The gospel means many things to many different people. I heard one preacher claim that if you did not use a specific translation of the Bible you were not saved. I heard another preacher say that he presents the Gospel when he leaves a generous tip, 20-25%, as he leaves a restaurant. I find both of these claims disturbing. With regards to the first claim, God moved the authors of Scripture to write the exact words He wanted recorded, in their original writings. What we have today are very accurate translations, NKJV, NIV, NASB, and the ESV that preserve God’s Word, which includes His Gospel message. As for the second claim, if generosity is the Gospel message then Bill Gates, an unbeliever, is spreading the Gospel far more successfully than most Christians will ever have the capacity to do so. Neither of these claims agree with Scripture, but they do strongly reflect the ideas of men. There have been, and continue to be, many other additions or changes to the Gospel message over the ages. After all, it is a great strategy for satan to confuse the one message that can deliver a person from a life of hopelessness and the penalty of sin, to keep them from enjoying an eternal relationship with their Creator. This, after all, is the enemy’s greatest goal. Instead of asking what people think the Gospel message is, I believe we must ask God what He has determined to be the true Gospel message; after all, it is His message, His idea, not mankind’s. Let us look to the Bible, God’s revealed Word, to discover what the Gospel is according to Jesus: 1. Believing Jesus Christ is who he claimed to be. In John 8:23 Jesus tells the religious leaders, “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.” Who did Jesus claim to be? He claimed to be equal with God (John 5:18) and this is why the religious leaders planned to kill him. He claimed to be eternal (John 8:58-59) and the religious leaders tried to kill him. He claimed to be God (John 10:29-33) and once again the religious leaders were eager to kill him. The religious leaders understood the claims of Jesus and they actively decided to reject those claims in a very harsh way, murder. To deny Jesus’ claim of deity we would need to remove the book of John from our Bible, but that is exactly what all other religions do. Either they deny the deity of Jesus Christ or they make NORTH MASON LIFELINE JULY 2012 BUILDING LIVES ON GOD’S WORD North Mason Bible Church PO Box 805 Belfair, WA 98528 (360) 275-4555 www.northmasonbible.org RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Please call if you do not wish to continue receiving this monthly newsletter. Donna Brush 7-3 Connor Grimm 7-3 Logan Hudson 7-3 Joe Grable 7-4 Bernice Nigh 7-15 Florence Drouillard 7-16 Maia Hudson 7-16 Joe Miller 7-17 Jerry Murray 7-18 Bud Moyer 7-24 Ben Borughton 7-25 Joanna Mead 7-27 Carrie Mead 7-28 Beverly Weber 7-28 Richard Boswell 7-31 Steven Helland 7-31 Bud & Thelma Moyer 7-1 Brad & Melissa Hudson 7-12 Dick & Raeann Dodge 7-15 NON- PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID Belfair, WA Permit #9 Wayne & Lindsay Broughton 7-17 Brian & Cathy Bennett 7-22 Stephen & Beverly Weber 7-28
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Transcript
The gospel means many things to
many different people. I heard one
preacher claim that if you did not use a
specific translation of the Bible you were
not saved. I heard another preacher say
that he presents the Gospel when he leaves
a generous tip, 20-25%, as he leaves a
restaurant.
I find both of these claims
disturbing. With regards to the first claim,
God moved the authors of Scripture to
write the exact words He wanted recorded,
in their original writings. What we have
today are very accurate translations, NKJV,
NIV, NASB, and the ESV that preserve
God’s Word, which includes His Gospel
message. As for the second claim, if
generosity is the Gospel message then Bill
Gates, an unbeliever, is spreading the
Gospel far more successfully than most
Christians will ever have the capacity to do
so.
Neither of these claims agree with
Scripture, but they do strongly reflect the
ideas of men. There have been, and
continue to be, many other additions or
changes to the Gospel message over the
ages. After all, it is a great strategy for
satan to confuse the one message that can
deliver a person from a life of hopelessness
and the penalty of sin, to keep them from
enjoying an eternal relationship with their
Creator. This, after all, is the enemy’s
greatest goal.
Instead of asking what people
think the Gospel message is, I believe we
must ask God what He has determined to
be the true Gospel message; after all, it is
His message, His idea, not mankind’s.
Let us look to the Bible, God’s
revealed Word, to discover what the
Gospel is according to Jesus:
1. Believing Jesus Christ is who
he claimed to be. In John 8:23 Jesus
tells the religious leaders, “I told you
that you would die in your sins; if you do
not believe that I am the one I claim to
be, you will indeed die in your sins.”
Who did Jesus claim to be? He claimed
to be equal with God (John 5:18) and this
is why the religious leaders planned to
kill him. He claimed to be eternal (John
8:58-59) and the religious leaders tried to
kill him. He claimed to be God (John
10:29-33) and once again the religious
leaders were eager to kill him. The
religious leaders understood the claims
of Jesus and they actively decided to
reject those claims in a very harsh way,
murder.
To deny Jesus’ claim of deity we
would need to remove the book of John
from our Bible, but that is exactly what
all other religions do. Either they deny
the deity of Jesus Christ or they make
NORTH MASON LIFELINE
JULY 2012
BUILDING LIVES ON GOD’S WORD North Mason Bible Church
PO Box 805
Belfair, WA 98528
(360) 275-4555 www.northmasonbible.org RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Please call if you do not wish to continue receiving this monthly newsletter.
Donna Brush 7-3 Connor Grimm 7-3 Logan Hudson 7-3 Joe Grable 7-4 Bernice Nigh 7-15 Florence Drouillard 7-16 Maia Hudson 7-16 Joe Miller 7-17
Jerry Murray 7-18 Bud Moyer 7-24 Ben Borughton 7-25 Joanna Mead 7-27 Carrie Mead 7-28 Beverly Weber 7-28 Richard Boswell 7-31 Steven Helland 7-31