Random Thoughts on the Really Good News

The question of all questions...asked by Job "If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait Until my change comes." (Job 14:14) Jesus gives the simple answer... “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26) The simplicity of those words are overwhelming to me. And the fact that almost all Christians fail to see the simple truth is equally overwhelming. But they read into those simple words the idea that one must believe in Jesus before the resurrection in order to be among those who never die after the resurrection. The Bible says no such thing. “I am the resurrection and the life” Jesus says that the life mankind receives after resurrection is from him. “He who believes in me, though he may die” Jesus says that those who believe in him now will die. “And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” All that ...

“The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57) What does that mean? “The sting of death” simply means that the cause of death is sin. Paul puts it this way in his letter to Rome… “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a) “ …the strength of sin is the law” simply means that the law of God is the reason we all sin. If God had not given any laws to obey, there would be no sin. And if no sin, there would not have been any death. Paul is saying that the responsibility for sin lies squarely on God. For he created us the way we are and He created the law which we could not keep. Paul puts it this way in his letter to Rome… “I would not have come to know sin except through the Law…for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in l...

“...but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:7) God had a wise predestined plan BEFORE the ages began and it is good news... “...the good news according to the power of God, who did save us, and did call with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and GRACE, that was GIVEN to us in Christ Jesus, BEFORE the times of the ages.” (1 Timothy 1:8-9 YLT) The purpose of this good news plan was to save sinners, not by works or wise decisions they make, but by His "GRACE that was GIVEN to us" ... “...EXPECTATION of eternal life, which God, Who does not lie, promises BEFORE time began.” (Titus 1:2) Therefore we can EXPECT (be assured) that God will complete the plan as He promised "BEFORE time began" . The religious views of men will not change the predetermined plan of God. "I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I ...

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the good news of God…regarding his Son…Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith…” (Romans 1:1-6) If you are a Gentile like me, or a Jew who is tired of failing to keep the Law of Moses, there is some Good News from God given to the apostle Paul. You will find it in the New Testament books of Romans through Philemon. This good news "brings salvation" to everyone. “…it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16) What is this good news that "brings salvation to everyone when they believe it? “…all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:22-25) This salv...

“Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. Nathan replied, The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” (2 Samuel 12:13) My wife is the love of my life. In my eyes she is the perfect wife and without her I would only be half a man…she completes me and has done so for 40 years. I love her without reservation. She is also a great cook. But even the very best cooks learn by experience…and husbands learn to keep their mouth shut…by experience. Early in our marriage she prepared meat loaf for supper. At the time we had a pet Saint Bernard who lived with us in our apartment in Norman. “How is it she asked” so I placed my plate on the floor in front of Puppy Casey. He sniffed it and licked it and then went over and sat in the corner. I laughed and said to Casey “I know what you mean”. Sue Ann didn’t think it was funny. She did not kill me but she did start me on an involuntary diet for about a week. Life is where husbands learn they should keep...

"Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age" (Galatians 1:3-4). Pretty simple information. 1. Christ Jesus gave himself for the sins of mankind. How? In the Grace of God Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross for the sins of the world. “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) 2. Christ Jesus will deliver mankind from this present age How? We first must die…then be given eternal life FOR FREE! “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23) And then he will return and resurrect mankind from the dead ”Behold, I tell you a mystery… we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable…” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

“For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (2 Corinthians 4:11) I have read thousands of words of men trying to explain this in commentaries on the bible…unnecessary in my opinion. They make everything complicated – I suppose so that their explanations make them sound smart. What Paul is saying is simple if we remember that although the bad news is “the wages of sin is death” … the good news (gospel) is “the free gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE” (Romans 6:26). So Paul is simply saying that just as Jesus died, so we ALL must die, and just as Jesus was RAISED to immortal “life” , so shall we be raised to eternal, immortal life. “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died” (2 Corinthians 5:14) “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:24) “Therefore, just as through one man sin en...