My wife is one of the children church teachers for our church. She has kids from ages 5 to 8. When they were praying for one another and taking requests, one little guy told her he needed them to pray for his leg. His leg was hurting one night and the next day his mom took him to the doctor. My wife inquired, "What did the doctor say honey?" He said, "The doctor called it a pain in the leg.'"
The doctor gave it to him in terms he could understand even though it may not tell us exactly what the pain was from. The doctor knew that a little fellow could not understand complicated medical terms and jargon. Which brings me to my message point today; we sometimes overcomplicate the Gospel. We find it hard sometimes to accept the fact that redemption and salvation is as simple as it really is. We have grown up in a society that teaches that you get what you pay for. If it is cheaper it has to be of less quality.
If something is free there is a catch to it. There is a hidden charge somewhere, there are lines of fine print that we missed. Trying to get folk to believe in something as critical as life after death is hard in itself, much less trying to get them to believe they cannot buy it.
The teaching and preaching of the grace of God has went to both ends of the spectrum over time. On one end you have the grace only applying to devout monks while at the other end the grace covers anything we want to do with no repercussions. There is no middle ground to grace, either God is gracious or He is not. When we try to decipher what the grace of God covers and what it does not we open ourselves up to having to choose sides with the folk at one of the spectrum or the other.
Let's just take what the Bible says about it, teach and preach that, and let the Word speak for itself. The Bible teaches that God's grace is beyond our human reckoning; but so is His judgment. We do not like to put judgment and grace in the same sentence but that is where they go. Jesus said, "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man." (John 5:26,27). You caught that line didn't you? The Savior of mankind, the One who died for the sin of all, the One who forgives those who will come to Him; has authority to execute judgment too. Grace and judgment in the same sentence.
So, don't overcomplicate the Gospel. God is loving, He is forgiving, He is gracious, He is merciful, He is patient; but He will also judge those who reject His Son.
If something is free there is a catch to it. There is a hidden charge somewhere, there are lines of fine print that we missed. Trying to get folk to believe in something as critical as life after death is hard in itself, much less trying to get them to believe they cannot buy it.
The teaching and preaching of the grace of God has went to both ends of the spectrum over time. On one end you have the grace only applying to devout monks while at the other end the grace covers anything we want to do with no repercussions. There is no middle ground to grace, either God is gracious or He is not. When we try to decipher what the grace of God covers and what it does not we open ourselves up to having to choose sides with the folk at one of the spectrum or the other.
Let's just take what the Bible says about it, teach and preach that, and let the Word speak for itself. The Bible teaches that God's grace is beyond our human reckoning; but so is His judgment. We do not like to put judgment and grace in the same sentence but that is where they go. Jesus said, "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man." (John 5:26,27). You caught that line didn't you? The Savior of mankind, the One who died for the sin of all, the One who forgives those who will come to Him; has authority to execute judgment too. Grace and judgment in the same sentence.
So, don't overcomplicate the Gospel. God is loving, He is forgiving, He is gracious, He is merciful, He is patient; but He will also judge those who reject His Son.
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