Classic Christianity – Book of John Part 18 (05-08-19)
Bob George shares again the good news of the gospel, sharing truth from scriptures that he has compiled into a little booklet titled, “Born Free”. What is our part, as believers in Christ?
2 Corinthians 5:20
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
Recall that which Christ has done for us, the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
We are saved by His life, the cross was not an end in itself, but a means of accomplishing the end – that of restoring life that had been lost through sin.
Colossians 1:21-22
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation
Romans 5:10
10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Hebrews 9:28
28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
In Him you are a new creation. In Him you are complete. In Him there is now no condemnation. In Him we have forgiveness. In Christ, you do not get forgiven, you are forgiven.
Colossians 1:27
27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 2:9-10
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
Ephesians 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
In Him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, with no condemnation, and are made a new creation in Christ, complete in Him, not lacking anything for life and godliness. Our decision is this, to turn from our unbelief and to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your life.
Philippians 1:21
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Salvation is entered into by faith.
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Religion is man’s best efforts to reach up to God, but Christ is God’s only method to reach down to man in forgiveness and offer him true life.
Salvation is crossing over from spiritual death to spiritual life.
John 1:12
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
John 3:36
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
John 5:24
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
Is there any reason not to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior? A personal invitation still stands to repent of the sin of unbelief and come to Christ by faith in what he alone already did for you, his death to take away sins of the world, your sins included, and his life when he rose from the dead to be received as a gift. Bob made a point to say one is not repenting of sins, for no one can really say they can completely stop sinning. The only sin that keeps someone from having life is the sin of unbelief in Jesus Christ. When one refuses to come to Christ then one remains in spiritual death. But our hope is new life for you. But you must choose to believe to have new life in Christ!
In a Billy Graham crusade, Bob recalls he was told to repent of all your sins. No one can ever do that. No one has ever repented of all their sins. It is to repent of the sin of unbelief. That is the only sin that will keep you from receiving eternal life, to have redemption and forgiveness and new life in Him. There was a point in time that Bob changed his mind and came to Jesus. Bob once trusted in his church affiliation and in himself until he turned in trust alone in what Jesus accomplished for him.
Bob offers a suggested prayer. You are not saved by praying. By the time a person gets ready and agrees to pray this prayer he is probably already saved. He already exercised faith. What are you going to do now? Talk to God. Prayer is expressing your faith to God.
“Jesus, I need you. Thank you fro dying on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins. Thank you for offering me your life. I now ask you to come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. I thank you for coming into my heart as my lord an savior. Take control of my life and make me into the new creation you want to be. I now thank you for coming into my heart and giving me eternal life.”
If a person has prayed that prayer, having exercised faith in Jesus, spoken to God, the living Christ has come to dwell in you forever and you have begun a great adventure for which you have been created as a child of God. That is basically the gospel. The rest of the book is in follow up, which is vitally important to help a person to realize who they have become in Christ Jesus.
Bob, and like-minded believers, also challenge the body of Christ to have the message of the gospel available to share with people. Bob encouraged believers to carry a gospel tract, such as the “Born Free” gospel tract he produced, to reach out to people with such great news of the gospel. Bob has seen so ministries and the only thing that makes this ministry, Bob George Ministries, unique is the message. If everyone delivers this message, the life of Christ, how many lives will be changed? Yet so many preach tithing and everyone has heard of it. Giving out one gospel tract a week is a simple thing to do, and by doing so you are sharing the message of eternal life. With the “Born Free” gospel tract, you have the confidence that you are not delivering a half gospel but the full gospel.
You can say to someone, “This is a little book that explains what changed my life and I would like to give it to you. Will you be willing to read this book if I give it to you?” Commit with me to hand out one of these “Born Free” gospel tracts a week? Are you willing to do this?
We do not know one moment to the next if we will be here. In our country, it seems that we are one president away from great tragedy. We do not know what the future holds and who will be here. We have heard of people being shot or killed just attending a church service or a political event or a concert. Anyone could also die suddenly after a car accident, stroke or heart attack. Let’s share the good news of the gospel. Reach out to people. The greatest joy you will ever experience is to lead someone to new life in Jesus Christ.
Bob closes in prayer for all believers. He asked God, and I also pray today, that God opens up opportunities. God, open up opportunities so people can open up their hearts to Him. So we trust you, God, to open up opportunities for us and we thank you in advance for all you are going to do. For we know that God strongly supports those whose hearts are fully His. So as we commit to make disciples, then you, God, are faithful to bring fruit in areas we never dreamed of. We are excited to see what you will do and continue to do through the lives of many through what you Lord have begun in our lives. In Jesus name we pray.
