What is the gospel

[Hazelelponi]

You tell me.


I know my sin was nailed to the cross.

Col 2:13When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, 14having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

It helps to know what sin is when declaring it nailed to the cross. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

At its essence, sin is failing to render God the honor, reverence, and worship due to Him. As Jesus said: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18)

Faith in Christ, therefore, is the dividing line. Without it, even the best of “good works” are stained with sin. Paul reminds us: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

This means that in the judgment, what is revealed is not a second reckoning of sins Christ already bore, but the truth of whether we were in Him. Christ’s righteousness alone covers and counts for His people (2 Corinthians 5:21). Works done in faith will endure as evidence of His grace, while everything not flowing from faith will be shown for what it is and consumed.

Therefore, the judgment seat magnifies the sufficiency of Christ. It reveals that salvation is wholly of Him: every sin truly nailed to the cross, every good work upheld only because it is the fruit of His Spirit.

Personally I think you might want to trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.

Acts 17:28 (read through to verse 33)

..

 

[CrowCross]

It helps to know what sin is when declaring it nailed to the cross. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

At its essence, sin is failing to render God the honor, reverence, and worship due to Him. As Jesus said: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18)

Faith in Christ, therefore, is the dividing line. Without it, even the best of “good works” are stained with sin. Paul reminds us: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

This means that in the judgment, what is revealed is not a second reckoning of sins Christ already bore, but the truth of whether we were in Him. Christ’s righteousness alone covers and counts for His people (2 Corinthians 5:21). Works done in faith will endure as evidence of His grace, while everything not flowing from faith will be shown for what it is and consumed.

Therefore, the judgment seat magnifies the sufficiency of Christ. It reveals that salvation is wholly of Him: every sin truly nailed to the cross, every good work upheld only because it is the fruit of His Spirit.




Acts 17:28 (read through to verse 33)

..

As i said...you might want to trust Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.

 

[Carbon]

I am going to go out on a limb here and present something that occurred to me about preaching the gospel. It is often treated (and I include myself in this, even though it was not exactly the way in which I came to Christ)as though there is a set way and set things that must be said, that a person then has to believe. And I am not discounting that this is also a way, and that we are commanded to do it, and that it is a direct way.

Okay

What I am saying, or trying to say, is that it is not the only way. Believing God is the way (not believing in him only, but believing him), whatever it is that sparks that believing.

The only way we believe is because the Holy Ghost gives us life. He does this at the appointed time because of what Christ did for us as our head.

It naturally has to have some substance, but that substance does not at first have to be directly connected to Christ. It will lead there always and may be something that brings to remembrance what one may have previously heard of Christ but did not believe.

Sorry, but something here smells like work. I'm probably misunderstanding you because I know you do not believe in salvation by works but by grace alone through faith alone.

The best way I know to get across what I am saying is by way of illustration. When I was regenerated, even though I had heard from my brother who Jesus is and what he did, for seven years of hearing it, I did not believe it.

I was reading a book he gave me---I read them all and disbelieved, reading them to get him off my case----that spoke of the prophecies in the OT that had already come to pass within the OT and are verified by history. And not just the prophecies but the many things stated in the Bible that are historically accurate as being historical events. And I believed then that the Bible must really be God's word. And if any of it was true, then all of it had to be true, including what it said about Jesus. I believed God. And I believed Jesus was who he said he was and did what he said he did, and it accomplished what he said it did.

The way I understand it is that you finally believed because "at your appointed time," the Holy Spirit gave you life. You then were able to see the kingdom and believe. How and in what way all the pieces fit together and in which order, God knows exactly. But it all started because the Spirit gave you life, and when He did, you believed Jesus and who he said he was and what he did. It was no longer foolishness.

And that explains the multifaceted testimonies of individual conversions. Not all are the same or have the same ingredients. They have the same destination----being in Christ through faith and by grace. There is not a formula. Just truth spoken and lived.

It's all the same with the Spirit giving life first. There is no preparatory grace, or if you rather, prevenient grace. Preparatory grace would only make sense and work if we humans were capable of ourselves with some preparation, to believe.

 

[Carbon]

Personally I think you might want to trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.

Why do you assume she does not?

 

[prism]

The Judgement the Christians will face is the "Judgement Seat of Christ" also know as the" Bema Seat"...You can read a bit about it here..

So there is a judgment to come.
and
2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
and the 1 Cor 3:10-15 passage did not cover the 'whether good or evil' part.

Besides I was pointing out to @Carbon ,how God does deal with us individually (post #83). Nothing about judgment.

 

[Carbon]

I was reading a book he gave me---I read them all and disbelieved, reading them to get him off my case----that spoke of the prophecies in the OT that had already come to pass within the OT and are verified by history. And not just the prophecies but the many things stated in the Bible that are historically accurate as being historical events. And I believed then that the Bible must really be God's word. And if any of it was true, then all of it had to be true, including what it said about Jesus. I believed God. And I believed Jesus was who he said he was and did what he said he did, and it accomplished what he said it did.

