GOSPEL NUGGET #444

Miss Universe And Salvation

Miss Universe is an annual beauty pageant that seeks to award the Miss Universe crown on a lady contestant that shows herself to be beautiful, shapely and brainy to the whole world. The crown must be earned, given only to those who deserve it.

People think that God's salvation is like the Miss Universe beauty pageant. They are convinced that God bestows His salvation to those who are morally good and upright.

That salvation can be earned and awarded to people who show themselves deserving of it by their good works, religiosity and philanthropy.

But God be thanked and praised that salvation is not like that at all. He offers salvation to those who don't deserve it. We are all sinners---none of us is "Miss Universe" material spiritually speaking. If God should hold a contest called "Miss Heaven," none on earth will win it.

Salvation is by grace, given as an undeserved favor. It's a free gift offered to all. It was the Lord Jesus who won the "crown" at the cross when He died for us all.

Now, He offers it to anyone who would have it by faith in Him and what He did on the cross.

Ro 6:23 ... the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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.

GOSPEL NUGGET #443

Are You A Pharisee?

The Pharisees during the Lord Jesus' time were men who were extremely moral and religious. They were viewed as the men who raised the banner of orthodoxy in Israel. People looked up to them with respect.

The problem with them was that they were content with their own perceived goodness as their ticket to salvation. They believed that because they were good and righteous men (in their own standards) they earned the right to be saved by God.

Many people are like that today. You could even be one of them. Satisfied and content with your own goodness when you compare yourself to others, you think and believe that you have a good chance of making it to heaven.

The thing that you must realize is this---you are not good enough for God. None of us are. We all need to be saved.

And salvation does not come by trusting and being confident about who we are and what we did, but in trusting and relying in the Savior and what He did on the cross.

GOSPEL NUGGET #442

How A Legal Genius Came To Believe In The Resurrection Of Christ

Simon Greenleaf was one of the greatest legal minds the world has ever seen, if not the greatest. Mr. Greenleaf was the president of Harvard Law School for over 30 years.

He wrote a book called The Laws Of Legal Evidence. This is a book with many volumes. It was considered the standard book used by courts all over the world during his time and, probably, to a degree, still is today for evaluating evidence. It is considered by many as the greatest book in history when it comes to the laws and principles of evaluating evidence.

Mr. Greenleaf brought to bear his legal genius on the Gospels and was compelled to admit by the sheer force of the evidence that “The resurrection is established by better evidence than any fact of ancient history.” He wrote a book called The Testimony Of The Four Evangelist which examines and adjudged as historical the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If Christ resurrected, it means, among many other things, that He died for our sins. If He died for our sins, then all my debts against God are paid. Trusting in Him and what He did, I enter into the good of all that He did on the cross.