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Monday, March 28, 2011

The Gospel is More

We know. We know the Gospel. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." Simple. But if we stop there, we're selling the Gospel short. The Gospel is so much more.

John wrote, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). We get the "forgive us our sins", but we often miss "cleanse us from all unrighteousness". That stuff you confessed? Forgiven. That stuff you forgot? That, too. But you're not just "even" with God. You're completely cleared of all sin, past, present, and future.

We know about the "work out your salvation" and we are even vaguely aware of "with fear and trembling". Behind that, however, is the amazing reality that it is God who is at work in you both to will and to do His good pleasure.

We know about "saved by faith", but the Gospel includes a process, a metamorphosis of colossal proportions in which we are "conformed to the image of His Son." Imagine that! We, sinners without a hope, are being shaped into a reflection of God the Son!

It isn't just getting square with God and sin forgiven. It is "dead to sin and alive to righteousness." It is the passing away of the old and all things new. It is being led into all truth. It is the presence of the Spirit of God in you.

Don't stop just inside the door. Don't be satisfied with free admission. Don't settle for "made it." Indulge in the Gospel -- the whole Gospel.

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