Posted on 01/02/2019 2:43:49 PM PST by The Ignorant Fisherman
No, condemnation is never the main thrust of the message of the Gospel of Christ. It is forgiveness. Sometimes warnings, but that is not the main thrust of the message of the gospel of Christ which is forgiveness.
Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it but to forgive and save it (John Chapt. 3).
Those who preach condemnation are generally those who themselves are still under the condemnation of the law and haven’t fully understood or embraced the grace of Christ by which they are the righteousness of God in Christ WITHOUT works.
They skip over the message of forgiveness to highlight the warnings and condemnation, but don’t forget
1) Jesus never condemned or “warned” Gentiles who knew already they were sinners as they do today. The only group Jesus warned and condemned were the religious leaders of his day - the Jewish Pharisees in particular, and the nation of Israel in general who were in the process of rejecting their Messiah.
2) These warnings in Acts were exclusively to the Jews who as Paul said, were to be the first to hear the gospel, but when they rejected the gospel of grace because they still wanted to be righteous by their own works, Paul went to the Gentiles who heard gladly the message of grace and eternal forgiveness without works through Christ.
Unfortunately, much of today’s church has gone back to the law and are not obedient to the faith of the grace of Christ that Jude says was “once delivered to the saints” and now once again must be “contended for”.
OK, but, again, experience doesn’t define doctrine. The Gospel of Grace presented mainly by Paul in Romans through Hebrews lays out the docrine of the Gospel of the Grace of Christ - “the faith that was once delivered to the saints”. How I “present” the gospel of grace doesn’t define what it is - the Bible defines it.
So having said that, I think it would depend - and to be effective you would have to be lead of the Holy Spirit.
Out of the clear blue sky, dunno, maybe...
“Have you ever felt like you did something wrong? Have you ever felt like God is mad at you or far away? He isn’t. He is as close to you as your words that say, “Jesus, help me - Jesus I need you, come into my heart and life.” God loves you and holds nothing against you because his Son Jesus died for all of your wrongdoings. Just receive the free gift of his complete forgiveness and love for you by receiving Jesus Christ and your life will change forever and heaven will be you home...”
That’s great to hear that God isn’t mad at me and holds nothing against me! What a relief! I’ve done some pretty bad things. From what you’re saying, I’m good with God right now. If that’s the case, I think I’ll pass on the Jesus thing, thanks. I like my life just like it is.
Even more to the point and closer to how it really happens, at least with me is more like...
“Have you ever asked Jesus to come into your heart? [If, “No.”] Would you like to ask him now? He will change your life forever and Heaven will be your home...”
Something like that.
Remember, that is personal experience, not doctrine, but it gets close to, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13).
Again someone’s rejection of the doctrine of the Gospel of the Grace and Forgiveness does’t change the doctrine.
The cross was a blank check righteously given in love to the world because the sins of the whole world were righteously judged on the body of God’s son Jesus Christ 2000 years ago regardless of who accepts or rejects the free gift of salvation. (2 Cor. 5:19 - God is NOT imputing the world’s sin to them and our ministry is that of reconciliation not condemnation (see also 2 Cor. 7-11)).
But many like yourself think that the message of the free gift of God’s grace and love (not because God has gone soft or unrighteous in the face of our sin, but because God righteously and fully judged all our sin on his Son Jesus), will cause people to thumb their nose at Jesus and say, “Pass”.
But is that notion really true? What did Jesus say despite what mans says? Jesus said that they that are forgiven much love much (Luke 7:47). Jesus said, regardless of man’s view, that someone who receives God’s blank check of grace and forgiveness will fall hopelessly in love with Jesus and his love of sin will die away (Rom. 6:14).
And it also helps to remember that you and I do NOT get people saved (John 6:44). So tell the truth about God’s grace, forgiveness, and love and leave the results to God. Some people are not ready when WE think they should. Others may never. It’s between them and God, not us.
There’s a story of the cold wind talking to the sun saying, “I bet I can get this guy’s coat off better than you.” So the cold wind blew with all his might trying to FORCE the man’s coat off against his will. But the harder he blew, the tighter the man held on to his coat. At some point the sun said, “Let me give it a try.” So the sun shone in all its strength and glory. Soon the man was so warm that he WANTED to take his coat off and did.
The story is poignant because the coat represents our justification by self-righteousness and self-effort which are like “filthy rags”. Yelling condemnation at people makes them hold tighter to their desire for justification by works and self-effort. But the love of Christ will cause them to willingly let go. You and I can’t do that. Only God can. Our job as I said, is to preach the truth and leave the results to God.
Jesus died for the sins of the whole world (John 1:29, 1 John 2:2).
Sin is no longer the issue because Christ took care of the sin issue on the cross forever - an issue that man could NEVER fix.
The ONLY question left is, “What are you going to do with Jesus?”
Life is not a sin question, it is a Christ question. But the Christ question is couched in 2 Cor 5:19 - that of God reaching out to a hurting world in love offering reconciliation because Jesus Christ has taken care of the sin problem and there’s long longer any reason to be afraid of or run away from God.
So the Christ issue is couched in the message of grace and forgiveness, not condemnation.
Amen, and thank God for Jesus!
Praise to our King Eternal!
He has done it!
You didn’t answer my questions. Was Jesus mistaken when He told the Pharisees they would “die in their sins”? What is the eternal consequence of not getting the “what are you going to do with Jesus” question right?
"[I]f you do not believe that I am he, you shall die in your sins" (John 8:24).
And that is exactly right. It is now a Christ question, not a sin question. Jesus took care of the sin problem but it is to no avail if you don't accept him.
Nevertheless, the gospel message its NOT a condemnation message, but a forgiveness and reconciliation message.
Who was Jesus talking to in this passage? It was the only people Jesus rebuked and was angry with - the self-righteous religious leaders of his day - the Jewish Pharisees - those who refused to accept the grace of God and righteousness by faith, not works. Not the sinners. Jesus was a friend of sinners (Matt 11:19). And Jesus being a friend of sinners was the excuse the religious leaders of his day used to kill him (Id.). Not unlike today.
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