Episodes
Thursday Sep 25, 2014
IF MAN IS TO BE SAVED, THEN GOD MUST SAVE HIM (Romans 3:21-23)
Thursday Sep 25, 2014
Thursday Sep 25, 2014
When we accept the apostle Paul’s statement that we are all hopelessly guilty before a holy God, and that we are helpless to redeem ourselves, the natural questions that might be asked are, What then? If I cannot help myself, then who will? Am I too bad, have I done too many bad things to be saved?
This is exactly the question that Paul wants us to ask, because this tells him that we are ready to hear about God’s plan for the justification and salvation of man. Paul is going to tell us that we have a God that loves us, and He has a plan for us.
God’s plan is a simple plan, yet it is a difficult plan for many of us to accept. We do not easily admit that we cannot do something, or that we are dependent on others to something for us. The more successful in life that you are, the more difficult is for you.
God’s plan is a complete plan that stands ready for us, when we are ready for God. Jesus has done all of the work for our justification, redemption, regeneration, and salvation. You only have to accept it.
God’s plan costs us nothing, it is free to us, but it cost God the Father, the most precious thing that He has, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
God’s plan tells us that if man is to be saved at all, then it is God that must save him, and it is by God’s plan, and only God’s plan, that man can be saved.
Listen to this podcast to learn that God has a plan of salvation for sinners, even the worst of sinners. There is nothing that you could do, other than rejecting God’s plan, that would be too bad for you to be saved. This makes God’s plan unique among other religions.
Friday Sep 19, 2014
WE ARE MORE THAN JUST A LITTLE GUILTY (Romans 3:13-20)
Friday Sep 19, 2014
Friday Sep 19, 2014
When your religion demands that you do more good than bad, you must always ask yourself, Have I done enough? The problem is that you will not know the answer to that question until you stand before the judgment of God.
You must ask yourself, how many right things does it take to outweigh a really bad thing? Is there ever a way to earn enough good things to overcome a violent crime, such as a rape, or an armed robbery, or even murder? Is there anything that a person can do that can overcome these things in a religion that says that the good a person does must outweigh the bad things that a person does?
This is the question that most people are asking themselves, have I done enough to please God?
What if I told you that there was a simple answer to this question? The answer is, no, you have not, and you never will. That is probably not the answer that you were expecting, right? Well, right here in this question and answer is the key to what makes Christianity, God’s true plan for salvation, so much better, so much more practical, and so much simpler, than all of the religions that rely on the scales of right and wrong.
The gospel message of Christ presents a much different scenario for man. We do not have to wait until we die to find out where we shall stand in the judgment. We can know right now. Paul says that there is none righteous, no not one. Then he says that through God’s law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Every mouth, not some mouths, but every mouth shall be stopped from protesting their innocence. For by the law all the world, not some select group of do gooders, but everyone, all the world becomes guilty before God and therefore we all need a Savior. You know this now, not when you stand before Christ on that judgment day, you know this now, and your opportunity to do something about it is now.
John tells us that He that believeth on him (Christ) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:18
If you fail to accept Jesus as your Savior, the verdict that you will hear from Christ at the Great White Throne judgment will be that you rejected Christ. That none of your good works are good enough, they are as filthy rags before a holy God, and that you are condemned to spend eternity burning in the fires of hell.
It is a vain belief in any religion that says you should hang on to hope that somehow, even still, that your good deeds can outweigh your bad deeds. That maybe somehow you will be able to do something that God will judge as acceptable to Him. If you believe this, then this lesson is for you. The best, the most sincere, and the most strenuous attempts to please God by keeping His law will fail. It cannot be done. Truly, man is not only helpless in his condition, but he is hopeless in his case before a Holy God.
Yet all is not lost. The wonderful good news of the gospel is that if man is to be saved, then God must save him. God loves you, and His most sincere desire is that you join Him in heaven for all of eternity. If you are willing to accept His free gift of salvation, then you can indeed do just that. This week’s lesson tells us that we are all guilty before God, that we all need a Savior, and that Savior is Jesus Christ.
Version: 20230822