Originally published June 1, 1993

An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me.... And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

—Exodus 20:24-26

...[L]et us build us a city and a tower [of Babel], whose top may reach unto heaven….

—Genesis 11:4

No two tenets of faith could be more opposed to one another than those presented above. On the one hand, we have God's rejection of any human effort to buy salvation or His favor. If man is to come to God, it must be solely by His grace and His provision, not by any human work. On the other hand, we see man's flagrant repudiation of God's prohibition against self-effort, and his arrogant attempt to build a tower that would enable him to climb by steps of his own making into heaven itself.

Originally published May 1, 1993

Go ye therefore, and [make disciples of] all nations.... Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world — Matthew 28:19-20

Last month we saw from God's Word that lost sinners are offered forgiveness of all sins (past, present, and future), and eternal life as a free gift of God's grace by virtue of Christ's fully accomplished redemptive work upon the cross and bodily resurrection. To receive this priceless gift one need only believe the gospel: that one is a sinner deserving God's judgment and unable by self-effort, religious ritual or any other means, to earn or merit salvation even in part; and that Christ paid the full debt which God's justice demands for man's sin. Of course, one must believe the gospel not merely as a historic fact, but to the extent of placing one's faith completely in the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior for eternity.

We noted also that Christ directed His disciples to preach this good news of the gospel to everyone everywhere. This command by Christ to His original followers has become known as the "Great Commission." It is stated in two ways: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15); and "make disciples" (Matthew 28:19). Those who preach the gospel are to disciple those who believe it. Born again by God's Spirit into His family (John 3:3-5; 1 John 3:2), converts begin a new life as Christ's followers, eager to learn of Him and to obey the One whom they now love for having saved them.

Originally published April 1, 1993

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel...for IT is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth [IT].

—Mark 16:15; Romans 1:16

What is the gospel and from what does it save us? We must begin in the Garden. Persuaded by Satan that God had lied to her, and seduced by the appealing promise of godhood, Eve rebelled against her Creator. Not wanting to be separated from his wife, whom he loved more than God, Adam, who was not deceived (1 Timothy 2:14), deliberately joined in her disobedience. Thus "by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men [and women], for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12). Death not only ends this short earthly life, but it separates the sinner from God forever.

In His infinite foreknowledge, wisdom and love, God had already planned what He would do to reunite mankind with Himself. Without ceasing to be God (an impossibility), He would become a man through a virgin birth. Only God could be the Savior (Isaiah 43:11; 45:21, etc.), thus the Messiah had to be God (Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 45:15; Titus 1:3-4, etc.). He would die for our sins to pay the penalty demanded by His justice: “’Tis mystery all, the immortal dies!" (Charles Wesley). Then He would rise from the dead to live in those who would believe in and receive Him as their Lord and Savior, giving them forgiveness of sins and eternal life as a free gift of His grace.