Obeying the Gospel

THE PATH TO DEATH DOES NOT LEAD TO LIFE (MARCH 24)

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"But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life" (Romans 6:21,22).

IF WE COULD SEE OURSELVES AS GOD SEES US, WE WOULD PROBABLY BE SHOCKED AT HOW CONTRADICTORY OUR LIVES LOOK...

WITHOUT OUR SAVIOR, OUR SINS WILL KILL US (MARCH 23)

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"I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins" (John 8:24).

TO MODERN PEOPLE, PREOCCUPIED WITH WHAT WE NAIVELY CALL “REAL” LIFE, WORDS LIKE “SIN” AND “DEATH” SOUND HOPELESSLY OLD-FASHIONED. To us, “dying in our sins” is a ridiculous concept.

But Jesus really did say these things. We may have a personal distaste for it, but there is no historical reason to deny t...

OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD: FRIENDSHIP OR ENMITY? (MARCH 22)

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"For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life" (Romans 5:10).

THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST CALLS ON US TO TAKE SIDES. To be more precise, it calls on us to change sides. Jesus was clear that if we have not cast our lot with Him, that amounts to a decision to stand against Him. “Whoever is no...

THE WAY OF GOD MORE ACCURATELY (MARCH 21)

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"[Apollos] began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately" (Acts 18:26).

THERE IS PERHAPS NO GREATER TEST OF OUR HONESTY AND HUMILITY THAN WHEN WE FACE THE KIND OF SITUATION THAT APOLLOS DID. Fervent and faithful, at least to the best of his previous understanding, he needed to be shown “the way of God more accurately.” And to his cred...

DEFERRING TO GOD’S REVEALED WILL (MARCH 20)

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"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death" (Proverbs 14:12).

THE BASIC PRINCIPLE IN PROVERBS 14:12 IS APPLICABLE TO LIFE IN GENERAL, BUT IT HAS A VERY SPECIFIC IMPORTANCE IN REGARD TO OUR ETERNAL SALVATION. Our own opinions and feelings can be dangerously wrong, despite our self-confidence about what “seems right” to us. Sincerity about our salvation is no guarantee we’re on the right track. So of all the question...

GOVERNED BY GOD (MARCH 19)

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"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).

FREEDOM IS ONE OF THE PRIME BENEFITS OF THE GOSPEL. In a world characterized by rebellion against God, we find ourselves fettered and frustrated by sin. But we can be delivered from this slavery. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Yet freedom is often misunderstood. The very essence of sin is the attitude which says, “I do not wish to do anyone...

A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST (MARCH 18)

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"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

NEW BEGINNINGS SHOULD BE WELCOMED INTO OUR LIVES. It is an exciting, strengthening experience to turn a corner and make a fresh start — and there is no more powerful new beginning than obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Christ, our starting over is so deep and complete that we are said to be a “new creation.”

H...

AN INDESTRUCTIBLE KINGDOM (MARCH 17)

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"And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:44).

THIS TEXT IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL GIVES US THE MAIN POINT OF A DREAM THAT DANIEL INTERPRETED FOR NEBUCHADNEZZAR, THE KING OF BABYLON. It speaks of a kingdom that God...

GOD’S PROMISE TO DAVID (MARCH 16)

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"When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom . . . And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever" (2 Samuel 7:12-16).

THIS TEXT IS ONE OF A HANDFUL OF OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL FOR AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Much that is said in...

THE SORROW THAT SEEKS SALVATION (MARCH 15)

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"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24).

SORROWFUL. PENITENT. CONTRITE. These don’t sound like positive words. But if we’re looking at life from the perspective of the Scriptures, they are some of the most positive words in the dictionary — not because they are comfortable but because they are conducive to our salvation. Ponder with me their importance.

There are a handful of texts in the Bible (I call t...

WHERE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IS REVEALED (MARCH 14)

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"For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith'" (Romans 1:17).

PAUL WANTED IT UNDERSTOOD THAT HE WAS NOT RELUCTANT TO COME TO ROME. Rome might have been the most powerful and prestigious city in the world of that day, but Paul was just as willing to preach the gospel of Christ there as he was anywhere else. “I am not ashamed of the go...

FAITH: THE MAINSPRING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (MARCH 13)

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". . . but the righteous shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4).

IN THE WHOLE BIBLE THERE ARE FEW TEXTS MORE BASIC THAN THIS ONE. The principle embedded in this passage from Habakkuk is fundamental and far-reaching. And it illustrates an interesting fact about the Scriptures: the more basic the principle found in a passage, the more different ways it may be applied in other passages.

In its original context in Habakkuk, “the righteous shall live by his faith” was a pa...

ABRAHAM, THE FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL (MARCH 12)

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"And [Abraham] believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6).

ABRAHAM WAS AN OLD MAN AND CHILDLESS WHEN GOD TOLD HIM HIS DESCENDANTS WOULD BE AS MANY AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN. Sarah, his wife, was well past the age of childbearing. Yet he knew enough of God’s track record to believe that whatever God promised, that’s what would happen. So he trusted God’s promise, and the text says that God “counted...

BORN AGAIN (MARCH 11)

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"Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God'" (John 3:3).

OBEYING THE GOSPEL INVOLVES THE DEEPEST CHANGE POSSIBLE IN A HUMAN BEING’S HEART. Dying to sin and living “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4) is more than adopting a different religious affiliation, accepting a different set of beliefs, or attending services at a different church. It is becoming a different person. Jesus said, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the...

THE SINNER’S PRAYER (MARCH 10)

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"And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, 'Save yourselves from this crooked generation.' So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:40,41).

