TSP DAILY DEVOTIONAL
JUST PREACH JESUS
27th May 2020
Dr. Phil Ransom-Bello
KEY SCRIPTURE/MEMORY VERSE: Acts 13:25(NLT)
As John was finishing his ministry he asked, ‘Do you think I am the Messiah? No, I am not! But he is coming soon—and I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the sandals on his feet.’
The reason identity is so important is because it is a powerful driver for behavour. When you know your identity, certain things will feel alien to your nature. So the focus isn’t on our efforts to gain forgiveness because when we come to Christ, we receive the eternal forgiveness that has already been granted
(Ephesians 1:7). The focus is that our sins have been forgiven and we now live in full freedom. We are now equipped to express the identity of those who are in Christ.
And how are we assured that we don’t need to do certain things to gain God’s acceptance or produce fruits fit for repentance like John said?
Again, the scriptures.
In Acts 13:23-24, Paul tells us that God raised up for Israel, a saviour and that saviour is Jesus. We also see in the continuing verses that Jesus’ coming as a saviour was after John had preached his baptism of repentance.
Listen, that message of the baptism of John has finished. John started it and scripture records here that he finished his course. So why would anyone want to be an ambassador of an organization that is no longer in operation?
John said he was not worthy to loosen the sandals on Jesus’s feet. In the same way, the baptism of John is not even worthy to loose the sandals of the mesage of grace(Acts 13:25).
The message that you have to confess your sins before you receive forgiveness is not worthy to loose the sandals of the message of the fact that you have received forgiveness with the Father. Let that sink in.
When you are reading scriptures, you ought to interpret it from the lens of what Christ has really done.
So we must be grounded in the truth that the end of John’s ministry has given way for the ministry of Jesus.
Look at verse 38-39 of that same chapter- It says that through Jesus is preached the forgiveness of sin.
And it’s also by Jesus that anyone who believes is justified, this justification that the law of Moses could never grant man.
So when we preach Jesus, we are preaching the forgiveness of sin and justification.
So, I’ve got two questions for us;
▪First, do we have forgiveness because we requested it or because the sacrifice provided for it?
If we say it’s because the sacrifice provided for it, then that means we receive this forgiveness the moment we believe.
▪Second, do you believe?
If you believe that Jesus died, was buried and raised for you, then you are saved.
And if you are, then extend this gift to others as well. Let the world know that they already have forgiveness and that they only need to receive by believing not by what they do.
John’s ministry is defunct. Only Jesus’s ministry exists.
Just preach Jesus.
REFLECTION
Do I believe that through Jesus my sins are forgiven and I am justified?
DECLARATION
-I am a beneficiary of the ultimate, perfect sacrifice of Jesus.
-Jesus is the object of my salvation. By believing in Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection, I have been saved.
-By His sacrifice, my account with God is balanced. Totally clean record!
-I am assured that through Jesus, the forgiveness of my sins has been granted and I am justified.
-The new nature I have received in Christ equips me to produce good works.
-I am committed to spreading the gospel of Jesus and not the baptism of John, proclaiming the grace of God and the forgiveness of sins.
Hallelujah!
HEARING BY THE WORD
(Recommended Listening)
Listen to What Do I Preach?>> Dr. Phil by The StandPoint Church on #SoundCloud
