Mark 2:13-17

13 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. 14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. 15 Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Devotional
Having taught the multitudes by the Sea of Galilee and passing by Levi at the tax office Jesus gave a personal invitation to Levi to follow Him just as He does to everyone. So Levi arose and followed Jesus. Now what we read next is that Jesus and His disciples were dining at Levi’s house. And there were many tax collectors and sinners also dinning there with Jesus and His disciples. Now usually I think about how Jesus was willingly dinning with ostracized people (tax collectors and sinners) that the religious leaders would not even be seen with. Never mind go to into one of their homes and dine with them. Yet it is not just Jesus, but His disciples as well. For clearly wherever Jesus went so they went, because as Jesus said “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.” Luke 6:40 And that is what Jesus’ is doing He is training them as He is likewise training us to be His followers by exposing them and us to people we would not have encountered on our own volition. For some this maybe our cultures own version of tax collectors and sinners, for others it maybe an encounter with our own version of the Pharisees and the rigid legalism that so defines them. Whatever the personality or person type Jesus Christ came to save people’s lives not to destroy them (Luke 9:56) and that is why Jesus not only dinned with tax collectors and sinners but also Pharisee’s as well. Non partiality I guess is what I’m trying to say for that is what the Word of God conveys in the gospel. For the Lord Jesus Christ invites all to follow Him and dines with all who likewise receive Him to the exclusion of no one, for Jesus says: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Rev. 3:20

Now the passage concludes by saying that there were many sinners who dined with Jesus, who sat together with Jesus and His disciples, and they followed Him. Jesus wasn’t just a teacher of the people; Jesus was a friend of everyone He discipled and taught. And they in turn invited those people in their lives to meet Him and Jesus likewise received them. For that was Jesus’ call to Simon and Andrew when He called them away from their fishing nets and boats. “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:17 Therefore don’t ever underestimate the power of friendship evangelism. For clearly that was what Jesus did often. Though He often preached to and taught large crowds He was not a Man who isolated Himself from the people He taught and all of their friends in all of their lives infirmities, sicknesses and problems. Jesus threw out societal and religious taboos for that very reason so that He might make disciples not according to the traditions and doctrines of men, but according to the gospel of God.

Scripture Quotations:
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

The Cross of Christ

Why is the cross of Christ and offense? It's an offense for several reasons. First because it shows us the ugliness of sin. There is nothing pretty about a bloodied and grossly disfigured Man hanging from nails driven through His hands and feet on a wooden cross. That's not the kind of image we like to think about when we engage in sinful pleasures. The cross of Christ then is an offense because it confronts us head on about our sins and says this is the consequences of what you are doing. Somebody is going to have to pay and this what it is going to cost. For where there is sin, there must be punishment of it. That is an eternal principal that runs throughout the Word of God. Sin has consequences and the consequence of our sins is death, either ours eternally, or Jesus Christ's once and for all on the Cross to redeem us all from it. That is why the Bible say's "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom. 6:23 Those then who downplay the seriousness of their sins, or don't like what God required to atone for it, don't like the cross of Christ. Yet "... according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission." Heb. 9:22