IN OUR DAY, WHEN PEOPLE ASK “WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?” THEY ARE COMMONLY TOLD TO PRAY THE “SINNER’S PRAYER.” According to its advocates, this prayer is how one “accepts” Christ, based on the premise that “faith only” is the requi...

THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS (MARCH 9)

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"And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that [Jesus Christ] is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name" (Acts 10:42,43).

THE GOSPEL MAY BE DEFINED AS THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST. And it is in two different senses that it is “of” Jesus Christ. First, it is t...

THE WORST WORDS WE CAN IMAGINE (MARCH 8)

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"And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness'" (Matthew 7:23).

HAVING BEEN MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE, OUR DEEPEST NEED IS FOR FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM. He created us as personal beings, and one of the characteristics of personal beings is their need for relationship with other persons, above all with their Creator. If it is hard for us to be alienated from other human beings, it is even harder to...

THE HIGHEST (AND HARDEST) KIND OF HONESTY (MARCH 7)

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"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).

ALL OF US WANT TO VIEW OURSELVES IN A POSITIVE LIGHT. As a result, we often tell ourselves what we’d like to hear rather than what we need to hear. The human heart is exceedingly “deceitful,” as Jeremiah 17:9 says, and it takes an uncommon measure of honesty for us to see when we are lying to ourselves. Think about three areas where...

SEEING THE SERIOUSNESS OF OUR OWN SINS (MARCH 6)

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". . . but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

INSIDE ALL OF US IS A DEEP NEED TO SEE OURSELVES AS GOOD PEOPLE. We readily admit we’ve made mistakes, but we like to think that’s all they were: just mistakes. If others knew the extenuating circumstances, they would see how hard we’ve had it and how understandable the errors have been. Even in our confes...

TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE SCRIPTURES - 2 (MARCH 5)

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"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3,4).

WHEN WE SPEAK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT RECORD OF JESUS’ LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION, THERE ARE THREE LINKS IN THE CHAIN OF TRUSTWORTHINESS. First, there were the prophecies of the Messiah in the Old Testament. Second, Je...

TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE SCRIPTURES - 1 (MARCH 4)

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"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures . . ." (Romans 1:1,2).

PAUL UNDERSTOOD HIMSELF TO BE A MESSENGER. As an apostle, commissioned by Christ to proclaim the gospel, he saw his work as faithfully transmitting to others that which he had received. He made no attempt to be theologically inventive or original. Quite to the contrary, Paul, with the...

WHY WE STUDY THE SCRIPTURES (MARCH 3)

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". . . from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15).

THERE ARE MANY REASONS WHY WE MIGHT STUDY THE SCRIPTURES, BUT FOR TODAY’S MEDITATION LET’S THINK ABOUT ONE PARTICULAR REASON. The Scriptures are able, Paul says, to make us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Whether we ourselves study them or someone else teaches us (as was the case when Timothy’...

ZACCHAEUS: A LOST SOUL NEEDING TO BE SAVED (MARCH 2)

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"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10).

IN THE GOSPEL WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE FACT THAT GOD ENTERED THIS WORLD AND TOOK UPON HIMSELF HUMAN FORM IN THE PERSON OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. As the apostle John put it, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In a...

THE GOSPEL OF GOD’S KINGDOM (MARCH 1)

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"Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel'" (Mark 1:14,15).

THE GREEK WORD TRANSLATED “GOSPEL” IN OUR ENGLISH BIBLES WAS FAMILIAR IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE. It meant the joyful proclamation of some great event, often one having to do with Caesar, the Emperor. But in the New Testament, it refers to the greatest of all...

THIS JESUS IS THE CHRIST (FEBRUARY 29)

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"Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, 'This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ'" (Acts 17:1-3).

TO A JEWISH AUDIENCE, THE CENTRAL...

THE RESURRECTION OF THE MESSIAH (FEBRUARY 28)

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"For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption" (Psalm 16:10).

SPEAKING IN THE SYNAGOGUE IN PISIDIAN ANTIOCH, PAUL ALLUDED TO THREE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES THAT POINTED TO THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST. To his fellow Jews, he said, “We bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are...

PERFECTION, CORRUPTION, RESTORATION (FEBRUARY 27)

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"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God" (Romans 8:18,19).

IF THE GOSPEL IS THE “GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD,” IT’S IMPORTANT TO SEE THAT THE STORY HAS A PLOT OR STORY LINE. In essence, the gospel is about something being repaired that had been ruined. What makes it the greatest of all...

ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST (FEBRUARY 26)

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"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-6).

WE ALL KNOW ABOUT THE PHYSICAL ASPECT OF LIFE AND DEATH, BUT SPIRITUAL LIFE AND DEATH ARE NO LESS REAL. In today’s text, for ex...

ADAM’S HELPLESS RACE (FEBRUARY 25)

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"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6 NASB).

TO SAY THE VERY LEAST, WE DID NOT DESERVE WHAT CHRIST DID FOR US WHEN HE DIED FOR OUR SINS. But not only were we undeserving; we were helpless. His death provided a salvation we could never have achieved by any ability that we possessed. We were, as the Amplified Bible renders it, “powerless to help ourselves.”

Unfortunately, there is a concep...

OUT OF ZION SHALL GO FORTH THE LAW (FEBRUARY 24)

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"And many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.' For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3 NASB).

IN THIS TEXT FROM ISAIAH, A DAY IS ENVISIONED WHEN GOD’S TEACHING WOULD GO FO...

THEY SHALL ALL KNOW ME (FEBRUARY 23)

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"And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:34).

HERE WE HAVE ONE OF THE MOST OBVIOUS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW COVENANTS. The difference pertains to “knowing” God; so we need to think for a mome...