Jesus Christ and Him Cricified is the gospel; it must ever remain the center piece of our preaching, teachings, and exhortations
The Gospel, Jesus Christ and Him Crucified
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Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
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The message Paul is preaching here in Romans is the message that needs preached! The gospel of peace, the gospel of reconciliation, the gospel of faith, the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Remember the old Hymn “At The Cross, At the Cross..” A gospel that skips over the cross of Jesus is no gospel. A gospel that brings less value to the cross of Jesus Christ is no gospel.
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Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
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It time for the churches refrain to sound more like the apostle Paul ’s.
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1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
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1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
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The message of the cross is the power of God. If anyone’s trust is in anything else it is a misplaced faith.
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1 Corinthians 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
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Dare we stand up and preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the exclusive way to salvation and righteousness.
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Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
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Those who preach the way of the cross is not enough are walking in foolishness and at the worst self-righteousness which will not lead to salvation.
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Matthew 7:22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
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Who are these many who have prophesied in Jesus name? Who are these many who cast out demons in Jesus name? Who are these many who have done many wonders in Jesus name. In spite of all their doing Jesus tells them depart from me. Jesus words not mine, “I never knew you.” The cross of Jesus Christ is the exclusive and only way man can be joined back to God. Any other message is a false message!
Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
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The way of the cross is to forsake all and acknowledge that Jesus and Him crucified is the only hope of salvation. The whole church is built upon the confession that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God.
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2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted; you may well put up with it!
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The enemy satan has desire to remove us from the simplicity that is in Christ. He would that the church take down the blood stained banner of the cross. The enemy wants to minimize the cross and call it just a milestone passed on the day of salvation.
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Romans 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: "Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world."
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The apostle Paul was referring back to the prophet Isaiah 53
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Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
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Jesus is the man Isaiah writes about. Jesus going to the cross was the event Isaiah is writing about. Jesus bore the sorrow and grief. Jesus is the one smitten by God. Jesus wounds are for our transgressions and His bruises were for our iniquities. The punishment that has power to bring us peace was completely and totally upon Jesus. By the stripes taken upon Jesus we are healed. God laid upon Jesus the iniquity of us all!
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Jesus paid all the sin debt! My punishment, your punishment was completely upon Jesus. The punishment Jesus bore is the exclusive way to reconciliation to God. There is no other way. Any other way preached is a false message and a perverted gospel. The prophet Isaiah asked who would believe such good news?
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Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
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It pleased God to bruise Jesus. It pleased God to make Jesus soul an offering for sin. When the Father saw the labor of Jesus soul He accepted His sacrifice and was satisfied! We have sung the song is God satisfied with me?; it has become our distraction. Is God satisfied with the sacrifice? Now that is the question! Even under the law of Moses the sinner came and the offering or lamb was examined to see if it was good enough for atonement. Turn your eyes upon Jesus Christ because His soul poured out upon the alter is the only offering needed to reconcile you back to God.
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Romans 10:19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: "I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation." 20 But Isaiah is very bold and says: "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me." 21 But to Israel he says: "All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient and contrary people." 11:1 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel , saying, 3 "LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life"? 4 But what does the divine response say to him? "I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
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One of the secrets of God is revealed in this passage. Many did not understand that for a time the Kingdom of God was and has been taken away from the Jewish people. Even so there is a remnant of Jewish believers. The apostle Paul was one of these that came to salvation in the covenant of grace. Jesus came with the covenant of grace and truth; it has been referred to as the time of the Gentiles. It is the building blocks Paul has been writing all along; the just shall live by faith.
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Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
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It is by grace and grace alone that men can have a relationship with God. It is not of works and when men claim that it is, they have gone back to bringing men under the law. You can not say it is of grace and of works. If it is of works than it is no longer grace. If it is of grace that it can not be works. The covenant of Moses was of works and the covenant of grace and truth came exclusively through Jesus Christ our Lord. By way of reminder lets go to Romans 4.
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Romans 4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 Butto him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: 7 "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; 8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."
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Those preaching salvation by works are preaching a different gospel than the Jesus Christ and the cross. Righteousness can’t be obtained by works. Reject that preaching! Paul called them accursed!
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Galatians 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
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Deliverance from sin and reconciliation to God are found exclusively in Jesus Christ and His finished work at the cross.
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