The cross of Christ is an offense for an other reason in that it destroys all of our self righteous pretenses. Jesus Christ wasn’t crucified because you and I were so good in the sight of God. Both by choice and by nature we are all sinners condemed by the law as such in the sight of God. Though we all exemplify this differently, at different stages of our lives, to different degrees and in different ways. The Scripture is clear "...All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" Rom. 3:23 Therefore you cannot look to Bible as a means of being justifed before God unless your eyes are squarly focused on Jesus Christ crucified for your sins forgivness. For the Bible justifies no one apart from Christ in God's sight (John 5:39-47). The cross of Christ then is an offense because it overthrows all of our notions about our own goodness or deservedness. As well as all of our own notions of self redemption. Whether individuals or so called "evolving" mankind collectively, Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead and our faith in Him is the sole means by which we are made right in God's sight. For God will accpet nothing less than the His Son's Atonement for us all. Therefore the cross of Christ is an offense to those who would like to think otherwise. Nonetheless the Scriptures declare: "Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness" Rom. 4:4-5 Therefore the only solution for our sins is first atonement by Someone who is themself Sinless to handle the judicial aspect of our transgressions. Then regeneration by which God changes us on the inside to make us accpetable to Himself. Two things we cannot do ourselves. Yet it is these two things God acomplishes in Jesus Christ. Sending His Sinless Son to suffer and die in our place. Then raising Him from the dead as proof of His Lordship over all, and willingness to heal everyone by His Spirit who repents and believes in Him.
The cross of Christ then is an offense in a third sense because it confronts our self-sufficiant pride head on (Hab. 2:4). In the gospels there is a brief encounter between the Jesus and a rich young man who sought him out inquiring about eternal life. When this young man approached Jesus he said to Him: “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” Matt. 19:16 Now Jesus didn’t say to him good man go and do this or do that and you will have eternal life by doing some good deed. Making salvation into something an individual earns for themselves by their own efforts. Instead Jesus responds to his greeting Him in such a way by saying: “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” 20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Matt. 19:17-22

Now there's a lot to think about there. But at the heart of it all is mans righteousness or God's. That is the eternal question that each person must ask themselves, and one day answer to God. Did you trust in your own "goodness" or "good deeds" to balance out the bad things you did as some people like to say. Or did you open your heart to God and acknowledge your own sinfulness, as the Apostle Peter did when Jesus called him by the sea (See Luke 5:8), and put all your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ looking to Him crucified for your sins forgivness and the redemption of your soul from hell. Knowing that was the only way for you to be forgiven and find new and everlasting life (John 3:15-16). For throughout the gospels it is clear that only repentant sinners find the grace of God. Therefore through their brief interchange I believe Jesus was trying to get that man to see his own need for salvation, for there is no greater need for anyone than that. Therefore though he had lived a morally sound life; he had like all men fallen short of the glory of God, and thus he was incapable of self redemption (See Rom. 3:19-28). As well Jesus wanted the man to not only see His need for salvation, but also to follow Him in discipleship. Therefore whatever hinders us in that process we must forsake. And clearly that man was not willing to part with his wealth as a requirement of discipleship.

Christ's cross is an offense in a fourth sense then in that it brings salvation freely to us,"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast." Eph. 2:8-9 but it also requires from us an undivided loyalty that cuts through our hearts deepest desires. Even family loyalty must not come before Jesus Christ's call to us who believe in Him, to pick our cross and follow Him daily (Luke 14:25-33). Therefore the cross of Christ is an offense to those who'd like to keep their lives just the way they are, whether steeped in sin or steeped in earthly ease, comfort and pleasure. Or maybe just pursuing their own lives dreams and ambitions as this rich young man was doing. He was willing to do a good work for God but was unwilling to give his life to God which is what God requires.
... “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Matt. 16:24-28

Scripture Quotations
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982. 

Being Under Law (Revisited)

(Note: This is a follow up to the previous post's last entry)

Being under law very likely means you may become a Pharisee towards the very people you yourself used to be. It’s not that we don’t hunger and thirst after righteousness, it’s that we don’t shut out (or try to shut out) returning prodigal sons and daughters from the love of God. Which really indicates ones own selfishness or unwillingness to receive it or likely see their own need for it. For when an individual believer or church congregation does so, they are not following the Lord Jesus Christ who ate and drank with sinners in the hope of their repentance. Consider what Jesus said to the Pharisees when they criticized Him for eating with Matthew the tax collector and Matthew’s tax collector and sinner friends after Matthew’s conversion, and Matthew invited Jesus to come to his house for dinner and Jesus heard the Pharisees criticizing Him for doing so: 12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Matt. 9:12-13 Where is your heart towards sinners? Is it contempt, indifference, judgment? Or is it like Jesus a heart that says: “I have come to seek and save that which is lost?” Luke 19:10

