GOSPEL NUGGET #621

Church of God in the New Testament is not the name of an organization. Rather, it refers to the spiritual condition of a particular people. Church of God are the people themselves and their spiritual condition. Church comes from a Greek word Ekklesia which means called out ones.

Notice the CALLED and the OUT in this verse:

1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who CALLED you OUT of darkness into His marvelous light;

Called out of spiritual darkness into God's marvelous light which is Christ Jesus. That's their spiritual condition. That's the Church of God. 

God called through the Gospel. They responded positively. They become God's called-out ones or the church of God. Their spiritual condition is marked by heeding God's call.

Our responsibility is not to look for an organization, rather, our individual responsibility, wherever we are, is to heed God's call to repent and trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation. And once you have done that, it's the Shepherd's responsibility to bring you into His local flock, providentially, by arranging events and through your desires to fellowship with others like you who have heeded His call. "... the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." Ac 2:47

Church of God in the Bible is not the name of a religious organization. It's like the word "believers" in the New Testament. The word "believers" is not a name of an organization in the NT. Rather, it refers to people and their spiritual condition. It refers to a reality in their individual lives; they are believers. They have trusted in Christ for salvation.

GOSPEL NUGGET #620

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

The answer to the question is "No one!" Purifying our hearts is not within our power. No one can claim that he has, by his own efforts, attained moral perfection and is therefore acceptable to God. Only the self-deluded can claim this. This ought to humble us all and cause us to look outside of ourselves for help. 

And that help, that cleansing can only come through faith  in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Ac 15:9 "and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith (in Christ).

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

GOSPEL NUGGET #619

 Biblical Saving Faith is not the mental nodding or mental assent to a proposition. It begins with this but it is not entirely this. If what you call faith stops here then it is not true faith. For Biblical Saving faith is more than this.

Saving faith is trust, confidence, and reliance on an effectual work that could truly affect your spiritual position and condition before God. Mental Assent --- You see an elevator and you nod your head that yes it could carry you up. Saving Faith --- You don't just mentally agree that the elevator could carry you up, you take it to the next level --- you step into it. You put yourself in it, trusting and relying on it to actually lift you up. Don't just mentally agree that the Lord Jesus is the Savior, rather, take it to the next level, trust and rely on Him and what He did on the cross that what He did there was sufficient and enough to save you completely.

GOSPEL NUGGET #618

 Church of God is not the name of God's religious organization. It does not refer to a visible and external organization. Rather, it refers to the spiritual condition of certain people. The word "Church" comes from a Greek word which means to be called out. 

1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who CALLED you OUT of darkness into His marvelous light;

It refers to the condition of people who were called out of spiritual darkness into God's marvelous light. 
It's not a visible and external religious organization, no, rather, it's a spiritual experience and condition that one must undergo and be brought to.

Motherhood is not a visible and external organization. No, it's an experience and a condition. So it is with the Church of God, the called-out ones of God. You must personally experience and respond to God's call and then and only then can you be part of the Church of God, the called-out ones of God.

How does God call a sinner?

  2Th 2:14 to which He CALLED YOU BY OUR GOSPEL, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is the message of salvation about the death of the Lord Jesus for our sins and His subsequent resurrection (see 1 Cor. 15:1-4). The moment we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for our salvation, that's the very moment we are called out from spiritual darkness into God's light. That's the moment we can say truly that we have been called out from darkness to light.

GOSPEL NUGGET #616

The Tree Of Life --- Removed, Redeemed and Restored 

* The Tree of Life Removed

Ge 3:23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

When man fell into sin, the tree of life was removed from fallen man. God barred it so that man could not get to it.

* The Tree of Life Redeemed

Ga 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree")

1 Pe 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree...

If you think about it, the cross of Christ, which was made from a tree, was in a very real sense a tree of life. Out of it, life could be had. When He died on the cross He, in effect, redeemed the tree of life back to man. This we will see in the new heavens and the new earth to come.

* The Tree of Life Restored

Re 22:2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Here, we see the tree of life restored back to redeemed man. 

Between the tree of life removed and the tree of life restored is the tree of life of redemption. My friend, the way back is through the cross. Trust in it for your redemption! 

GOSPEL NUGGET #617

"Behold My hands..."  Lu 24:39

Behold His hands and see His compassion and redemption

* Behold and see His compassion:  

Isa 49:15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.
16 See, I HAVE INSCRIBED YOU ON THE PALMS OF MY HANDS; Your walls are continually before Me.

Those nail prints on the palms of His hands demonstrate His love and compassion for us sinners. He has regarded our helpless condition. 

* Behold and see His redemption:

 Phm 1:19 I, Paul, am writing WITH MY OWN HAND. I WILL REPAY---not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.

Those nail prints on the palms of His hands guarantee that He has paid the penalty of our sins. 

* What must you do?  "Look to Me, and be saved..." Isa 45:22 

Behold His hands. Behold His compassion and redemption. Behold it in faith, trusting in what He did on the cross for you and be saved.