| The greatest need that exists in
the world today is not relief from hunger, shelter for the body, the
absence of war, or a one-world religion. The greatest need is to
experience the love of God. Now Buddhists profess to experience
God, Hindus profess to experience God, Muslims profess to experience
God, and so do Christians. What makes Christianity different from
all those other religions? The answer is the gospel of Jesus, the
Christ. Jesus is the way to the Father. Jesus is the way to
experience the love of God. The experience of Jesus is the
experience of redemption. Redemption is the fundamental principle
of Christianity. That experience is the forgiveness of sin.
That experience, the experience of being redeemed, is the experience
which separates Christianity from all other religions. It makes
you a new creation. (2Corth.5:17) This experience makes you free. If you make my word your home You will indeed be my disciples You will come to know the truth And the truth will make you free John 8:31-32 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" John 14:6 Jesus is the truth. The truth will make you free. Jesus will make you free. When we experience the forgiveness of sin, an experience which is the effect of the cross, we experience the mercy of God, his very love, and faith becomes real. Christian ethics is not the heart of the gospel. Christian ethics is an effect of redemption. To begin with Christian ethics, apart from redemption, is to place a burden on people that they can not possibly carry. But once we experience redemption, sin as a way of life ceases, and we begin to show to others the love God has shown to us. Love consists in this: It is not we who loved God But God loved us and God sent his Son To expiate our sins. My dear friends, If God loved us so much We too should love each other. 1John 4:10-12 The heart of the gospel is the agape/hesed love of God. The love of God sent Jesus to expiate our sins. When we experience that love, our response is to love others. When we experience that love, we become a child of God, and faith is born. Nor are his commandments burdensome Because every child of God Overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome The world_____our faith. 1John 5:3-5 Thus the commandments of God are not burdensome to the man or woman of faith. The implication is, however, that for those of us not born of faith, the commandments will be burdensome. A consequence of this faith experience is the reception of the Holy Spirit. It is to him that the prophets bear this Witness: that all who believe in Jesus Will have their sins forgiven through his Name. While Peter was still speaking the Holy Spirit Came down all the listeners.... Acts 10:43-45 By believing in Jesus, we are entitled to all the benefits, all the promises, all the blessings of God. We are made free and equal heirs with Christ. That same anointing, that same faith, that same wisdom resides with us who have experienced the love of God. Christ becomes our brother. Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed Us with all spiritual blessings of heaven... In whom we gain our freedom, the forgiveness Of our sins... Now you too in him have heard The message of truth and the gospel of our Salvation, and have put our trust in it, you have Been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit Of promise... Ephes. 1:3,6,13 The love of God as a real, heart-felt experience is the basis of a full Christian life. That experience is a result in believing in Jesus and His cross. It is this experience which separates the love of God in Christ Jesus from all other religions that also profess to experience God. Amen |