the Gospel, revisited.

let me know if you find heresy in the following... 

for the past few weeks i've been asking the Lord to show me what the Gospel truly is. i listened to a sermon and then went on a run to think about it and pray, and as i walked back i pulled an erica and started preaching to the air...

you are without hope. dead in your trespasses, you lie lonely, separated from God. you have no merit, nothing makes you appealing; you have no worth in and of yourself. 

and before a holy God you have no place. he is just and he is holy, and before him you cannot stand. there is nothing in your heart that desires true justice, nor is there anything within you that desires holiness. there is a chasm between you and the Father that cannot be crossed, a divide that cannot be conquered. there is a breach that can only be made right by blood, the blood of a pure and perfect sacrifice.

and He has provided such a sacrifice. the Father searched for a pure, clean, perfect sacrifice, and on the earth he found no such thing. no one understands, no one seeks God. there is no one righteous, no not one! but the Father, in his infinite and abounding love and provision, sent the only One capable. he was not merely a lamb as the Jews were accustomed to. he was not merely man, for he is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. and he came and lived among us. and when the time came he suffered and died as the perfect and atoning sacrifice for the sin from which we could not save ourselves. 

so believe. believe on his name and repent! forsaking all, throw yourself at the cross of Jesus Christ and submit yourself to His Lordship. leave the sin that entangles you and hold fast- cling!- to the righteousness, the all-sufficiency, the holiness of Christ. he is the only one that can save you from an eternity of misery, an eternity of complete and total separation from the only One that loves you fully and truly.

but first, count the cost. know that the call of Christ is dangerous. it is radical, hated by the world. you will be persecuted, and you will die. the call of Christ is to lay down your life. if you try to keep your life, you will lose it. 

for i am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.