Though you didn't know, you would finally believe, Jesus knew. And I do believe that the promises of salvation and blessing were made to Christ's spiritual seed, as well as to himself. In time, there is a real mystical union made between him and us (the elect) upon taking possession of us by the Spirit and dwelling in us by faith.
All promises and blessings were made to Christ as our head, and us, the ones he represented, will receive this benefit. The promises were conditional to Christ but absolutely free to us. We are all born of the spirit the same way. There is nothing different.

God says so:
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Eze 36:27.

 

[Carbon]

The entire Law was to show us our need.

The entire law is a tutor to lead us to Christ. This is where conversion is
When we are given life, and we come to know Christ, we have a heartfelt sorrow that we have provoked God by our sin, and more and more we hate sin and flee from sin. Being sorrowful is when conversion takes place as we turn to God and flee from sin. This is the law tutoring.
The Holy Spirit makes the word of God a vital, soul-directing power in our lives. And conversion, according to scripture, involves a change of mind, a change in the evaluation of things. After conversion we now have different views concerning God and Christ, concerning sin and salvation than we did before conversion.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 1 Cor 2:12-15.

Before conversion, the law does not show us our need; it condemns us.

 

[Arial]

Though you didn't know, you would finally believe, Jesus knew. And I do believe that the promises of salvation and blessing were made to Christ's spiritual seed, as well as to himself. In time, there is a real mystical union made between him and us (the elect) upon taking possession of us by the Spirit and dwelling in us by faith.
All promises and blessings were made to Christ as our head, and us, the ones he represented, will receive this benefit. The promises were conditional to Christ but absolutely free to us. We are all born of the spirit the same way. There is nothing different.

God says so:
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Eze 36:27.

We are all born of the Spirit by God changing our hearts and that is why we believe when we believe. All I am saying is that it does not come about the same way (prompted by the same things) for everyone.

What is interesting to me is back in the days of the Reformation and the confessions that came out of it, is that there were no altar calls. The children in the church were schooled in the confessions which are biblical sound doctrinally. And they were "confirmed" after being questioned on those doctrines and confessing their faith, I suppose. And I suppose it was so with adults who came into the congregation before they were granted membership in the particular church as covenant member of the body of Christ.

My point being, I guess, is that people sat under the preaching of the Word, most of them in bygone days, all their lives. And they either believed or they didn't. The elect did. The non-elect did not. There are people on the forum who cannot say when they were regenerated because they grew up in church. It used to be something that was not uncommon----people couldn't pin point the time of their conversion.

Look at how Johnathan Edwards preached during the Great Awakening. "Sinners in the hands of an angry God"! And the Holy Spirit opened the hearts of many with that message.

 

[Carbon]

We are all born of the Spirit by God changing our hearts and that is why we believe when we believe. All I am saying is that it does not come about the same way (prompted by the same things) for everyone.

What is interesting to me is back in the days of the Reformation and the confessions that came out of it, is that there were no altar calls. The children in the church were schooled in the confessions which are biblical sound doctrinally. And they were "confirmed" after being questioned on those doctrines and confessing their faith, I suppose. And I suppose it was so with adults who came into the congregation before they were granted membership in the particular church as covenant member of the body of Christ.

My point being, I guess, is that people sat under the preaching of the Word, most of them in bygone days, all their lives. And they either believed or they didn't. The elect did. The non-elect did not. There are people on the forum who cannot say when they were regenerated because they grew up in church. It used to be something that was not uncommon----people couldn't pin point the time of their conversion.

Look at how Johnathan Edwards preached during the Great Awakening. "Sinners in the hands of an angry God"! And the Holy Spirit opened the hearts of many with that message.

Oh, got ya. I agree. I cannot say when I was born again, not for sure anyway. I have an idea of when, so I thought anyway, then 20 years + after that, I thought it was then? It was almost like a second time. I still am not sure, really.

 

[Carbon]

Look at how Johnathan Edwards preached during the Great Awakening. "Sinners in the hands of an angry God"! And the Holy Spirit opened the hearts of many with that message.

Great point, sister. Did you ever read some of the sermons those Puritans preached? I think they were amazing.

In the case of Edwards, I read that some of the people were holding on to the pews in fear of falling into hell. Wow!
And I also wonder, how many actually remained in church afterwards?

 

[Arial]

The only way we believe is because the Holy Ghost gives us life. He does this at the appointed time because of what Christ did for us as our head.

I know. I don't think I am being understood.

Sorry, but something here smells like work. I'm probably misunderstanding you because I know you do not believe in salvation by works but by grace alone through faith alone.

