GOSPEL NUGGET #405

The Gospel In Mary Jane Veloso's Case

Mary Jane Veloso is a woman sentenced to die for drug trafficking in Indonesia. Only the president of Indonesia could save her. She was at his hands, at his mercy.

At the last hour, the Indonesian president gave her a reprieve. She accepted it and she was spared from certain death.

You see, spiritually speaking, we are all Mary Jane Velosos. We are all sinners and the sentence of death has been issued against us. We are all in death row awaiting our execution.

There is nothing we could do to save ourselves. Absolutely nothing! We are at God's mercy. Only His benevolence could save us from eternal death in the lake of fire.

Then God came to us, offering us His forgiveness and salvation in Christ. He says to us as it were: "You are a guilty sinner. But I am here to offer you deliverance from condemnation. My Son died for your sins and rose from the dead for you. Will you accept the pardon that I am offering to you?"

And everyone who trusts and relies on Christ and what He did on the cross for our salvation has accepted the pardon and is now free from judgment and damnation.

Have you accepted God's reprieve? Have you trusted in the Savior for salvation?

GOSPEL NUGGET #404

Jon 1:12 And he (Jonah) said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you..."

 Jonah here is a picture of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The storm was ravaging angry against the ship and the people on board felt its fury. They could have all gone down if it continued. Jonah then offered himself to assuage the wrath of the storm and the sea.

It's the same with the Lord Jesus. The wrath of God is blowing angry against us sinners. His justice is hounding us. But the Lord Jesus Christ came and threw Himself, so to speak, on the cross of Calvary and paid the penalty of all our sins.

Putting our faith and trust in Him and what He did on the cross for our salvation, everything changed. God's wrath was appeased. His justice was satisfied. The dark clouds of fear and disquiet within our hearts are replaced by the peace of God. God is smiling.

All because of Jesus who voluntarily offered Himself to die for us. Have you trusted and relied on the Lord Jesus and what He did on the cross?

GOSPEL NUGGET #403

Pr 20:9 Who can say, "I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin"?

The answer to the question in this verse is "Absolutely, no one!" Two things are implied in the verse:

First, we have universal iniquity

No one, no not one can truly and really say that "I have made my heart clean and I am pure from my sin." The Bible says: "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (see Ro 3:23) and "...there is no one who does not sin..." (see 2Ch 6:36).

Ro 3:10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."

Second, we have universal inability

It is not within the power of the sinner to make himself pure and clean. He has no ability and strength to do so. Just as a leopard cannot change its spots and a Ethiopian cannot change the color of his skin, so no sinner can make himself pure and clean.

Jer 2:22 “Although you wash yourself with lye And use much soap, The stain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.

Pr 27:22 Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

We are all guilty and powerless to atone for our sins and expiate our guilt. What we need is an acceptable atonement to wash us and cleanse us of all our sins. By the grace of God, we have Someone just like that---the Lord Jesus Christ.

He died for our sins and rose from the dead that if we put our trust in Him and rely on what He did on the cross we will be forgiven, cleansed and washed from our sins.

GOSPEL NUGGET #402

Bad News For Good People

Ro 3:10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."

That's God's assessment and evaluation of all people when measured according to His perfect standard. All are found to be sinners. In the eyes of men, there maybe good people, but in His holy eyes, there is none who is righteous. There is none who is good.

That's bad news for people who think they are good enough for God. When God looks at us, none of us is good enough in His sight. A sinner is a spiritual criminal in God's eyes. And no criminal is ever good. Criminals are bad.

But here's good news for bad people:

Mr 2:17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Ro 5:6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners...

GOSPEL NUGGET #401

Ec 3:14 I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it...

Let's apply this verse to salvation. Whatever God does is perfect. Nothing can be added to it and nothing can be taken from it. Realize that God has done everything that is absolutely necessary in Christ Jesus for our salvation.

You don't have to add anything to it. You don't have to take anything from it. You don't have to improve on it. All you need to do is to place your trust in the Savior and what He did on the cross for our salvation.