The BIG Picture (Q&A)

Israel, before the cross Mat 19:16-21  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?  17 … but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.  18  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,  19  Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  20  The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?  21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. Before the cross, Jews had to show faith and confirming works (to prove their faith) in order to be saved. Their faith was placed in their confession of Jesus as the Messiah. Thereafter, their confirming works were to ob...

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. In fact in Romans 3:9-20 the Apostle Paul gives a very negative view of each and every one of us. He says there is none righteous, none that does good, unprofitable, none that understands, liars, and destruction and misery are in our ways. All the world is guilty before God (Romans 3:19). It is God’s law that declares each and every one of us as guilty before him, and therefore as Paul declares, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. The word "justified" means to be found free of guilt, (just as if I had never sinned). The law cannot justify us because it’s the very thing that declares our guilt. God is a just and righteous judge. God must be legally and morally right in all that he does. His righteousness and justice will not allow Him to justify a guilty man, therefore the dilemma is how can God justify the guilty and he himself remain just? God’s righteousness without the law ...

Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait [narrow] gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait [narrow] is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. When Jesus spoke these words, He was speaking to the Jews who were under the law of Moses. The narrow gate was in reference to living by the Mosaic law. The law brought about many constraints that made life challenging and 'narrow' . The wide road represented a way of life with no constraints, no demands, and no expectations. Those who ignored the law lived as they pleased and hence the road was wide and easy, but the end of it was destruction. The concept of the narrow gate and the wide gate is trans-dispensational and still applies today in this present age of grace, however the circumstances that determine the narrow from the wide have changed. Today, it is not the Mosaic law that determines the...

This is undoubtedly the MOST important question we can EVER be asked, but sadly, the answer is also the MOST misunderstood. The problem with this question, no matter how it is asked, is threefold. We are ignorant about it or don't think it's a big deal We tend to complicate the answer We think we have to do something to be saved Lets look at point #1 and clarify it. Why must I be saved? We are created beings. This means that whether you believe it or not, there is a Creator (Jn.1:1-5). The problem is that we have been separated from our Creator because of sin (Isa.59:2; Mic.3:4). You see, God is holy, and because we have sin in our nature (Rom.3:23; Rom.3:10-12), we are not. Because of sin, we cannot survive in God's holiness (Ex.33:20; Ps.5:4; 1Jn.4:12; 1Tim.6:16) where God wants us to be (Ps.145:18; Jn.14:23.  Many who are ignorant of this do not realize that when we die, without the salvation that God freely offers through the sacrifice of His Son , we will remain separa...

No . The act of confessing Jesus as Lord was a required condition that was part of the Kingdom Gospel. Salvation in the grace gospel today simply requires you to BELIEVE that Christ died for your sins and was raised for your justification. For us today, the act of confessing that Jesus is Lord does not add one iota of value to actually save you. If it was a necessary act to save you, it would become a work, a condition, and it would diminish the 100% grace of the work of Christ on your behalf, (Rom.11:6). The 'confession (profession)' of faith as seen in the verse below is often cited in the wrong context, and misused . The common 'sinner's prayer', and even the Roman Road salvation technique often uses this verse as instruction for a new believer to do in order to be 'saved.' Rom.10:9-10 IF thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For...

No . This verse depicts the Kingdom gospel and not the Grace gospel. The gospel is absent in this verse and therefore one cannot use this verse as a basis to present the gospel to someone. Why not? This verse lacks the information that one needs to know regarding the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and what that purpose is for us. John 3:16 is essentially the Kingdom gospel and had to do with the  identity  of Jesus Christ, and Jews [ at the time of John's writing ] had to acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah, (see John 20:31, Luke 12:8, Matthew 16:16, John 11:27 ). The Grace gospel today is not about the identity of Christ, but rather with the cross work of Jesus; not who He is, but  what He has done . For examples of the grace gospel, see 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 4:25; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; Romans 14:9; 2 Corinthians 5:15.   (Note, these scriptures above reference the cross work of Jesus, ...

There are two things that contribute to making the gospel effective. Please review the below as a brief overview and understanding of the grace gospel, which Paul declares, Rom.1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; 1️⃣ Hear the message of why Jesus Christ had to save us: Because of Adam's sin, we are all born with the nature of sin in us and this separates us from God. Jesus Christ (God incarnate), born 'without' the sin nature, and who lived a perfect life required by God's standards, freely gave up His life for us by dying on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, so, Jesus, by dying on our behalf, and in our place, paid the sin penalty for us. Because of His death, we are imputed (freely given) His righteousness. In other words, because He freely took our sin upon Himself and died in our place, we are freely given His life which is pleasi...