[peopleoftheway]

Man never invented the Gospel. It is completely opposite to anything the human mind would have ever devised.

1. YOUR SINS AREN'T AS APT TO KEEP YOU FROM CHRIST,
AS YOUR SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.

It takes people a long time to learn that Christ did not die for good people, but for sinners. Only lost people can be saved. The fact that we are sinners does not cut us off from Christ's benefits, but rather makes us eligible for them. He did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. "While we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

The worst thing about a man is his self-righteousness because it hides from him the need of Christ. The Pharisees trusted in their own imagined goodness. As a result they were left outside the Kingdom, while the harlots and publicans crowded in.

Self righteous people can not be saved. Salvation is only for confessed sinners.

2. YOU DON'T HAVE TO CLEAN UP YOUR LIFE
BEFORE COMING TO JESUS.

In fact, you can't do it anyway. If you could, you would be your own saviour. But the more you try to reform the worse you get. The Gospel does not tell you to turn over a new leaf before you receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. It tells you to come to Him in all your sins, misery and wretchedness, just as you are, He will do the saving. To tell a dying thief to clean up his life is no gospel. Christ must save and He alone.

3. YOU CAN'T BUY OR DESERVE SALVATION.

God gives eternal life as a free gift to those who receive His Son by faith. You cannot earn or merit a gift. It is strictly a matter of grace on the part of the giver.

If you could somehow purchase or deserve salvation, then there would be two Saviours - Jesus and you. This is impossible. You would be able to boast in heaven. This too is impossible. You would be adding to the finished work of Christ. This also is impossible. "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Romans 4:4,5.

4. THERE ARE NO DEGREES OF FITNESS FOR HEAVEN.

This will come as a shock to many religious people. But it is absolutely true. There are no degrees of fitness for Heaven. No believer is more fit for heaven than any other believer. Some may live more godly lives than others, but that does not affect their eligibility for Heaven.

No more illuminating or impressive example of this can be found than in the life of the Apostle Paul. Over and over, he finds it necessary to maintain the paradox, in order to preserve the fullness and the reality of the Gospel which he was presenting. To those who had thought the essence of true religion to be man's effort can end only in inducing a more profound consciousness of his sinfulness and essential unrighteousness.

To those who strive to make themselves acceptable before God through good works and deeds, and believe that therein lies the essence of true religion, Paul maintains that the simple act of faith in Christ is the only route by which any justification before God can be had.

To those who take it for granted that man must first reform and purify himself before he can become worthy of God and reap the benefits of the religious life, Paul points to the astounding fact of God's outreaching love to the most miserable sinner. "But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Romans 5:8.

"For by Grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
Ephesians 2:8-10.

You see a person is in Christ, or he is not in Christ. If he is in Christ, he is as fit for heaven as God can make him. God accepts us in His beloved Son. Christians stand before God in all the acceptability of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is impossible to improve on His standing.

Some Christians will enjoy heaven more than others, but none will be more fit to be there.

5. IT IS NOT A MATTER OF THE AMOUNT
OF FAITH YOU HAVE THAT COUNTS.

In any given air flight, there are all degrees of faith aboard the plane. Some passengers worry every mile of the way. Others put back their seat and go to sleep. When they get to their destination it is no thanks to the amount of their faith. They had enough faith to get on board the plane. Then it became trustworthiness of the plane and the pilot.

So it is not a matter of how much faith you have, but whether your faith is in the worthy and only capable Saviour. It is impossible to trust in Him at all...without being saved.

6. YOU DON'T KNOW YOU ARE SAVED BY YOUR FEELINGS.

Too many people have the idea that when you are saved, you experience all kinds of warm, inward mysterious, emotional feelings, and that this is the way you know you are saved. This is misleading.

Dr. C.I. Scofield was right when he said "Justification takes place in the mind of God, and not the nervous system of the believer."

The second the person trusts Christ, he is saved. He knows it, because the Bible says so, not because his feelings tell him.

Dr. Ironside used to say "I don't know I am saved because I feel happy, but I feel happy because I know I am saved." That puts things in proper order.

Ponder these six salvation surprises, then ask yourself this question:

"Have I ever acknowledged myself to be a guilty, lost sinner deserving of eternal Hell....forever?" by Wm. MacDonald

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (JOHN CHAPTER 3 VERSE 16)