A Growing Follower of Christ
Series: 9 Traits of a Growing Follower of Christ
Brian Fletcher
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
A growing follower of Christ...
1. Believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
''Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you-unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,''
The gospel is the good news that Jesus has come to save us from ourselves for Himself. Apart from Christ we face the wrath of God for our sins, in Christ we receive forgiveness of our sins and the righteousness of Christ. The gospel not only gets us saved but it keeps us saved. The gospel not only justifies us before God, but it also sanctifies us in God.
The gospel tells us that we have been ''born again'' (John 3:3), we have been made ''new creations'' (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our lives have not just been made ''better'', or ''cleaned up'', but rather we have been made brand new. Some people use the illustration of someone drowning to explain the gospel. They say it's like, ''You fell overboard into the ocean and were drowning. Your only hope was for someone to throw you a life preserver that you could grab onto. Jesus is the life preserver that keeps you from drowning. Jesus saves...'' However, the truth is that the situation is much worse than that. You are actually dead and lying on the bottom of the ocean. You have already drown. Jesus dives down into the water, pulls you out and resuscitates your dead and lifeless body back to life. You were dead and Jesus has brought you back to life (see Ephesians 2).
This good news that God has not left us to our own demise but has tracked us down as the hound of heaven. ...
Series: 9 Traits of a Growing Follower of Christ
Brian Fletcher
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
A growing follower of Christ...
1. Believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
''Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you-unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,''
The gospel is the good news that Jesus has come to save us from ourselves for Himself. Apart from Christ we face the wrath of God for our sins, in Christ we receive forgiveness of our sins and the righteousness of Christ. The gospel not only gets us saved but it keeps us saved. The gospel not only justifies us before God, but it also sanctifies us in God.
The gospel tells us that we have been ''born again'' (John 3:3), we have been made ''new creations'' (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our lives have not just been made ''better'', or ''cleaned up'', but rather we have been made brand new. Some people use the illustration of someone drowning to explain the gospel. They say it's like, ''You fell overboard into the ocean and were drowning. Your only hope was for someone to throw you a life preserver that you could grab onto. Jesus is the life preserver that keeps you from drowning. Jesus saves...'' However, the truth is that the situation is much worse than that. You are actually dead and lying on the bottom of the ocean. You have already drown. Jesus dives down into the water, pulls you out and resuscitates your dead and lifeless body back to life. You were dead and Jesus has brought you back to life (see Ephesians 2).
This good news that God has not left us to our own demise but has tracked us down as the hound of heaven. ...
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