GOSPEL NUGGET #340

Labor Day

The first celebration of Labor in the Philippines goes all the way back to 1903. On May 1, 1903, more than a hundred thousand workers marched to Malacanang to demand better working conditions.

Ten years later, an organization of laborers was formally constituted. It demanded and clamored for an 8-hour working day period, the abolition of child labor, just and equitable standards for women and the liability of capitalists.

That's the Philippine Labor Day. But have you heard of the Lord Jesus' Labor Day? He came here to earth about 2000 years ago for a work to be done.

Joh 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

Joh 17:4 "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

Joh 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Two thousand years ago, He labored and worked hard even to the point of death to provide salvation and redemption for us sinners so that we don't have to labor for our salvation.

It was Labor Day for Him so that you can have your day off for all eternity, as far as working for your salvation is concerned. Come to Him and He will give you rest.

Have you rested and relied on what He labored for your salvation on the cross? Have you trusted Him and His finished work for salvation?

GOSPEL NUGGET #339

"Can I be saved?" a lady came to a minister and asked.

"Yes, you can be saved" the minister replied.

She replied: "I don't believe I can be saved. I am a prostitute and a drug addict. I can't save myself."

She did not know that she was right where God wanted her to realize. All in heaven must have joined in chorus saying: "Yeah, you got that right!"

The minister answered: "Yes, you can't, but Somebody else can, Jesus."

And he told her the good news of what the Lord Jesus did on the cross for people who are down and out like her. She trusted in the Savior and His work of redemption...and she got saved...not by her, because she can't, but by Jesus.

My friend, away with the idea that we each save ourselves individually. Each one of us must look to the Savior for salvation. The Bible says that a sinner is saved "by grace...through faith (in the Savior), and that NOT OF YOURSELVES..." Eph. 2:8

The Lord Jesus did not just die for the lady in the story, who was a prostitute and a drug addict, He also died for you and me. He did that because we cannot save ourselves.

Come to Christ!

GOSPEL NUGGET #338

Air Force One

It is the most sophisticated and complex aircraft in the world. Manned by the world's best 26-member crew team, decked and clad with the most high-tech gizmos and gadgets, it is a plane capable of carrying the president of the United States safely anywhere in the world, even under harsh weather conditions, making him a virtual Tony Stark in the Iron Man series.

It is the best of man's ingenuity, put together for one single purpose---protect, secure and safely transport the president to his destination.

Spiritually speaking, God has His own "Air Force One." His name is Jesus Christ. He Himself is the power of God and the wisdom of God for salvation (see 1 Cor. 1:24).

Anyone in Him is free from sin's condemnation (Rom. 8:1). He is the best of God for a sinner's salvation and safe arrival in heaven.

Through Him and in Him, any sinner who trusts in Him and what He did on the cross is assured of his destination---being with God forever.

Unlike America's Air Force One, God's "Air Force One" is offered to all. Come aboard!

GOSPEL NUGGET #337

Take Note Of The Order Please!

A discernible order concerning the requirement and the result of salvation is very obvious in John chapters 19, 20 and 21. Take note of the exact order as it appears in the chapters mentioned:

1--- Joh 19:30 ..."It is finished!"....
2--- Joh 20:31 but these are written that you may believe/trust that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing/trusting you may have life in
His name.
3--- Joh 21:15 ...Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me...?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You."...
4--- Joh 21:19 ...And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."

* First, the work of redemption was accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. "It is finished!" He declared.

* Second, the necessity of believing or trusting in the Lord Jesus and His finished work is essential in order for a sinner to be saved.

* Third, the result of trusting in Christ for eternal life and salvation is love towards Christ ("do you love Me...?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You."...) and following after Christ ("Follow Me.")

What is sad with many of us is that we reverse the order! Many people believe that in order to have eternal life a sinner must 1) Follow Christ 2) Love Him 3) Until it is finished to the end of life and 4) the result will be salvation and eternal life.

