Gospel Thoughts 1

There is mercy only for sinners, there is grace only for the ungodly; there is no mercy for the self-righteous religionist who will not own himself as a guilty wretch.  The Gospel message is very galling to human nature; to have to stand in the dock and answer, "Guilty! Whatever the consequences may be, I am Guilty! I cannot look back upon my life upon a single day without being convinced of sin. I cannot help save himself, I plead and trust to the mercies of a bleeding and dying Savior."  Human nature enjoys the giver of life, but forgets to thank the Giver. We are ashamed of our past words and actions from our childhood to our manhood, and are regretful at the memories of our waywardness, willfulness, perverseness, and rebellion.  Our guilt haunts us until we trust and know Jesus as our personal Redeemer.  End your vain self-righteous show for it is hard to keep it up.

If you want peace with God, you must take up your true position before God, and plead Guilty.  If you are empty and guilty, there is room for mercy.  If you are polluted within, there is reason for cleansing.  If you are guilty, there is room for Grace.  Plead your guiltiness and say, "Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great, please forgive me."  Let your first desire be pardoned sin, get your sins forgiven, go straight to Christ now for this.  Do not labor to attain a better life, or make a profession, or put on outward religiousness.  Divine pardon of sins is the primary blessing to seek and obtain from Christ.  You can't grow a conscience.

Do you know where you're going when you die?  Do you know your sins are forgiven, and do you have it in writing?  Are you happy?

The natural man cannot endure to be saved by free mercy, he will not plead guilty and throw himself on the finished work of the great Savior.  He will not be treated as a pauper spiritually, he desires to have his finger in his own salvation, and claim at least a little credit for his salvation. Proud human nature will not take Heaven upon God's terms of grace; it holds to its own righteousness as though it were for dear life.  Human nature tries to prepare for grace and assist divine mercy, or in some degree it thinks it deserves eternal life based on its own works.  Human nature says that Jesus Christ did something or other, in some way or other, connected with salvation; but the Gospel says that Christ Jesus, God in human flesh, died for sinners and did everything that was necessary to pay for and forgive human sin.

The Eternal God Himself became a Jewish man in order to make an Atonement for the sins of His creatures, that is, the sins committed by them against Himself.  Believe in Him.  The vital part of the Gospel is Christ's Blood Atonement.  Let the Atonement which satisfied God's divine justice and wrath for human sin also satisfy your guilty conscience.  Christ's Atonement is to my soul the satisfaction for all my sins.  Christ Jesus is the great Atonement for human guilt.  Jesus Christ suffered that I might not suffer.  He was made the Victim, so I could go free.  Divine justice fell on Jesus, so mercy could fall on me.  Your soul cannot be saved from sin any other way.

The Atonement is the light for your sin-darkened spirit, soul and mind.  Come to the Cross, seek His rest, ask for His mercy, plead His atoning blood.  Run directly to Jesus, get inside the eternal Stronghold.  All my sins were laid on Jesus, and He made a full and complete Atonement for them all.  Trust only to the Blood Atonement which flowed from Jesus' veins and wounds.  Only trust Jesus, cast your guilty soul upon Him, yield yourself to Him.  Repent of sin, lay hold upon His perfect Righteousness.  God has been very, very gracious to me.  Only Christ's blood can calm your troubled conscience.  Only Christ's power and forgiveness can take away your great sin. There is no other Atonement beside that of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Believe in Jesus now.  Repent and believe in Him for yourself.  Clearly set before every sinner the way of free and full Salvation through faith in Christ's atoning blood.  Believe on Jesus and live forever.  Let your soul embrace the Gospel message. Fly to the Cross, the only place of Safety for your soul.

God Himself came down from Heaven and became a sinless Jewish man.  He lived here upon Earth a life of perfect obedience to God's Law, a life of holy service to sinful men.  On Calvary's Cross, the sins of the whole world were laid upon Christ Jesus; and on the accursed tree, Jesus endured all the wrath and punishment that we ought to have suffered for our sins.  God the Father bruised and smote Christ Jesus, His own Son in the place of sinners.  The payment of our enormous sin debt and guilt was demanded by divine Justice, and Jesus paid it in full with His own innocent Blood.  Trust in Jesus and you can rest assured that your sins are paid for forever, put away by Christ, completely blotted out once and for all.  Jesus has saved my soul, and this world will never hear the end of it.

We are accounted just in God's sight through our faith in Jesus' Precious Blood.  The Great Sin-Bearer laid down His life for you.  God the Father hath laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all.  *II Corinthians 5:21*  The way of eternal Safety is the way of Substitution, the way of Atonement, the way of Jesus Christ's Precious Blood.  Jesus suffered instead of me.  Simply trust and believe with all your heart in the Lord Jesus, relying, depending, leaning, resting on Him.  Believe God's words.  The real living Savior offered a real Atonement for your real sins, for vile crimes, for shameful offenses.  Your great sins need great forgiveness.  Jesus stood in the sinner's place; accept the Atonement He has made for your sins.  Your debts will be put down beneath Jesus' name, and Christ's merits will be put down beneath your name.  The atoning Sacrifice of the Son of God cancels every one of my sin debts forever.

A proud, lost sinner falls in love with his own self-image; he is unable to leave his self-image; he continues to keep his eyes on himself; he loves sinful habits; he has a fixation with himself; he refuses turn his eyes to Jesus Christ; he slowly becomes unable to leave his sinful image, and eventually dies in his own sins - his self-image.

Divine Justice punished the Innocent, so the guilty can go free.  Salvation by Substitution meets the demands and claims of eternal Divine Justice.  Trust you in the Blood of Jesus, and all your sins shall disappear through His atoning Sacrifice.  Cast your soul on the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus, as all your acceptance before God.  Christ's Blood and Righteousness is the only ground of confidence and acceptance before the White Throne Judgment.  The more you multiply your works to help save yourself, the more you multiply your sins.  God gave His Son to bleed and die for the ungodly.  The Savior proved His love by His bloody death for the guilty.  Jesus did everything that was necessary to freely forgive the guilty.  Nothing can be added to Christ's completed cross-work.  The work of Salvation is done forever.  Substitution, Christ suffering for sins instead of us, the Innocent dying for the guilty, the Lord of glory bearing the sins of rebellious men and women.  Only the Holy Ghost can cause you to see your state of ruin and absolute need of the Savior.  The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, reveals the truth of Scriptures, magnifies the Lord Jesus Christ, gives faith, and equips us to obey the words of God practically with wisdom.