March 15, 2020
Greetings and blessings to all of you. I have been thinking about the Simplicity of the Gospel. By definition it means “the teaching or revelation of Christ.” A stumbling block for most people is Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” When ministering or sharing the “Good News” we must explain that by nature we are all separated from God. He is holy but we are human and do not measure up to His perfect standard. We are sinful, and “the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23 Sharing the Gospel can become complicated when the person cannot and will not accept the fact the he/she is a sinner. Most people follow “the Good Person” faith. Recall the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Mark Chapter 10. This young man with plenty of money and authority ask Jesus “what must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus looked into his heart (after the rich man explained that he ‘kept all the commandments’)told him,” Go and sell everything you have, give the money to the poor, follow me, then you will have treasures in heaven.” Of course, this man declined the offer. WOW!!! You may ask, how could he say NO to ETERNAL LIFE with JESUS and say YES to his youth, power and money? Before we get Pharisaical, lets examine our own hearts. What idol (s) are we holding on to that God is asking us to let go of? I assert that if a person measures their wealth and morals against the standard of this world you will feel and behave like this man. But if our standards are measured against the yard stick of GOD we will fall short. We will all do as this man did “but he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” His sin was the love of money, power, self-sufficiency; he could not admit that he was a sinner that needed to confess, repent then follow Christ. The simplicity of the Gospel offends the intelligent because “for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” Cor. 18-25 Rejecting the simple Gospel (the truth) will cause people to incur the” Wrath of God.” But In 2 Peter 3:9 God “is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” In sharing the Gospel keep it simple and wrap in love.
With the Love of Christ
First Lady Vivian C. Currie
Pastor ALC