GOSPEL NUGGET #173

Na 1:5 The mountains quake before Him, The hills melt, And the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.
6 Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him.

God is speaking and reminding us in earthquakes that we are living in a fallen creation "s

ubjected to futility" (see Rom. 8:20). Earthquakes also teach us sinners what we deserve---God's wrath and indignation.

Directly or indirectly, the moral cause of an earthquake is always sin. Without man falling into sin, creation would not have been subjected to futility. Without our personal sins, God's wrath would not be kindled.

An earthquake is God using a megaphone grabbing everybody's attention saying: "Okay, listen up everyone!!!" warning each of us of an even greater wrath to come if we do not repent.

GOSPEL NUGGET #172

A Blessed Look 

* Look And Be Saved: "Look to Me, and be saved..." (Isa 45:22)

* Look And Be Transformed: "...beholding (looking) as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2Co 3:18)

* Look And Be Glorified: "...we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." (1Jo 3:2)

It all begins with the look of faith. Once a sinner turns to the Savior, trusting in Him alone for salvation, right that very moment he is saved.

And then as he keeps on looking to the Lord Jesus in faith, he will be transformed from one degree of glory to another becoming more and more like His Savior. 

And then when the Lord Jesus Christ comes, when he will actually see His Lord and Savior, he will be completely like Him. 

Have you made that saving look?

GOSPEL NUGGET #171

Saving Faith Defined

Saving faith is resting on what the Savior already did on the Cross for our salvation. It is being entirely confident that what He did was enough for the salvation of our souls. 

It is finding His work on the cross sufficient to effect salvation. It is being fully convinced and persuaded about what God has revealed in His Word about the death of His Son on the cross for sinners. It is taking God at His Word. 

It is leaning on the Savior. You have no strength to hold yourself up (to save yourself) and so you lean wholly and entirely on Him. It is depending and relying on Him. It is counting upon His work on the cross to deliver its promise.

It is looking away from everything and everyone else and turning to the Savior alone for salvation. It is entrusting the salvation of your soul completely to Him. It is pinning your only hope of salvation utterly on Him. 

P.S. Hebrews 11:1 is a *description* of faith with regard to things promised by God in the future, hence, referring to things not yet seen in the present. It describes what faith does with regard to future things not yet  seen and realized.

When we talk about saving faith, we don't look ahead to the future, we look back to the Savior who died on the cross 2000 years ago.

GOSPEL NUGGET #170

Misconceptions About Salvation

#11 "I am trying to become a Christian."

The cause of this misconception is the failure to realize the supernaturality of becoming a Christian. 

Being born again and being saved is being a Christian. And both are humanly impossible. No one can bring himself forth anew and no one can save himself from sin. It takes the supernatural power of God in the Gospel (see Romans 1:16) to effect these in one's life. 

It is God who makes genuine Christians since it is God who saves and makes one born again into His family. Even living the Christian life after one has become a Christian is the fruit of the Spirit (see Gal. 5:22-23). It is supernaturally produced. 

How then can one become a Christian? It is not by trying, not by self-effort but by trusting in Christ Jesus. When a sinner trusts in the Savior and what He did on the cross for salvation, it is then that God transforms him into a new creature---a Christian.

A dog can only become a man, not by trying, but by being actually a man, though this is impossible to the dog. A man can only become an angel, not by trying, but by being actually an angel, though this is impossible to him.

In the same way, a sinner can only become a new creature, a Christian, not by trying, but by being actually a new creature through faith in Christ.

GOSPEL NUGGET #169

GOSPEL NUGGETS

Ro 2:5 ...in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

God's judgment does not only involve the sinful things we do but also the rebellion of our hearts. You maybe someone who has not committed outward acts of sin and have comforted yourself that you are okay with God. But God is concerned with the condition of our hearts as He is with what we do. 

Repentance is, first of all, a condition of the heart that manifests itself in a changed behavior. You are heaping up for yourself judgment every single moment you remain in your unrepentant condition. 

It is not only when rebels attack a government establishment or a military facility that they commit a crime against the government. No, even if they do not do these things, if they remain in their rebellious state and do not lay down their arms, the government still sees them as in rebellion....even when they all go to sleep at night and do nothing. 

In the same way, even if you have not committed out and out serious sins against God, if you remain unrepentant, God still sees you in rebellion against Him...even when you go to sleep at night and do nothing sinful.  Your unrepentant heart is in itself sin!

 You will not be charged for illegal possession of drugs, but  worse---you will be charged with possessing an unrepentant heart! 

GOSPEL NUGGET #168

1Co 1:18 "...the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 

Our attitude towards the death of Christ on the cross is an index of our spiritual condition. To those who are "perishing" who will ultimately end up in hell, the message about Christ dying for the sins of sinners is nonsensical, meaningless, worthless and unbearably boring. 

You see them well-rested from a good night's sleep, alert, lively and enthusiastic and then you come in and tell them about the death of Christ on the cross for their sins, and then gradually, by and by, like a sleeping pill, with glassy eyes, they look the other way and then make a big "O" yawn. 

They just can't help it. They try and attempt to push themselves to make it valuable and precious, but truth be told, it has no value in their hearts. For them, the message of Christ dying for their sins is trash not treasure. Garbage not gold. Piffle not precious. 

They may say: "Oh it's precious and valuable!" but that's just because that's the standard and expected answer. They say it because it's the correct answer not because that's what's really in their hearts.

But to those who have been convicted of sin and have realized their utter helplessness and powerlessness in saving themselves, the message that Christ died for their sins is truly and genuinely precious. It is the power of God to salvation---it is their only hope to be saved.

GOSPEL NUGGET #167

The Jeffrey Johnson Twist 

Jeffrey Johnson was a 58-year old man who was described as a very nice man ("nicest guy"), who carried himself with composure ("Nothing seemed to bother him"), and was someone who was quiet and reserved, who loved animals and was even described by one as "the sweetest guy". 

Until one day, Mr. Johnson returned to his old workplace carrying .45-caliber handgun and shot down dead a man and injured 9 others. "I think he snapped" a lady friend recounted. 

Man is depraved. We may look good on the outside and sincerely believe that we are indeed good and benevolent but the fact of our depravity remains. Sin has twisted us, crooked us and perverted us inwardly. 

At any given moment, apart from the restraining grace of God, given the suitable situation and condition, we are capable of snapping mad like Mr. Johnson. A Hitler is in all of us. What we are is a lot worse than all the evil and sinful things we have ever done so far. We all need to be born again through faith in Christ Jesus.

Yes, including the "nicest guy" and "the sweetest guy" in the world.