I was surprised when I read Lori’s last post, Spiritual Blindness, because she wrote about an aspect of something I have been thinking about a lot lately. I’ve been thinking about the gospel in all its simplicity. When I take the time to stop and ponder, even for a moment, the grace of God, I am astounded—and to think I’m only glimpsing a mere sliver of what this grace will mean when I finally see Jesus face-to-face in heaven. We, with our finite, human minds, cannot even begin to imagine what heaven will be like. I think when I get there I’ll be even more in awe because of the price that was paid for me to gain entry, and how utterly unworthy I am, and how gracious God is! No wonder the Bible talks about songs of praise being sung continually in heaven! I don’t think I’ll be able to contain myself.

On the other hand it’s my relationship with God in the here and now that preoccupies me the most.  I know that I am saved, and that means I’ve been given eternal life and that I’ll spend eternity in heaven, but since I can only glimpse through pages of Scripture what that will be like, my focus remains on my relationship with the Lord now. Once the barrier of my sinfulness was removed the moment I trusted Christ, I entered into a relationship that fulfills every part of me now, in this life I live on earth. And it is like any other relationship—sometimes I have to work at it, sometimes I have to nurture it, sometimes I run from it, sometimes I bask in it, sometimes I want to share it, and sometimes I simply rest in it. I certainly depend upon it, because without the Lord I don’t know where I’d be.

He has become my everything, and I think I speak for Lori and Mark in saying that sharing the purpose, security, fellowship, joy, peace, stability, and hope for the future that we have fuels our passion to write as we do. We started Holding Fast Now just over a year ago with that purpose in mind. Personally, I was very nervous because this isn’t a popular message, and I knew in advance how some I know and love would receive this. But I prayed for boldness and had others praying for me (thank you, Michele), and I’m enjoying this journey of growth as I’m learning to open up and share.

Paul writes in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” When I read that I wonder why I would ever shrink back or be embarrassed or ashamed! The Greek word for power of God here is the dunamis of God—which is the same incredible power God manifested at creation! The truth is that the gospel is the power of God that changes lives for everyone who believes!

So why don’t more believe? Why do many resist? Again, quoting Paul: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:16).

He goes on to say:

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:20-25; emphasis added.)

The gospel is a stumbling block to the Jews because they were looking for a Messiah to deliver them from Roman rule. They weren’t looking for a baby born in a manger, who grew up and worked as a carpenter, and ended up hanging on a cross. This would have been a curse, and they could not and do not comprehend that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13).

And why is the message of the cross folly to the Gentiles? Because human logic and reason cannot comprehend the gospel. The message of the cross seems like foolishness compared to man’s wisdom absent from God, such as philosophy, the use of logic and reasoning, and the quest for ever-increasing knowledge. (This is not to say that using logic, reasoning, and pursuing knowledge are wrong and that belief in God is without these – I am speaking here of wisdom and knowledge based on man’s reasoning alone, apart from the knowledge of God.  The knowledge of God is the starting point for knowledge, understanding, reasoning – God wants us to use the brains He gave us!)

But there are some things a natural man, without God, just cannot understand. As Lori wrote in Spiritual Blindness, “People who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)

I remember when I became a believer, I began comprehending God’s word. It’s because of the power of God that changed me. I can relate to Lori’s words, “Once lost, now found; was blind, but now can see. Just like that! Because this is also when the Holy Spirit begins giving incredible insight to what God’s Word says and means. He gives us assurance that Jesus Christ is real and has come into our lives.”

I can’t end this post without another reminder of just what the simple message of the gospel is. And it is my prayer that if you are reading this and have never placed your trust in Jesus Christ that you won’t continue to trip or stumble over the message, but will instead take the first sure step of faith. It’s as simple as changing your mind from unbelief to belief, and praying a prayer to God based upon the gospel:

The Bible says that we are all sinners (Roman 3:10; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:23; James 2:10; Jeremiah 17:9). That means we all fall short of His glory – none of us are perfect and because we aren’t perfect, we can’t be in His presence or enter heaven (Revelation 21:27).  God’s word says that there is a payment that must be made for sin, and that penalty is death (Romans 6:23; Ezekiel 18:20). There is nothing any of us can do in and of ourselves to obtain perfection, no matter how hard we try.  We will never be good enough (Ephesians 2:8,9; Galatians 2:21; Romans 4:5). I challenge anyone reading this who thinks things like, “God knows I’m sincere” or “I’m a good person” to realize that maybe compared to other people you think you are, but compared to a Holy God no one is perfect. Or you may think things like “God could never forgive me.” That’s not true either. God solved the dilemma of our sin problem by providing the payment for sin Himself, by sending His one and only Son, who was perfect, to die in our place on the cross, and in turn he imputes His perfect righteousness to us (2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9, Isaiah 53:6; 1 Peter 3:18). What we have to do on our part is trust Christ as our personal Savior (John 3:16; Romans 10:9; John 1:12; Acts 16:31). Christ died, was buried, and resurrected, and is now in heaven interceding for us. He conquered death once and for all, and when you trust Christ as your Savior you can be assured of your eternal salvation. It is a free gift — you didn’t earn it and you can’t lose it (John 6:37-39; 10:28; I Peter 1:5; Hebrews 10:10-14; 1 John 5:13)!

That is good news! And the power of God, the dunamis of God, will cause you to be born again into God’s family — which is just the beginning of learning to live the life God planned for you. It is an adventure that will lead you all the way to your ultimate destination — heaven and an eternity with Him and all who believe! Hallelujah!

Holding fast,

Lisa

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. — Psalm 34:8

^{Photography by Amanda Sandlin}