I am being misunderstood. I do not even see how what I said smacks of works. There was no work involved. I simply believed that if even one thing in the Bible was true and it was the word of God, then all of it had to be true, therefore what it said about Jesus was also true. And I knew that only God could name a man by name that would not even be born for another however many hundreds of years---as one example. That was regeneration right there. That is what I am saying. It didn't happen all the many times before that I had heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. It happened there, and when that happened, I also believed that what was said about Christ was also true. And I did change. I was a completely different person when I awoke the next morning, filled with an immense love for everyone, even those in my family who had always belittled me and who I resented.

I knew to that there were things I had done without guilt that I should no longer be doing. But was I rent with sorrow over all my sins. It wasn't until later that I grasped how bad they were in the sight of God. So it is not one size fits all, unless someone is going to say I didn't fit the mold and am therefore likely not saved.

I was not completely without any concept of God all my life. He was in fact, the guiding moral principle under which I was raised. I believed he existed, I just didn't know him.

The way I understand it is that you finally believed because "at your appointed time," the Holy Spirit gave you life. You then were able to see the kingdom and believe. How and in what way all the pieces fit together and in which order, God knows exactly. But it all started because the Spirit gave you life, and when He did, you believed Jesus and who he said he was and what he did. It was no longer foolishness.

Exactly. An not only at my appointed time but in my appointed way. We are individuals, fearfully and wonderfully made. God does not deal with us as though we all were molded exactly alike. He molded us to be who he wants us to be.

It's all the same with the Spirit giving life first. There is no preparatory grace, or if you rather, prevenient grace. Preparatory grace would only make sense and work if we humans were capable of ourselves with some preparation, to believe.

If I gave the impression that that is what I was saying, then I have grossly failed in the delivery.

 

[Arial]

Great point, sister. Did you ever read some of the sermons those Puritans preached? I think they were amazing.

In the case of Edwards, I read that some of the people were holding on to the pews in fear of falling into hell. Wow!
And I also wonder, how many actually remained in church afterwards?

I don't know about that last. I did read somewhere that at some point much of or some of, what was being exhibited was of the flesh. When Edwards saw that through discernment, he shut the revival meetings down. So many of today's preachers are such wooses. They don't even dare discipline flagrant sin for fear of not being liked or because they don't like confrontation. And then we have whole churches who have "visitations of the Spirit" that are noting but of the flesh. Someone speaking in tongues and another interpreting it as praising and exalting the pastor, and don't shut that down or come against it.

 

[prism]

In the case of Edwards, I read that some of the people were holding on to the pews in fear of falling into hell. Wow!

On top of it all, historical records report he preached his sermons in a monotone voice...showing the convicting power of God's Word attended by God's Spirit.

 

[CrowCross]

Why do you assume she does not?

She acts as if she still has to be judged for her sin.

 

[Hazelelponi]

She acts as if she still has to be judged for her sin.

Because I believe Scripture you judge me unsaved?

Honestly, this is simply ridiculous that two people who claim faith in Christ cannot manage a conversation about Scripture without insulting the other party.

What we do as Christians actually matters, and it matters before a Holy God. .

 

[CrowCross]

Because I believe Scripture you judge me unsaved?

Honestly, this is simply ridiculous that two people who claim faith in Christ cannot manage a conversation about Scripture without insulting the other party.

What we do as Christians actually matters, and it matters before a Holy God. .

You basically said you will be judged in heaven for your sins......I ask...didn't Jesus pay the ransom for your sins? If Jesus didn't, then you're not saved.

If i somehow insulted you....I'm apologize.

 

[Hazelelponi]

You basically said you will be judged in heaven for your sins......I ask...didn't Jesus pay the ransom for your sins? If Jesus didn't, then you're not saved.

If i somehow insulted you....I'm apologize.

I spoke from the Scriptures. If you had a problem with how I was showing that Scripture you should have proven your point from Scripture, as I did.

Anyway, I was ignoring the insult so I accept your apology.

 

[CrowCross]

I spoke from the Scriptures. If you had a problem with how I was showing that Scripture you should have proven your point from Scripture, as I did.

Anyway, I was ignoring the insult so I accept your apology.

You spoke from your misguided opinion of what scripture actually says.

If you are judged after you die for your sins...you will be found guilty.

You post as if you don't truly understand the reason why God stepped out of heaven...the Word became flesh...and died for our sins.

Why do you think judgement is always exposing the bad?

 

[Hazelelponi]

You spoke from your misguided opinion of what scripture actually says.

If you are judged after you die for your sins...you will be found guilty.

You post as if you don't truly understand the reason why God stepped out of heaven...the Word became flesh...and died for our sins.

Why do you think judgement is always exposing the bad?

All you're doing is giving opinion.

Please quote my post that you believe to be incorrect, pointing out what exactly was not aligned with Scripture and show me where in Scripture my statements and their conclusions are shown to be incorrect.

Otherwise, all you're doing is giving your opinions - which is invalid.

 

[mailmandan]

The gospel is the "good news" of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.. (Romans 1:16) To "believe" the gospel is to trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation.