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The Good News Of God (Part 2): Is God's goodness the reason we're saved?

Read the first chapters of Romans, and you'll see very clearly that all people are under the wrath of God and equally in need of redemption. Because of God’s universal revelation of Himself in creation and mankind’s universal rejection of Him, all are under His wrath. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:18-20 NASB)

 God's wrath against "all godliness and unrighteousness of men" will be finally expressed on the day of judgment but is currently expressed in his turning sinners over to their sin. "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." (Romans 1:26-27)

It's foolish to think only those who are in the LTBTQI+ community are condemned. Isn’t it telling that Bible-believing Christians quickly condemn homosexuality and not gluttony? All who condemn them are condemned because they have not kept God's law, either. "Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things." (Romans 2:1)

So, everyone deserves God’s wrath. That frightens me. It should frighten you, but is that the gospel? Is that all of the gospel? Is recognizing sin, fear of punishment, and crying out to God to spare us enough to save us? Does God intend fear to be the primary motivation for us to believe?

Jesus said, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." (John 3:16-17) The gospel is good news because of God’s wrath, but it is good news about God’s wrath.

 The good news is that in our sins, God loved us tangibly by sending His Son to die in our place with our sins so that we can live. He did not send Jesus to judge the world but to save it. "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)

God said,  "But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" (Romans 2:3-4)

 The gospel's good news is that Jesus came to deliver us from our current status, people under God's wrath. He did so by paying the price for our sins, taking our place upon His cross, and rising again. The good news to those who recognize their wrath-inducing sin is that there is deliverance from that condition by the same God who pronounces them guilty.

Is God's goodness the reason we are saved? Is it his kindness, tolerance, and patience that leads us out of our sin and into faith in Him? Yes, God, who judges us because of our sins, justifies us through his sacrifice by faith in Christ alone.

(Part 3 to come)

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