would use me as your tool in calling men to salvation in Christ." 

Then these verses came to his attention: 

"...the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted."

"As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse-for they are a rebellious house-yet they will know that a prophet has been among them." 

Are you one of them my friend? God has sent you His messengers, calling you to come to Christ in repentance and faith. You have no time to read His Word (the Bible) but you have all the time for Facebook, and so He came and sent you His message in Facebook calling you to come to Christ. 

Will you still give Him a cold shoulder? Will you still harden your heart against Him? Will you be one of the people in the place of eternal torment who will realize that God called you one time through His messengers but you hardened your heart?

GOSPEL NUGGET #195

Joh 1:29 Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

True Story

One time a preacher was testing the acoustics of a hall where he would be preaching the next day. He repeatedly shouted the verse (there were no microphones during that time): 

"Behold the Lamb of God (Jesus) who takes away the sin of the world!" 

Little did he know that a worker high up there on the rafters of the building heard these wonderful words and became converted to Christ as a result. God had been working in his heart and He arranged the pieces on the chessboard as it were and set up the preacher and the worker in one place so that he could hear Christ and His salvation. 

Christ Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb of God that was crucified on the cross for the sins of sinners. Here read it again: 

Joh 1:29 Behold, the Lamb of God (not your good works, not your religious achievements, not your good character etc.) who takes away the sin of the world!

GOSPEL NUGGET #194

1Jo 1:7 "...the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."

One time the Devil tempted Martin Luther and made him remember all his sins. Sins from his boyhood, sins from his youth, sins from his manhood up to that time. He then told Luther: "Look at you! You are so filthy!"

Luther replied: "Is that all it? Write some more!" 

The Devil replied: "That's all. There is nothing more to write." 

Luther then replied: "Then write across all of my sins 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."


You see, it's not our good works, our religious achievement, our good character etc. that can cleanse all our sins. It is only the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ shed on Calvary that can cleanse it away. Trust in what He did on the cross for you.