The Simplicity of the Gospel (#146)
Bible version used: KJV/NIV
What would you think of a sick person who said that he wouldn’t go to a doctor until he got well? “How illogical,” you say. Unfortunately, such is the thinking of many who need to be born again. The greatest thing about the Gospel of Christ is its utter simplicity.
You may have heard that you need to keep the Ten Commandments in order to be saved, or that you must clean up your life before you can be forgiven.
How totally unlike the teaching of Jesus! Jesus never asked a person to clean up his life before he could be
forgiven. Our Lord always walked into a person’s life right where he was, with all his sins, his failures, his guilty conscience and his imperfections.
But you say, “You don’t know all the sins in my life. I’ve got so many problems and habits that are tearing me to pieces that I’m not fit to come to God. How could He love me when I’m so unlovely? God couldn’t possibly love a sinner like me.”
But the Bible tells us that God does love us. How dare we tell God that we’re too unlovable for Him when the Bible tells us that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 KJV)
When are you going to quit using your unloveliness and sinfulness as excuses for not receiving Christ as your Savior? Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a
doctor, but the sick . . . I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
(Matthew 9:12, 13 NIV)
Come to Jesus with all your sins, your bad habits, your guilt-ridden conscience, your problems that seem larger than mountains. Our God is a great God who can forgive the biggest sins and solve the biggest problems. Jesus is the divine physician. You will never be healed of your sins until you humble yourself before the only one who can meet your need.
Don’t make the Gospel difficult, because it is truly simple. Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 KJV)
-M. Dean Stephens