Letter 2 to Friend in Rehab

Sorry for all the time off -- it's been crazy lately, and I've been going to bed before midnight, cutting down my blogging time. I promise more posts in the weeks to come. Here is an excerpt of my latest letter to my friend in rehab. Please continue to pray for him.

So, what is the gospel? Many people, especially in America, try to dumb down the gospel and make it something like “Jesus died for everyone so we can be forgiven and go to heaven.” Please believe me when I say that this dumb-downed version of the gospel is not a good way to understand things, and there really is a lot missing. For starters, the word gospel means “good news.” That’s simple enough, for it is truly good news. But sometimes, for news to be really as good as it can be, there has to be some bad news associated with it. For example, say your favorite college basketball team won the NCAA tournament. That’s good news. But would it be even better news if they were behind by 15 points with 3 minutes to go and came back and won on a last second three-pointer? Sure it would. Because the bad news had already sunk in that a loss was inevitable barring a miracle, it makes the good news of victory that much sweeter. The good news miracle of the gospel isn’t all that different, so I’ll start with the bad news.

The bad news is that when Adam and Eve let pride get in the way and sinned in the garden, all of creation fell victim to sin and the clutches of evil. Unfortunately, because God is holy (morally perfect and set apart), evil is no laughing matter for him, and neither are “small” little sins. In fact, all sin must be punished because God is perfectly just, and for him, it is right to punish sin; otherwise, he wouldn’t be just and wouldn’t be holy. All of creation “fell” when the first sin was committed…you, me, and everyone else. The Bible says that we all have fallen short of the glory of God. Some may have sinned a lot more than others or in a lot worse of ways, but the bottom line is that we all fall short – regardless of the good or bad things we do.

In the Old Testament, God dealt with the punishment of sins through various sacrifices. Why did God make his people do sacrifices for their sins? Well, to start with, the sin has to be punished, and God’s holy law declares that the punishment for sin is death. But instead of killing off his entire human creation as a just punishment, God chose to have mercy and allowed the sins of man to be passed to an innocent animal. When the animal received the sin of man, it was no longer innocent and was thereby killed. After all, the Bible says in Hebrews that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. This is how God dealt with the sin of man before Christ.

Then the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, came to earth to dwell with his people. Jesus was both fully man (and therefore had fleshly weaknesses and temptations like you and me) and fully God (part of the Holy Trinity). He lived 33 years on earth and did not sin. If Christ would’ve sinned, then the entire religion can be thrown out, for it is no longer of any value. Part of the faith necessary to trust in Christ is believing that he was fully man and fully God and fully sinless. Why was it important for him to be sinless? If you recall from the previous paragraph, the innocent animals were the ones being sacrificed for the sins of man. But this could only satisfy the wrath of God toward the vileness of sin temporarily. A true innocent human sacrifice could only truly remove the just and holy wrath of God toward his sinful creation. And that’s where Jesus comes in the picture. There’s much more involved here than just Jesus dying for our sins. 1.) In dying for our sins, Jesus, a perfect and innocent substitute, was separated from his Father for the first time when wearing the sin of man…and amazing act of love! 2.) Jesus came to establish his kingdom on earth. Remember, all of creation fell at the beginning. Jesus came to restore it by first restoring individuals. When one places faith and trust in Jesus for his sacrificing work, the Holy Spirit dwells within that person, and God begins to change them. And by changing people, God is out to change the world. 3.) Jesus came to set us free. The Christian is truly about freedom, namely the freedom from sin’s grasp. The Bible often talks about mankind as though we were slaves to sin in need of redemption. Our natural selves are stained by the wickedness of sin, and only by the power of Christ are we free to do well, free from sin, and only by the grace of God. This, my dear friend, is the good news, and the news in which we must trust and believe in to be saved. And when doing so, your life will be dramatically changed, and not just for a season, but for the longevity of your life. Jesus calls us all to repent, or to turn away, from our lives of sin, and believe on him as the only source of eternal life. He must be the Lord and only king of our life.

Notice that I haven’t spoken at all about doing good things. One cannot do enough good things to earn a way to heaven because the bottom line is that sin must be paid for by a perfect substitute. Unless a person is sinless, which is impossible, one must put all hope of heaven in the work of Christ alone. Good works are simply the evidence of one being a Christian. Sometimes people can fool you though. But Jesus said that you will know a tree by its fruit. A person truly changed on the inside will look different and act different on the outside.

What’s my story? I’ll give you the short version. Much like you, I grew up going to church on Sundays, maybe even doing a little more than that here and there. I was definitely one of the “good” kids in school, even through high school. I got the good grades, kept my relationships fairly pure (for the most part), led a Bible study, and stayed away from the party crowd. I did, however, have a dirty mouth on me, let a few relationships go a little too far, and above all, I lived for me. I lived for football during football season, basketball during basketball season, and baseball during baseball season, all while ultimately living for me and my glory. On the outside, I was a guy that appeared as a Christian perhaps, and even claimed I was a Christian, but the truth of the matter was that I was a wretched sinner who tried to cover it up by either doing good things or by not doing bad things…basically trying to more good than bad and reading my Bible from time to time. I got to college, and a friend shared with me the things I have shared with you. At first, I let the words go right through me, as I was a smart guy and had heard all of that before. After all, of course I had a relationship with God-- I prayed often enough didn’t I? But the more I thought about things and the more God worked on my heart, the more I saw that I was a wretched sinner who had never truly repented from my rotten ways and trusted in Christ alone as my salvation. I was trusting in my own good works, thinking somehow that by being a good guy and giving lip service to Jesus, I was going to heaven. Finally, God broke me down, and made me realize that I wasn’t a Christian at all and had been living a lie for 18 years. Long story short, that first year of college, I trusted in Christ, turned from my sin, and began the long and difficult journey of being a Christian. It’s not easy at all; in fact, the life of a non-believer is much easier. I struggle often with various things and thoughts, but I hate the sin that is in me now and will never be found rejoicing in it. The Bible tells me I will know that I’m a Christian by examining myself, my fruit, and by enduring to the end. I pray that you someday may have a story of forgiveness and will be able to sing of the grace of God and mean it.