THE ROSE OF SHARON IS WISHING YOU ALL THE GREATEST SEASON IN CHRIST THAT LOVE CAN BRING. WE WILL BE CELEBRATING THE SEASON OF THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST WITH OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND WILL BACK AFTER THE FIRST OF THE YEAR. ALWAYS REMEMBER JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON AND HE GAVE HIS LIFE THAT YOU MIGHT LIVE.
AGAPE
ALL THE WRITERS.
Sunday, December 04, 2016
THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
The power of the gospel
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16.
The gospel means "Good News." Paul preached very boldly about the plan of salvation because God gave him a special calling. This verse is one of the most powerful verses in the Bible and is quoted often.
Here the Word of God is very clear that people are to believe on the name of Jesus Christ. Our Lord made this so plain and clear on what a person has to do to attain salvation through Him.
Think about this for a minute. Jesus Christ was crucified for sinners and went through excruciating pain like nobody has ever endured in a given time frame on earth and He gave us the gospel so we can be redeemed through Him.
For you thinkers out there I want you to ponder this truth in your mind and heart and see if you can grasp what God Almighty did for us by sending His Son to earth. You may come to the conclusion that the enormous love that Jesus Christ has for mankind is beyond comprehension.
We are talking about a holy God who did not have to do this and if He did not we would all get justice.This means we would all be in hell.
Why did God love us so much? "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. This is what God did but why?
Can we even grasp this scripture? Here God looks down on a world that is very sinful and against His Holy Will yet God the Father sacrificed his only Son to die for our sins.
The people of God have always walked with Him by faith. “For therein is the righteous of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall walk by faith.” Romans 1:17.
The Bible talks about many truths in Romans chapter one that are built into every human being and some pretty blunt issues but some of the chapter concerns Christians.
A believer has to believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins.
A true believer in Jesus Christ walks by faith which is crucial to being a born again Christian. ”For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9.
No man can work his way into heaven. It is a free gift of God which we do not deserve but God in His loving kindness extended mercy toward us while we were yet sinners and helpless in and of ourselves.The verses I just shared with you are good examples of what true salvation is in Jesus Christ. There are many other passages in the Bible but in an article I can only mention a few.
There is power in the gospel of Jesus Christ because that is how a person receives salvation in his or her heart. Someday we will have redeemed bodies that will not even be capable of sin. “Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”1 John 3:9.
What is God saying to us? He wants us to believe in His Son because if we do not believe in Jesus Christ we do not know the Father.
If we do not have Jesus Christ in our hearts then we are still in our sins and will die in them because of our unbelief.
“Whosoever denieth the Son, the same has not the Father; but he that acknowledge the Son has the Son also.” 1 John 2:23.
Any religious institution that preaches Jesus Christ is not the Savior of the world is a false religion. Pay close attention to this because most of these major denominations are a religion of works in one form or another. There is often a round about message that we can get to heaven by doing these exercises in life.
Do not try to get to heaven by your own works. We can not work our way into heaven. If that were so then Jesus Christ would not have had to die on the Cross.“This is a faithful saying and worthy of acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Timothy 1:15.
Paul the Apostle was teaching that he was the chief of all sinners because he persecuted Christians. God intervened when he was on a trip and eventually through his blindness was shown the light of Jesus Christ.
He was never the same after that experience. He went on to be one of the greatest disciples of Jesus Christ and preached all over the world.
Paul was chosen by God to go out and preach the power of the gospel so mankind could attain salvation through Jesus Christ. He did travel around the world on his missionary trips and told people of the wonderful plan of God through His Son Jesus Christ. This is the plan of salvation.
He had a special assignment from heaven. “Paul a apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.” 2nd Timothy 1:1.
Brothers and sisters in Christ around the world should also be witnesses for our Lord and tell people about the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ so they can have eternal life.
In every neighborhood, town or city there are people who don't know Jesus Christ. We need to get the gospel out to them so they can have eternal life through Jesus Christ. Everybody will live eternally in heaven or hell but very few will enter through the narrow gate ( Matthew chapter 7) of how the Bible defines true salvation. If you don't believe me try talking to somebody about the gospel and notice the resistance you will receive on the other end.
We need to tell them about Jesus Christ. He is the only one that can save us through Him. ”And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28. The only one that has the power to do this is Jesus Christ.
This verse describes the supreme authority of Jesus Christ because He is the judge. Nobody else has this power because He is the one true God.
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, The Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost: and these three are One.” 1st John 5:7.
This verse is talking about the trinity of God and they are One. Each one has different duties than the other but they all share the same purpose in their functions as God.
The Word is Jesus Christ. The Father has given Him the judgment of our souls because that is one of the roles of our Lord. The Holy Spirit does not do this but has many titles in the Bible. That would be a whole different subject.
The Gospel is like a two edge sword. It pierces the heart and soul of a person with conviction but the truth and righteousness of the Word of God change our lives through Jesus Christ.
It can convict a person who is not right with the Lord. It can bring a people to salvation if they are willing to allow Jesus Christ to redeem them out of sin, it can bring a person peace, love and joy or it can change the life of a person full circle to the point where their whole demeanor changes through Jesus Christ. I just had a lady confess to me how she was nasty before she became a Christian.
Satan knows the power of the Gospel and he will do everything in his authority which is limited to discourage Christians and make them fall away from the truth of knowing Jesus Christ. His ways are very clever but we don't have to help him.
He can appear as an angel of light to deceive and when we are not girded in the Word of God we can fall into all kinds of temptation.”And no marvel; Satan himself is transformed into a angel of light.” 2nd Corinthians 11:14.
God gives us the tools to overcome Satan by reading the Bible so we know who the enemy is and how to fight the evil one. Ephesians chapter six is a good chapter to start because we are supposed to put on the whole armor of God.
The more we read, study or memorize the Bible the better equipped we are to be strong in Jesus Christ and not give in to the flesh. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to guide and teach us all things so our strength in our Lord will be consistent in our everyday walk.
The devil hates the power of the gospel because every time someone gets saved through Jesus Christ they get their names written in the Lambs book of life. He gets very angry about this because he wants all people to be on the evil side and go to hell but yet he could care less about us.
Jesus Christ loves us and wants to be part of our life and eternity. The angels in heaven rejoice every time a person comes to the Lord. Satan knows that he has a short time so the evil one is doing everything in his limited power to stop this from becoming a reality.
The devil knows that God has place time limits on him and in the future he will not be able to deceive people. “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiiters of the earth and of the seal for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he has but a short time.” Revelation 12:12. When the devil is thrown into the bottomless pit during the millennium Jesus Christ will rule and Satan will not have the ability to engage in deception.
Everyone that comes to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith through the repentance of their sins will spend eternity in Heaven. This is the grace of God.
People that did not want to be bothered with the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ will spend eternity in hell. We are given a choice and God will not force His will on anyone. God is no respecter of persons so there will be no excuse.
You should take some time to think about the grand plan of God and remember what Jesus Christ went through so you can be saved through Him.
The love that Jesus Christ has for human beings can not be comprehended. It never ends so I am urging people to choose Jesus Christ to be their very own Savior and Lord and I can assure you it will be the best decision you ever made in your life because it is for your eternity.
Bob D.
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