The promise of the Gospel is eternal, everlasting life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Eternal life is God's promise to all who repent and believe the Gospel, because the Gospel declares Jesus did everything necessary to save sinners completely and forever! He is the all-sufficient Savior who finished His perfect work of redemption on Calvary's cross (John 19:30). He not only cancels the eternal sin debt for all who trust Him, but He also graciously credits His perfect righteousness to the believer's account (Col. 2:13-14; 2 Cor. 5:21).
Yet, over half of professing Christianity deny God's promise and assurance of eternal life (1 John 5:13). Many live in fear of losing their salvation because they have not trusted Christ alone for their salvation. They have been wrongly taught that salvation is conditional, incorrectly relying on what man must DO instead of what Christ has DONE. This was evident when we engaged Catholics going into the Mass on Christmas Eve. We asked over 50 Catholics, "What is the greatest gift you have ever received?" Not one of them said, "the gift of eternal life." Most of them took our Greatest Gift Gospel tract which contains the imperishable seed of God's Word and His promises. Tragically for many, the assurance of eternal life has become The Best Kept Secret in the Church.
Those who deny the promise of the Gospel may not know that they are denying the Gospel itself. They need to be evangelized with God's infallible Word that is forever settled in heaven. This can be done by asking them to consider the following questions...
- How can one who has been born again of the incorruptible seed of God's Word die again? (1 Pet. 1:23)
- How can a new creature in Christ return to the creature that passed away? (2 Cor. 5:17)
- How can one whom God has perfected forever be found imperfect? (Heb. 10:14)
- How can God's irrevocable gift of eternal life be revoked? (Rom. 11:29)
- How can the Good Shepherd, who gave His life for His sheep, fail to keep and protect them? (John 10:1-30)
- How can the perpetual intercession of Jesus be denied? (Heb. 7:25)
- How can those God predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, not be glorified? (Rom. 8:29-30)
- How can the proof of God's unconditional love be invalidated? (Rom. 8:31-39)
- How can those God delivered from the power of darkness be sent back? (Col. 1:13)
- How can God, who began a good work in the redeemed, fail to perfect it like He promised? (Phil. 1:6)
- How can those God has made complete in Christ become incomplete? (Col. 2:10)
- How can those whom God saved apart from human merit be condemned again by demerits? (Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 3:2-7)
- How can a sovereign act of Almighty God be undone by man? (John 1:12-13)
- How can those whom God redeemed from the curse of the law be placed back under the curse? (Gal. 3:13; 4:5)
- How can God, who is holy and cannot lie, break His promise? (Titus 1:2)
These questions emphasize the sovereign grace of God in bringing spiritually dead sinners to eternal life in Christ. The assurance of salvation can only be realized when we come to the cross of Christ with empty hands of faith. The only thing we can bring is our sin. This assurance should not be based on a past decision, but on the present reality of a changed life. This new life will be marked by our love and gratitude for Christ that is demonstrated by obedience to His Word and the fruit of the Spirit (John 14:15, 23; Gal. 5:22-24).
No comments:
Post a Comment