GOOD NEWS FOR SINNERS

The gospel is a declaration of good news for sinners. The gospel has no good news for the self-righteous trying to earn their own salvation. They will have to continue tirelessly working to earn their own righteousness. But the gospel has good news for the sinner who is so vile that he has no friends who can help him - Christ is the friend of sinners. The gospel has good news for sinners who have no hope of salvation in themselves - Christ is the hope of the hopeless. The gospel has good news for sinners who can do nothing to save themselves - Christ came to save sinners.

In I Tim. 1:15, Paul made two statements worthy to be believed when he wrote, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” First, we should all believe that we are the chief of sinners. Second, every sinner should believe and rejoice in the good news of the gospel: Christ Jesus came to save sinners like me!

Pastor

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,” (1 Peter 1:18-20)

The death of Christ on the cross was not an afterthought. It was not a fix to a situation that had gone horribly wrong. It was the eternal purpose of God! Before the world was ever created, and before man ever sinned, God the Father provided a sacrifice for sin - Jesus Christ His Son! He is “the lamb slain from the foundation of the world!” (Rev. 13:8)

In time, He came and accomplished His Father’s purpose. On the cross of Calvary we “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:29) Soon, He will come again and gather every sinner that He was slain for to Himself. And for the rest of time and eternity they will cry to the Lamb who is seated on the throne: “Thou art worthy!... For Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by the blood!...” (Rev. 5:9)

Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

One Sunday morning at a small southern church, the new pastor called on one of his older deacons to lead in the opening prayer. The deacon stood up, bowed his head and said, "Lord, I hate buttermilk."

The pastor opened one eye and wondered where this was going. The deacon continued, "Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was totally perplexed. The deacon continued, "Lord, I ain't too crazy about plain flour. But after you mix 'em all together and bake 'em in a hot oven, I just love biscuits. Lord help us to realize when life gets hard, when things come up that we don't like, whenever we don't understand what You are doing, that we need to wait and see what You are making. After you get through mixing and baking, it'll probably be something even better than biscuits.”

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The more the Lord is pleased to show me something of my sinfulness and inability, and the more the Lord is pleased to show me something of His holiness, the more I am convinced that salvation must be by grace alone without any input from me.