WILL YOU CHOOSE LIFE OR DEATH?
What is the Good News of the Gospel?
The Gospel proclaims the good news of the Kingdom of God; that by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we can have eternal life now, and a glorious inheritance in the world to come. Have you received your free gift? In the full manifestation of the Kingdom throughout all of the future new heavens and earth, the Lord will dwell together with His people (who will all be raised free of any corruption), and there will be “no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4). This is the most remarkable, pivotal, profound, incredible, significant, critical, and wonderful message ever to be proclaimed! The blessings in store for God’s children go far beyond what could ever be attained in this lifetime; with no more awful curses or war, but only everlasting peace and joy, with treasures and rewards that will last for all time. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
The Problem of Sin
To truly appreciate the incredible significance of the Gospel message one must first come to grips with what is at stake. It really is a matter of life or death. We would all like to thrive in prosperity without evil and suffering, yet this is not possible in this finite existence because of sin, which is the transgression of God’s Law, or unrighteousness. Sin, when it is finished, brings forth death (James 1:15). All people are inherently sinful by nature, and thereby death is passed upon all of mankind.
The Bible has declared, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10), and that the soul that sins, “it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). Death means spiritual separation from God, and the perishing away of our physical bodies. In the afterlife, it also means being sent to the perpetual torments of hell, and finally, being cast into the lake of fire, at the great white throne (Revelation 20:11-15).
As we all become aware of death, in the back of our minds and deep in our feelings, we all maintain a sense of loneliness and sadness, all of the time, because we are spiritually removed from our Creator, (whom we were made to be with, to serve and to worship), and we all must come to acceptance of our own wicked corruption and mortality, and suffer the heartbreaking loss, ruin, and harm, of the things and people we love. Because no one can be perfectly righteous in this world, (of his own will and accord), before a just and Holy God, we all fall under the bondage of sin unto suffering and death; and because we are all guilty of sin, in the final judgment of our souls in the afterlife, we are all deserving of wrath and eternal condemnation in hell and the lake of fire.
The Word that sets us Free
Sin is an offence worthy of punishment. Yet, God so loved the world, He came in humble fashion, and suffered and bore all our due penalty upon Himself, so that the lost could be found and set free from the dire consequences of sin. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6). “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:21).
The Gospel is all about the ultimate reconciliation between God and mankind, in the absolute victory God has given us by His Son. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). As one is saved in this life by the mercy and power of God, immediately one is born again, or regenerated, of the Spirit, unto everlasting life. Presently, one is renewed in the heavenly realms, and eventually, set to receive final glorification of the body, once the Lord returns to the earth to fully set up His Kingdom.
Since no person can stand righteous, or justified, or innocent, based on one’s own personal merits or efforts, we are not saved by doing good works, but rather we are saved to do them, according to God’s divine purposes which He has preordained for each of His children to walk in. No person can ever take personal pride in salvation because all the glory must always go up to God, who, at every stage of the path, sovereignly made it happen. It is by His work alone, even with regards to the faith which He instills in us. The salvation of God cannot be attained by the performance of good works, (even if done in good intent), but rather only by the grace of God through faith in His Son. “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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).
The Meaning of Salvation
Salvation means deliverance or preservation from harm, ruin, or loss. In the context of the Christian faith, it means being rescued by God from sin and it’s dire consequences. Salvation means to be justified of the Law, which means to be eternally set free, or graciously forgiven, from condemnation before the Most High Throne. It means to be sanctified in the Spirit, whereby one’s eternal soul is washed clean from sinful corruption or atoned by the blood of Christ.
To be saved means that one has been converted or regenerated in the inner-man (or soul, or spiritual body) into a new creature in Christ, that is no longer held under bondage to the reign of sin and death, or by the curse of the law. It means finding higher purposes in this life, and to be seated in heavenly places with God in the spiritual domain. It means to be made a citizen, child, and heir, of God’s glorious Kingdom, that exists here and now, in the Spirit and in the hearts of all believers, (as it is to be fully manifest in the age of the new heavens and new earth to come).
How Can I be Saved?
Only God can perform this miraculous act, that converts a person from a default state of death in trespasses and sins, to a spiritually ‘quickened’ state of eternal life, whereby one comes to get to know God as Lord and Saviour personally. Jesus said, no man can enter into, or see, the Kingdom of God, unless he is born again (John 3:3-5), and this requires repentance (an earnest desire and intent to turn from sin), while calling on the name of the Lord with trust to receive His mercy.
“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10). The Lord gave of Himself willingly at the death of the cross, that He might deliver us from this present evil world (Galatians 1:4), into the sanctity and peace of His Kingdom. Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).
Jesus loved the world so much, He suffered and died in our places, and rose back from the grave, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Christ did not come into the world to condemn it, but that the world through him might be saved. This is the Gospel you now hear preached to you, of the living God, by which you also can be saved, if you receive it as the knowledge of the truth. Escape the reign of sin that leads unto death. Repent and be baptized to receive life. Hear about how Christ died for your sins, was buried, and how that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures. That Christ came in the flesh (as God manifested into the world He created) (1 Timothy 3:16, John 1) to conquer sin and death, so that we could receive the free gift of eternal life by God’s grace through faith in Him. Christ is the only way. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). He became the required propitiation for our atonement; “For he was given to be sin for us, (who knew no sin), that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Regardless of your current circumstances, the ascended Lord Christ sits now on the Throne of His Glory, able to answer your prayer! If you repent of your sin, and call upon Christ’s name, He will respond according to His love and the promise of His infallible Word. We are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29). What could be more paramount than where you’ll spend eternity? With salvation, it’s either life or death at hand; blessings or curses – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23), and “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
Choose Life this Day
“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:11-13).
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord: “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18). The Lord God Almighty has set before you this day life and death, blessing and curse, therefore choose life this day that you may live. As it is appointed unto men, “once to die”, “but after this the judgment”, even so “Christ was once offered”, to “bear the sins of many”; and unto them that look for Him he shall, “appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:27, 28). “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” (2 Corinthians 6:2).