To be too good to be true

236 you get nothing for freeMost Christians do not believe the gospel - they think that salvation can only be achieved if one earns it by faith and morally impeccable life. "You do not get anything in life." "If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is not true either." These well-known facts of life are inundated by each and every one of us through personal experiences. But the Christian message is against it. The gospel is truly more than beautiful. It offers a gift.

The late Trinitarian theologian Thomas Torrence put it this way: "Jesus Christ died for you precisely because you are sinful and utterly unworthy of Him and thereby made you your own, even before and independently of your faith in Him. He has so bound you through his love that he will never let go of you. Even if you reject him and send yourself to hell, his love will never cease ". (The Mediation of Christ, Colorado Springs, CO: Helmers & Howard, 1992, 94).

In fact, that sounds too good to be true! Maybe that's why most Christians do not really believe it. Perhaps that is why most Christians think that only those who earn by faith and a morally impeccable life will receive the salvation.

However, the Bible says that God has already given us everything - grace, justice and salvation - through Jesus Christ. We can not help it. This perfect commitment to us, this indescribable love, this unconditional grace, all we could not even hope to earn ourselves in a thousand lives.

Most of us still think the gospel is all about improving one's behavior. We believe that God loves only those who "straighten up and walk in the right path." But according to the Bible, the gospel is not about improving behavior. In 1. John 4,19 It says the gospel is about love - not that we love God, but that He loves us. We all know that love cannot be brought about by force or violence or by law or contract. It can only be given and accepted voluntarily. God is happy to give them and wants us to accept them openly, so that Christ may live in us and enable us to love him and one another.

In 1. Cor. 1,30 stands Jesus Christ is our righteousness, our sanctification and our redemption. We cannot offer him justice. Instead, we trust him to be everything to us in which we are powerless. Because he loved us first, we have become free from our selfish hearts to love him and one another.

God already loved you before you were even born. He loves you even though you are a sinner. He will never stop loving you, even if you fail every day to live up to his just and pleasing behavior. That's the good news - the truth of the gospel.

by Joseph Tkach


pdfIn life you get nothing for free!