GOSPEL NUGGET #359

Salvation: The Fruit Of The Cross (Illustrated By A Tree And Its Fruit) 

Fruits are prepared and produced by trees. All of it. A fruit cannot say, for instance, that he somehow contributed to his own existence. No, he is the result of the work of the tree 100%. 

The tree does all the work in bearing fruit and then offers it for all who would have it for free. Our part is to simply enjoy and eat it.

Salvation is pretty much the same way. The Bible says that the Lord Jesus "bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). On that tree (the cross of Calvary) He Himself prepared and accomplished 100% salvation for us all. Salvation is simply the fruit of what He did on the cross.

Now, our part is to simply receive and enjoy its blessings by faith in what He did.

GOSPEL NUGGET #358

Man's Best For God VS God's Best For Man

Many people attempt to save themselves doing their best for God. They try to do this, they try to avoid that, laboring and working real hard to be the best that they can be for God.

But man's best is never and will never be good enough. The best that man can do is imperfect obedience. As they say, the best of men is simply men at their best. Man's best can never save himself.

Many are unmindful of the fact that God did His best for man in Christ Jesus at the cross of Calvary. Calvary was God doing His best for man's salvation. Only God can perfectly satisfy God. And God was perfectly satisfied with what He did in Christ Jesus at Calvary.

Now, God is not calling upon men to come and do their best for Him to be saved. No, rather He is calling upon men everywhere to come, rely and trust in the best that He did for man in Christ Jesus.

GOSPEL NUGGET #357

Would A Donation Of A Billion Dollars Be Enough To Pay For Your Sins?

Let's suppose you are a billionaire. Let's suppose, even further, that you are about to die. Would a donation of a billion dollars to charity be enough to atone and pay for all your sins?

The answer is a resounding "No!" Sin is a spiritual heinous crime that must be paid by death. It is either death or no payment at all. Sin is that serious. Any heinous crime is serious.

A billion dollars as a penalty for sin is to belittle the holiness of God. It is an insult. Sin is an affront to the holiness of God. And no amount of money can pay for dishonoring His holiness.

Ps 52:7 "Here is the man who did not make God his strength, But trusted in the abundance of his riches, And strengthened himself in his wickedness."

There are people today who embolden themselves to commit sin, believing that they could pay off their sins by giving donations to charity.

They never understood the fact that it is only through the death of Christ on the cross that sins can be paid and atoned for. Instead of trusting and relying on what Christ did on the cross for the payment of their sins, they trust and rely on their riches.

If you belong to this crowd, eternal disappointment will surely be your lot for it is His death and not your dough that can pay for the penalty of your sins.

GOSPEL NUGGET #356

Salvation Test

The Bible teaches that salvation is a gift that one can possess right now, while one is still alive. Having salvation is conditioned on faith in Christ. "Whoever believes/trusts in Him shall not perish but HAVE eternal life."

The question is: "Are you saved? Do you have eternal life?" Let me help you answer that question by asking you some guide questions.

* Have you seen yourself as a sinner or a spiritual criminal before God? (1 John 3:4)
* Have you realized that there is nothing you can do at all to save yourself? (Isa. 64:6, Titus 3:5)
* Who or what are you relying on for salvation?
* Are you confident that what Christ did on the cross was sufficient for your soul's salvation?
* Is Christ and His work on the cross your only hope of salvation? (Acts 4:12)
* Have you relied on Him and what He did on the cross as the only way to God? (John 14:6)

If you have seen yourself as a sinner before God, if you have realized that there is absolutely nothing you could do to earn salvation, and have therefore trusted and relied and depended on the Savior for salvation,
then you are saved.

Read the words of the contract: "Whoever believes/trusts in Him shall not perish but HAVE eternal life."

GOSPEL NUGGET #355

The Real Purgatory 

The word purgatory comes from the word purge. To purge is to rid away whatever is impure or undesirable. In a word, it means to cleanse. According to some, purgatory is a temporary place where one can be purged of one's venial sins.

The Bible, however, points to a person rather than to a place for the purging of a sinner's sins. The real "purgatory" is a person.

Heb 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when HE (Jesus) HAD BY HIMSELF PURGED OUR SINS, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

God will only remit and forgive our sins on the basis of divine justice being satisfied. God's justice demands that our spiritual crimes must be paid.

This one just demand cannot be bypassed and overlooked. Divine forgiveness cannot be at the expense of divine justice. The penalty of sin is always death. Someone must pay the death penalty before cleansing and forgiveness can be issued.

All these are satisfactorily answered by Christ Himself when He died for our sins. It is solely in Him and what He did on the cross that a defiled sinner can find cleansing and purification.

Come now in repentance to God's real Purgatory, trusting in Him and what He did on the cross for cleansing and the purging of all your sins.

GOSPEL NUGGET #354

Are You Committing Spiritual Suicide?

Suicide is the rejection of God's gift of natural life that He offers to us daily. Every second, every minute God sustains us with natural life. Every breath we take is a gift from Him.

Suicide is like pinching one's nose and saying: "I won't be having that anymore. I refuse to receive it. I want to end the supply of life right now."

We say that a person who rejects and refuses natural life is a fool. But you are a greater fool if you have rejected and refused God's offer of eternal life in Christ Jesus.

How many times has God called upon you to repent and come to Christ and receive eternal life for free? How many times have you put Him off and neglected His free offer?

Did you not ever realize that every single time you reject His offer, you are, in effect, committing spiritual suicide? You have chosen death instead of life for yourself.

Will you still do it this time?