Greetings from Family Shield Ministries

Today's devotion is written by Debbie Wittke. The devotion was originally written for Faith Family Reunion. FFR is now part of Family Shield Ministries.

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We pray that you are encouraged by this devotion today.

The Power of the Gospel

One of the passages of Scripture that beautifully summarizes the Gospel is one that we likely learned and memorized at a young age: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John3:16).  The message of the Gospel is the good news that our loving and merciful God sent His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take away the sins of all people, freely offering to all sinners, prodigals, and unbelievers the righteousness found in Jesus. The power of the Gospel gives eternal life and salvation to all those who believe in His name. Amen!

Sin entered God’s perfect creation through the Fall of Adam and Eve, and sin and death infect all people, for the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of eternal life in Christ is bestowed when, by the power of the Spirit, he or she believes in Christ and His redeeming work on the cross. His gift comes not by way of our good works because it wouldn’t be a gift. It comes only through faith! Now that’s the power of the Gospel! This good news is for everyone, sinners all, including all prodigals and unbelievers.

As sinful beings, everyone needs to be made right with God, including those who wander or disbelieve. It is God who delivers us from the judgment we deserve, restoring the broken relationship between us and Him caused by our sin, granting us forgiveness, life, and salvation in Christ. By the power of the Spirit, through the Gospel, eternal death is defeated, and Jesus grants us a peace that He alone gives, which we receive through His gift of faith. Because the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, God desires that we believe it and directs us to proclaim it boldly. For us connected with Faith Family Reunion, this means sharing it with our prodigals.

It is right that we see salvation as the fruit of the Gospel, for it frees us from what we deserve and rescues us from sin's consequences so that we now stand innocent before God. What a precious gift this is, receiving redemption and being brought back from death to life to live eternally with our Savior. Through faith, we are God’s people who believe that He raised Christ from the dead and glorified Him so that our faith and hope come from God.

As we share this powerful Gospel with our prodigals and others, let us not be timid as if we are ashamed of the Gospel. God’s message for us to share is that they, and we, too, need Jesus who went to the cross, suffered, and died for our sins and theirs and all people because we are all by nature ungodly rebels who are under God’s just wrath. This is offensive to many. But if we don’t make this point clear, we short circuit the power of the Gospel. The Gospel is only good news to the one who recognizes his need for salvation from eternal death.

The Gospel doesn’t just tell us about the power of God. It is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. Salvation does not come by way of our efforts or good works. It is not an achievement of me and you where we do our part, and He does His. No, saving faith, which includes repentance, is not what we sinners conjure up from within ourselves, for it is by God’s grace alone that faith comes to us. It is not our doing; it is the gift of God, lest we dare boast otherwise.

It is very critical for us and our prodigals to see that neither does salvation depend on human decisions, but only on the power of God through the Gospel. Otherwise, there would be no hope for our prodigals or ourselves or anyone else. It is for God alone to impart new life into the dead sinner, for it is impossible for us to make it happen. Think about the death of Lazarus, who died and was in the tomb four days, and Jesus cried out, “Lazarus, come forth,” and Lazarus did just that. Many of those who were there thought Jesus was a crazy man. But make no mistake. The power of God through the Word of Jesus gave dead Lazarus his life back. Jesus did that for our prodigals and us at Baptism, granting us faith and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He continues to keep us in the faith by His powerful Word of the Gospel and receiving His body and blood under bread and wine at His table, keeping our faith strong and granting us forgiveness, life, and salvation.

So, the power of the Gospel is good news for everyone. The Gospel reveals that God the Father grants right standing to all sinners because God the Son, Jesus Christ was without sin and kept the Law perfectly and died on the cross to pay the penalty that we, our prodigals, and all sinners deserve. What joy and comfort it is to know we are not made right with God by our own efforts because we cannot keep the Law perfectly. God credits Christ’s righteousness to our prodigals and us by faith that is given as His gift. Oh how the power of the Gospel is the salvation of all who believe on His name. For His gift of salvation, we give Him all thanks and praise. Amen!

Prayer: 
Oh, Lord Jesus, we thank You for all Your benefits. We are most grateful that You came to live among us and to win for us freedom from sin, death, and the devil, not with gold or silver, but with Your holy precious blood and with Your innocent suffering and death, and all this humbly out of grace and mercy without any merit on our part. O, sweet Jesus, there is no greater love than You laying down Your life for Your friends, sinners, and enemies all. We praise You that You died for us and restored our broken relationship with Your Father, blotting out our sins, taking our sins, and nailing them to the cross. You put Your foes in their places, triumphing over them, and by Your resurrection from the dead, returned eternal life and salvation to our prodigals, us, and all who believe it. Faithful Savior, help us and our prodigals live not for ourselves but You, for You died for us, and all mankind that we might rise from sin, live in You and Your kingdom, and serve You. O gracious Savior, Your Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. For this, we give You our grateful and humble thanks and praise. May our prodigals and all of us, by Your Holy Spirit, embrace and hold tightly to Your Gospel forever and ever! We pray this in Your precious name. Amen and Amen. It IS so!

Scripture to review: Romans 1:16-17 ESV; 1 Peter 1:18-21 ESV; Romans 5:7-9 ESV; John 15:13, 15 ESV; Colossians 2:11-15 ESV; Ephesians 6:12-13 ESV; Romans 6:22-23 ESV; 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 ESV; Ephesians 2:8 ESV; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 ESV; 2 Corinthians 13:11 ESV; Psalm 106:47 ESV; 1 Peter 2:24 ESV.