Trust Jesus Today!

The Bible gives us God’s truth, and while the bad news is worse than we might ever imagine, the good news is more glorious than we might dare to believe.  The Gospel is about coming face to face with our sin in all of its vile dimensions and damning conse­quences AND about how God, out of the awesome grace and goodness of his heart, made a way for his enemies (i.e., us!) to be forgiven, reconciled, and justified as joint heirs with Jesus and God’s beloved children forever!  Consider key texts in Romans:

The “low” of the Gospel is very low.  Even though God uses nature to make it plain to all that he is an awesome Creator (1:20), from our first parents down to this day we have not honored or thanked the One to whom we owe our existence (v 21).  Instead, we turned away, our minds were darkened, and as fools we worshipped the creature rather than the Creator (vv 22-23).  And this idolatry is universal:  none is righteous, no, not one (3:10); all have sinned by snubbing the glory of God (3:23).  So don’t settle for a “gospel” that merely nods at sin, conceding, “Well, okay, nobody’s perfect.”  Insist on a Gospel that says, “You are guilty of high treason against God, and you deserve his holy wrath!”

And the “high” of the Gospel is very high.  We can be justified and embraced by God through faith in Jesus Christ (3:22).  This is a gift overflowing from divine grace (v 24).  You see, in his death God’s Son endured the Father’s righteous wrath so that sinners who admit their guilt and cry out in faith for mercy can be saved—can receive eternal joy in the presence of Christ!  God put his Son for­ward as a “propitiation” (v 25), a suffering substitute to bear our guilt and take our penalty so we can go free.  And so, God is just (sin’s penalty is paid; it would be unjust to sweep our sin under the rug) and the justifier of all who put their faith in Jesus (v 26).

Just think what the Bible is saying.  Out of love Christ died so that we, his enemies, could live—forever (5:8).  Trust Jesus today!