28 Days 2020: Day 20

THE GOOD NEWS IN SEVEN STEPS

Creation: God created mankind to be sinless, righteous, and in right, intimate, cooperative relationship with Himself;

Sin: We all fail by disobeying God and doing our own thing out of our own self-centered will (this is called “sin”);

• Romans 5:12 (TLB) ¹² When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned.
• Psalm 51:5 (NLT2)  For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
• Romans 3:23 (NLT2)  For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
• Romans 3:10-18 (TLB) ¹⁰  As the Scriptures say, "No one is good—no one in all the world is innocent." ¹¹  No one has ever really followed God’s paths or even truly wanted to. ¹²  Every one has turned away; all have gone wrong. No one anywhere has kept on doing what is right; not one. ¹³  Their talk is foul and filthy like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are loaded with lies. Everything they say has in it the sting and poison of deadly snakes. ¹⁴  Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. ¹⁵  They are quick to kill, hating anyone who disagrees with them. ¹⁶  Wherever they go they leave misery and trouble behind them, ¹⁷  and they have never known what it is to feel secure or enjoy God’s blessing. ¹⁸  They care nothing about God nor what he thinks of them.

Death & Hell: The penalty for our sin is death and hell. We cannot remove this penalty ourselves no matter how hard we try; in our sin, we are all finished, condemned, and without hope, unless something above, beyond and outside of ourselves changes that;

• Romans 6:23 (NIV) For the wages of sin is death…

Redemption: God stepped into time and space and took all our punishment for sin on Himself by offering His righteous Son up to a criminal’s death in our place; He raised Christ from death to life that we might also be raised from death to life, free from the penalty of sin;

• John 3:16-17 (NIV) ¹⁶  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 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.
• Romans 4:25 - He [Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.ß A good “short version” of “The Gospel” to memorize!
• 1 Corinthians 15:1-6 - …I want to remind you of the gospel …By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. …For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that  Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to  more than five hundred…
• Romans 5:15-19 - … …The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Belief & Faith: If we have faith in Jesus Christ who was crucified for our sins and raised for our justification, and if we believe and have faith that He died, was resurrected to life, and is the eternal King of Kings, then we will be saved from death and hell;

• Romans 3:20-30 - no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known… Thisrighteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. …all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement … so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.  …we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

Salvation by grace: When we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, then we are no longer “under” law or any requirement to perform “well enough” to save ourselves, which would be impossible in the first place; 

• Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith  … it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.

Freedom: We are both free and called in Christ to pursue and observe His commands without fear of condemnation when we fail; we are free to have a close, growing relationship with God and with each other in the Kingdom of God and in the fellowship of faith, and we are called and privileged to share this Gospel with others.

• Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

 

 

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