- “Sin may be the occasion of great sorrow, when there is no sorrow for sin.”
- –John Owen
The second half of the good news is that Jesus has come to redeem a people for himself and he does so by living a life of perfect obedience and then offering that sinless life on the cross as an atonement for sin. You might say, “Dale, that’s all of the good news, not just half of it!” Of course, when I speak of “halves,” it’s a shorthand way of saying that the gospel is the remedy to our sin predicament. The first half of the gospel is that we are sinners by nature and by choice. Before a holy God, our sin leaves us utterly condemned. This is what the Bible teaches and what we heard preached recently. Speaking of recent sermons, let’s close with the following passage from Jay Higgins’ sermon (from Ephesians 6:1-4), preached last Sunday (April 28, 2024):
This is the first half of the gospel! And it’s why we so desperately need it! The gospel is not the idea that we have done some bad things, have committed a few sins, and need a little forgiveness to make things right. The first half of the gospel is that we are by nature, and right from the get-go, depraved sinners, lusting after sin and acting treasonously toward our Creator. But wait…there’s more! The rest of the story is that we act as slaves also to our nature and the pull of the world and the push of the devil. When we are spiritually reborn through faith in Jesus, he sets us free from the bondage of these things. But without his grace, we will inevitably live life as addicts what our flesh wants, what the world offers, and what Satan pushes us to do.
I’m just begging you to see the good for what it is. It is the path of life. It is the way of true blessing. It is the only road upon which we find true satisfaction. It is what we were made for, to have a relationship with our Creator and to find a life doing good and being blessed and satisfied in him and what he has for us. I’m begging you to just catch a glimpse of what that could be for you and to pursue it. Because if not sin will quickly destroy you. It already has some of you in its grip. What you do next will determine the course of the rest of your life. I fear that life could be very short if you do not do what is right.
Have a blessed week and we will see many of you on Sunday. D. V.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Dale
