PART ONE: JUDGMENT BEGINS WITH THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And 'If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?' (1 Peter 4:17-18)

            For many of us, there are passages of Scripture, like this one, which have been planted in our hearts by a gospel which is no gospel at all. I mean that just as Paul in his letter to the Galatians had to deal with a false gospel which taught that one could only be saved by faith in Jesus plus being circumcised and keeping the Law of Moses, so also the Christian church throughout its history has had false gospels that in one way or other added works or humanly contrived doctrines to faith in Christ as the basis for our salvation.

In addition, when such a false gospel is preached, it becomes the framework or lens by which we understand everything the Bible teaches. On the other hand, however, when we understand the true gospel of Jesus Christ, it also becomes the framework by which we understand everything the Bible teaches. Now if we have had in the past a legalistic, false gospel as framework for understanding the Bible and then subsequently we have learned that we are saved by grace through faith, we will still have a lot of interpretive clean up work to do to understand properly what Scripture teaches. We may, for example, know God's grace in our hearts but cringe when we read certain passages like 1 Pe. 4:17-18.  I mean that even though we now see the difference between faith and works as a basis for salvation, we may still have a need to have our hearts  washed clean from law-based interpretations of Scripture instilled in us from the past.

It is important, therefore, that we seek from Jesus such a gracious sanctification of the mind by the Holy Spirit as our teacher. Let us ask Jesus, therefore, to make us clean by His Word, clean of all interpretations of Scripture that come not from the Father but from the Accuser. Let's ask Him to cleanse us from any and every false gospel which became a framework for understanding particular Scriptures.

Of all the things we don't know as Christians, we may be quite sure of this: God does not want His children to live in doubt about His love for them. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son."  God does not want us to live with shortchanged versions of His wonderful, abounding grace toward us in Christ Jesus. There is no scarcity in God's grace toward us in Christ Jesus. There is no narrowness or restrictedness in the heart of God toward those who trust in His Son. Salvation is not a slender but an overwhelming victory. God is no miser in His way of saving sinners: "Wherever sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20).

Beloved, through Christ's death on the cross, the doors of Heaven's mercy have been flung wide open for sinners to enter. It stands in Scripture: All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. You could more easily stop the sun from shining or the earth from turning than alter that wonderful reality. No one who hopes in the Lord Jesus Christ will be put to shame! No one — no matter how weak or sinful! No one — no matter how many times they have failed!

May I ask if you have failed — done that loathsome sin you hate a million times? Promised and failed? Resolved and failed? Because of this, have others lost all confidence in you? Given up on you? Written you off as a lost cause? Even written off the possibility that you can be saved? Or that grace will do any good in your case? And may I ask if perhaps even worse than that you have written yourself off as hopeless — a lost cause.  Because you have sinned and sinned and sinned again. And now you are thinking in your heart: "I really am hopeless. It's no use. I'm just no good, like my dad always said."

Please listen, dear one: Look to Jesus! As Corrie ten Boom's sister said to her, "There is no pit so deep that His love is not deeper still." Heaven's gate is flung wide open for you! Come home! Get out of that pig pen! Come home! Your heavenly Father is running to meet you. He has a beautiful coat to put on you! He has a party He wants to throw for you! He has a ring He wants to put on your finger! He wants to gather others around and enthusiastically exclaim: "My son or my daughter who was lost has come home! Come, celebrate with me!"