By doing so, they have reversed the proper order as clearly seen here in these chapters! They mix up the result of salvation with its requirement. Not so! The work of redemption is finished (Joh 19:30). What we must do now is to trust in it (Joh 20:31). The result would be an overflowing love and devotion to the one who saved us (Joh 21:15 and Joh 21:19).

A sinner is not saved by loving and following Christ. He is saved by trusting in Christ's finished work on the cross. His love and devotion to Christ are simply the fruits and the spontaneous response of first having eternal life and salvation.

GOSPEL NUGGET #336

The Resurrection Of The Lord Jesus Christ: Its Implication

What does the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ imply? There are several actually, but let's just mention six.

First, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus was a vindication. He claimed to be the Son of God, the Savior from sin and the giver of eternal life. His resurrection vindicated it.

Second, the resurrection of our Lord was a confirmation. It confirmed the fact that God was satisfied with His death for our sins, otherwise, God would not have raised Him back to life. It was God's answer "I am satisfied!" to His "It is finished".

Third, the resurrection of our Lord was a demonstration. It was a demonstration of the power of God. In the Old Testament, if God wants to demonstrate His power, He points us to what He did with Egypt when He parted the Red Sea. In the NT, if He wants to demonstrate His power, He points to the resurrection.

Fourth, the resurrection of our Lord was a certification. It was a guarantee or assurance of the glorious future of those who have trusted in Christ alone for salvation. If He resurrected, then they too will be resurrected one glorious day.

Fifth, the resurrection of our Lord was an inauguration. His resurrection marks the new creation of God to come. There will be a new heaven and earth with His resurrection as the starting point of it all.

Sixth, the resurrection of our Lord was a caution. It is a warning to those who are unrepentant. They are not dealing with a dead Judge, but a living resurrected Judge.

Come to Him for salvation. Entrust your soul's salvation to Him. Be willing to commit your salvation to Someone who rose from the dead!

GOSPEL NUGGET #335

Understanding The Death Of Christ On The Cross

We will never understand and value the death of Christ on the cross if we don't see things this way:

God --- The Holy And Just Judge 
Sinners --- Spiritual Criminals 
Sin --- A Spiritual Heinous Crime Against God 
Penalty --- Death

The moment you truly believe those facts is the very moment you will tremble and be utterly concerned for your soul's salvation. You'll have trouble sleeping at night, because you are now taking God and your sins seriously.

You'll be like criminals who are now issued arrest warrants who anytime could be apprehended and thrown to jail for life, knowing that the DOJ is seriously bent on putting you behind bars, without bail.

Put yourself in their shoes, feel what they feel and then reflect that as to who you are in God's sight. Think of how many heinous crimes we committed against God every day of our lives. Dying a thousand deaths would not be enough to pay for our heinous crimes.

Because people do not see things this way, many people just make light of sin and say: "Ah covering it with good works will do." They believe that they could bail themselves out. The death of Christ is not the sole source of refuge to them from God's impending judgment. They find it boring.

But when they realize that the holy and just judge would not accept any other payment for their heinous crimes except the death penalty that He imposed, they will abandon trusting in their good works and religious activities.

They will look for something or someone that could truly and really pay for the penalty of their sins. And they will only find it in Christ. Christ who in His eternal person could pay for our multitudinous crimes.

He would be precious to them. For without Him, they would spend eternity in the prison that God has prepared for spiritual criminals---the lake of fire.

GOSPEL NUGGET #334

Which Would You Have As Payment For Your Sins? 

a) Pay for your spiritual crimes, your sins against God, by spending spiritual death, eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. 

or 

b) Accept the alternative payment, by relying on the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for you?

The two above are the only payment for our sins. Not our good works or works of charity or religious activities. They won't do when it comes to heinous crimes against God.

Sin is a heinous crime against God punishable by death. It's death penalty for sin you know. Every single sin is that serious. To pay for it with anything else is to make light of sin and belittle God's absolute holiness.

