References:
(1) What makes Christianity UNIQUE among all world religions is not how you feel about it emotionally or how strongly you believe in it factually, what makes Christianity unique is that it is TRUE.
(2) The universal Christian church has a SORDID HISTORY. Its history includes the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch trials, the Roman Catholic priests abuse of young boys, and the salacious romantic escapades of Protestant pastors. I am not trying to defend the universal Christian church; I am defending Jesus Christ Himself.
(3) I need to CLARIFY this idea of being GOOD. The rich young man asked Jesus: “Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”Jesus replied, “Why do you call Me good?” Jesus adds, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Matt. 19:16-17a). The Bible declares, “There is none righteous, no not one” (Rom. 3:10; Psa. 14:1-3; 53:3). Thus, that means that NO ONE human being is TRULY GOOD.
(4) God made us to be in relationship with Him. We CHOSE to BREAK that relationship through sin and rebellion “because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). God offers us a chance to RESTORE and REPAIR that BROKEN RELATIONSHIP. God wants to be with us; He visited Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8), and He wants to have fellowship with those who believe in Christ His Son (1 John 1:3).
(5) Rom. 1:16b says “(The gospel of Christ) is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes.” I want to make 4 points about salvation.
(6) Salvation is NEEDED. We CHOSE to break that relationship through sin and rebellion “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23; 5:12) . This is the DILEMMA of humanity. That is a DIRE SITUATION that must be RECTIFIED.
(7) Salvation is PROVIDED. 1 Pet. 2:24 says, Christ “Himself bore our sins in His own body” on the cross of Calvary “that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes we are healed.“ I would interject that THAT HEALING is both physical and spiritual. There are those in the Christian Church who say that all healing scriptures are only spiritual and not physical. I can refute that declaration if you would like to hear that. Let me know.
(8) Salvation is OFFERED. Eph. 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been SAVED through faith, and that (salvation) is not of yourselves; it is the GIFT of God, not of WORKS, lest anyone should boast.” Rom. 6:23 adds additional information: “The WAGES of sin is DEATH, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Salvation is OFFERED. Eph. 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been SAVED through faith, and that (salvation) is not of yourselves; it is the GIFT of God, not of WORKS, lest anyone should boast.” Rom. 6:23 adds additional information: “The WAGES of sin is DEATH, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(9) Salvation has to be ACCEPTED; it is a GIFT of God. You can accept it or refuse it. You have a CHOICE. You cannot hope that if you IGNORE the offer, it will naturally become yours. 1 John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son (Jesus Christ) has LIFE ; he who does not have the Son does not have LIFE.” Life here means eternal life.
(10) How do you have the Son of God? John 1:12 declares, “As many as received Him to them he gave the right to become CHILDREN of God, to those who believed in His NAME.”
(11) I think believing in His name refers to Jesus’ AUTHORITY. Let me illustrate. You have heard in a movie where a police officer says to a criminal, “Stop in the name of the Law.” The officer may not have the ability to stop the criminal, but the officer has the authority of the government behind him, and the government has the where with all to exact what is deserved.
Well, Jesus has the authority of Yahweh, the Creator of the universe, and Yahweh has the where with all to get to the bottom of it all and determine your eternal destiny.
This is episode 267.
