What is the Gospel? Beyond being the name of the four books of the Bible in which Jesus’ story is told, the Gospel message is this: God loves us. There is nothing we can do to make him love us more, and nothing we have done that makes him love us less. In fact, he loved us so much, that in order to bridge the gap that our sin made between us and him, he sent his very own Son to suffer and die in our place. Now we can come confidently into his presence, knowing that Jesus is the reason we are called righteous—not because of anything we’ve done ourselves. And now, we live our lives in response to experiencing that love. When you love someone, you’ll do anything for them. And when they ask you to do something for them, you’re probably already doing it because you want to do what is best for them. The same goes with God. We don’t follow his laws or read the Bible because of some bothersome obligation. We do it because we love him, and we learn to love him when we truly experience his love for us. Then, when we experience this love and respond to it, we want nothing more than to bring others into it. Rather than looking at our non-believing friends as hopeless sinners and condemning them in our hearts with judgment for their sin, we look at our non-believing friends with love—wanting only the best for them, which happens to be an experience of God’s love. Here is the problem I see today: too many Christians who don’t act in response to God’s love and who are quick to judge sinners. This is what I like to define as legalism. This is not love. “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 It doesn’t matter how “good” of a Christian you are. It doesn’t matter how well you follow all the rules, and use all the spiritual gifts. Anything done apart from love is essentially worthless. If you do not display the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) and your heart is instead inclined to judgment, pride, arrogance, self-righteousness—then you might be on the road to legalism. Always remind yourself of God’s love. We must preach this Gospel to ourselves daily, lest we give ourselves credit for our righteousness and forget that we don’t deserve to be welcomed into God’s kingdom—Jesus is the only reason we’ve been accepted. The answer to any sinful heart is a true experience of this love. Did condemnation ever bring you closer to God? God himself does not even want to condemn, he only does it because he has to when people refuse to turn to him. Love is always the answer. Nothing will bring us truly into closeness with God but love. "Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” Romans 2:4 God’s kindness is what leads us to repentance—not his condemnation. His kindness and love is the only thing that is going to bring our hearts into the right place. Without this love, we will judge others harshly and never feel good enough ourselves. We will point our fingers at others’ sinful lives because we believe they are wrong. Though we are right, in this judgment we completely forget the point of what we believe in: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17 How can we save people if all we ever do is point out their flaws without leading them towards the hope of a Savior? Of course there is a place to convict—especially when sinners do not understand that they are sinning. But most sinners are aware of their wrong actions. They don’t need another judge. One Judge is enough. They need God’s love. So, a word of advice. If described above is you—if you follow God’s commands and point out the sins in others but have not experienced God’s love for yourself—worry not! There is always hope. What you need is a true experience of God’s love, and this love God freely gives when we ask. So ask. Pray to God for an experience of this love, that you may live in response to it. When you do not immediately receive it, ask again. And again. Never stop asking. God will answer. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12
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AuthorFighting complacency and advocating change in myself for the world around me. Posts by Date
February 2019
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