So who do you want to pay for your spiritual crimes against God? Self or would you take a Substitute?

GOSPEL NUGGET #333

The All-Sufficient God

Ac 17:25 "Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, AS THOUGH HE NEEDED ANYTHING, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

The word "need" does not apply to God. God does not NEED anything. He is sufficient in Himself. God does not need us, but we need Him.

He does not need our prayers. On the other hand, we need to pray to Him. He does not need our praises. On the other hand, we need to praise Him. He does not need our service. On the other hand, we were created to serve Him.

We don't add anything to God if we do these things and we don't take anything from Him if we refuse to do it. He isn't made any greater if we pray to Him, praise Him, serve Him etc. He isn't made any lesser if we don't.

He was fine without us in eternity past, and He will be fine without us in eternity future, should He choose it to be so. In His justice, He could have sent us all, sinners, to hell and be separated from Him for all eternity. And He will still be God, the all-sufficient One. 

When we do His commandments, it is not for God's benefit. It is for ours "'And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, FOR OUR GOOD ALWAYS..." De 6:24

Since this is the case, we should never think that we are doing God a favor if we pray to Him, praise Him, serve Him etc. We don't earn brownie salvation points with God and cause Him to save us because we do these things.

No. Salvation is not a reward given by God because we scratched His back, so to speak. It's not God saying: "You scratch My back. I'll scratch yours. Give me what I need and I will give you what you need."

No. You can't truly give anything to the source of everything. Salvation proceeds from the pure love and goodness of God. And His saving love and goodness are expressed in Christ Jesus.

If you trust in Him and what He did on the cross, you will be saved. Not as a reward earned but as a kindness and mercy freely bestowed.

GOSPEL NUGGET #332

Question: "If Christ died for all our sins, INCLUDING UNBELIEF, then why are there people who will be in the lake of fire?"

It is a legitimate question indeed.

The Bible says: "Whoever believes/trusts in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" and that "he who does not believe/trust is condemned already, because he has not believed/trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Now, if the Lord Jesus died for all our sins, including the sin of not believing or not trusting in Him, then why do people still perish? Did not His death on the cross pay for the sin of unbelief also?

Again, the answer lies in the provisional nature of Christ's death on the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ is provided for all and offered to all. Picture a cleansing fountain placed by God in the center of a sin-laden world.

And hear God calling out to everyone to come to the fountain, plunge in it, and be cleansed. The fountain has the potential to cleanse all kinds of spiritual dirt in the world. It was given for that very purpose. It is sufficient for all, but only those who come to the fountain, experience its cleansing.

Payment for all our sins is provided and offered in Christ, since He Himself procured for us a provisional payment for our sins when He died on the cross. But only those who are "in Christ" actually experience its blessing.

Eph 1:7 IN HIM we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins...

Yes, but are you IN HIM, by coming to Him in faith?

1Jo 5:11 ...God has given us eternal life, and this life is IN HIS SON.

Yes, but are you IN HIS SON, by coming to Him in faith?

Ro 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are IN CHRIST JESUS

Yes, but are you IN CHRIST JESUS by coming to Him in faith?

There is a fountain of life and forgiveness provided for us all, but are you in the fountain? Have you plunged yourself in it? The mere presence of the fountain does not automatically cleanse you. You must be in it.

There is an ark provided by God for us all, but are you in the ark? The mere presence of the ark does not save you from the flood of judgment. You must be in it.

GOSPEL NUGGET #331

Good character and good works are never substitutes for the Savior and what He did on the cross for a sinner's salvation. Sadly and fatally, many have relied on who they are and what they are doing for their salvation, if not wholly, at least in part. 

If we can be saved by good character and good works, then the Lord Jesus died unnecessarily. The fact that He died for our sins implies that being good and doing good could never do it.

This does not mean that we can just live as we please and live like the devil, rather this points to the necessity of trusting in Christ and what He did on the cross alone for salvation.

A saved sinner does good works FROM salvation, not FOR salvation.