Titus 3:3-7 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Making salvation attractive is a high calling, and we will fail in that endeavor unless we can demonstrate that we have indeed been delivered from sin. Rebuking sin in others without an accompanying lifestyle of righteousness is the greatest hypocrisy. But lives characterized by purity, power, and joy reflect the order, beauty, and power of a saving God. When we make salvation beautiful, we make God attractive.
To convince a man God can save, I need to show him a man He saved. To convince a man that God can give hope, I need to show him a man with hope. To convince a man that God can give peace, joy, and love, I need to show him a man with peace, joy, and love. To convince a man that God can give complete, total, and utter satisfaction, I need to show him a satisfied man. When the world sees people who are holy, righteous, peaceful, joyful, and fulfilled, they see the evidence of God’s transforming power.
At stake is the eternal destiny of unredeemed souls. Christians who are unholy lead unbelievers to slander God; those who are holy lead them to glorify God. The central issue in evangelism is holy living. A powerful church is not built on its strategy, but on the virtue and holiness of its people. What we believe is linked to how we live, and how we live is directly linked to the effectiveness of our gospel proclamation. So, Christian, it’s imperative that you...
Philippians 2:14-16 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
Live to the Glory of Jesus Christ Today!
Taken from John MacArthur's book "Divine Design"
You have a choice. You can strive to make it to heaven by your own efforts
and try to be as good as Christ, or you can place your faith in Jesus and
receive your right standing with God as a gift of His grace.
For me, this is no choice at all. I know there is no way that I, in my good
works, would ever make it to heaven. I stand hopelessly condemned on
the basis of my past sin. I have no chance of being received by God
apart from His mercy.
The good news is, God has provided a way of acceptance before Him.
God, who is absolutely holy and pure and so righteous that no sin can
dwell in His presence, has made a way for people like us to have fellowship
with Him. When we believe in this sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us -
even though we didn't deserve it - the Father grants us perfect forgiveness.
That's the gospel of grace. Each one of us can relate to God, even though we
are far from perfect. We can still have a beautiful relationship with God
through His Son Jesus Christ.
When we relate to the Father by faith through His Son, we have a solid
relationship. We are now sons of God. Because He is our Father, we
don't have to wonder if we are worthy to come to Him. We do not come on
the basis of our worthiness, but on the basis of our relationship with
Him.
That is what the gospel of grace is all about. God looks at us as though we
never committed a single trespass against Him. Now, I have trouble
looking at myself like that. I look at myself in the mirror and say,
"Chuck, you are a sinner. You can't control your appetite; you have so
many flaws." And yet God looks at me and says, "Forgiven." He loves me
and accepts me as I am because I am in Jesus Christ. Even as He has
accepted His own Son, so now He accepts me. Paul tells us that we have
been accepted "in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:6). The Beloved one is
Christ; and you, being in Christ, are accepted by God just as Christ is
accepted.
That is why the gospel of grace is the best news I have ever heard. God
forgives us because we believe in His Son, whom He sent to die for our
sins. All our sins have been blotted out. There is no accounting of
guilt. As Paul tells us, "Oh, how happy are they whose iniquities are
forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Oh, how happy is the man to whom
the Lord does not impute sin" (see Romans 4:7,8).
As sons of God, we have every right to come to our Father to ask Him for
anything that we might need. We have every right to trust the wisdom of
our Father to either grant or deny the request, according to His knowledge
of what is best for us. We can commit ourselves to our heavenly Father,
who loves us so very much. He will give us only what is best.
What a joy it is to know that God desires to bestow upon us the richness and
the fullness of His love - not because we deserve it, but because He loves us.
This is the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ!
Live to the Glory of Jesus Christ today!
Taken from Chuck Smith's book "Why Grace Changes Everything".