It’s so easy to drift into conformity of those in the faith who themselves have maybe long forgotten what it means or feels like to be separated from God. But Jesus never forgot. From the time He stepped into our broken world, until His last dying breath on the cross. Jesus’ never forgot. And that is why He sought out sinful people to restore what sin and Satan had separated from God. Every encounter Jesus had was not only intentional, it was merciful. Not sentimental. But tactful in hope of planting faith in people's lives. Yet Jesus never failed to speak the truth into people’s lives, but when He did He did it with a heart of love. Love that could both embrace the broken with tears and rebuke the religious proud for their hard heartedness. Where are you at as a Christian or a church? If you’ve drifted from the love of God maybe it’s time for a course correction. For it’s not just sinners that are in need of God’s grace, it’s us as well.

Scripture Quotations:
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

Legalism Exposed

• Being under law invariably leads to becoming judges with evil thoughts rather than ministers of reconciliation through grace and truth (Prov. 3:3-4; John 1:17; 2 Cor. 5:21).

• Being under law leads to a weak conscience for whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23). This does not disavow what Scripture decrees to be sin. But it does not endorse those enslaving beliefs and commandments of men who turn from the truth (Gal. 1:6-9; Col. 2:20-22) who make being right before God into what they themselves decree it to be (Rom. 10:3-4).

• Being under law leads to self-righteousness (Rom. 2-3). The Apostle Paul though a blameless Pharisee was smitten with that sin until his own encounter with Jesus Christ on the Damascus road. Afterwards though he never again claimed his own righteousness, having seen his own sinfulness, he received the grace of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Consider Phil. 3:3-11; 1 Tim. 1:13-17).

• Being under law leads to wrath. Both God’s and mans (Rom. 4:14-15). God’s because He cannot justify us by our own obedience to it, mans because we can in no way be justified by it (i.e. we cannot obey the law to earn eternal life through it, Gal. 2:16, 19-21; 3:21-25; 4:21-31; 5:1, 4-5 etc.).

• Being under law invariably leads to arrogance and self-deception because trusting ones own righteousness will lead to despising sinners, and is as Jesus warned unjustifiable (Luke 18:9-14).

• Being under law leads to condemning others. Invariably we see others through the eyes of judgment and failure and not grace and truth (Matt. 9:9-13; John 1:17; 8:1-12; James 2:13). It is unlikely then we will love them as ourselves, or do to them as we would have done to us, as Jesus commanded (Matt. 7:12). But rather in our misguided zeal we will forget our own sinfulness, that Christ’s Kingdom’s priority is mercy not judgment (Matt. 5:7; John 3:16-17; James 2:13). That God's love and grace was given to us while we were still dead in our own trespasses and sins (Rom. 5:8), through Christ's crucifixion death, which saved us and led us into a new life of faith, hope and love (Rom. 6:13-14; 5:8; Eph. 2:1-10).

• Being under law leads to despising others (or even oneself if you've been brought up in an environment where shame is used to punish failure). Which often keeps us from sympathizing with people in their own weaknesses and shortfalls (Rom. 3:23). Calling them to repentance from their sins through the grace of God given to us all by faith in Jesus Christ which alone makes us righteous in the sight of God. Rather then just calling them sinners (Rom. 3:19-28; 4:4-5; 5:1; James 4:4-10).

•  Being under law does not embrace the restoration of fallen sinners; who turn from their sins and turn or seek to return to God (including those who sin against us) which is contrary to both Jesus Christ’s commandments and God the Father’s will (Luke 15:11-32; 17:3-4; Gal. 6:1-2).

• Being under law leads to isolation. The Pharisees were separatists, though leaders of the Israelite old covenant community. They isolated themselves from healthy contact within the greater community in their attempts to be "pure". In contrast the Lord Jesus though moved freely in the community and engaged all people without restrictions (Luke 7:36-50).

• Being under law hinders humanity from experiencing genuine love from God and with each other, which makes repentance and relationship with God something to embrace rather then shun or fear.

• Being under law in the New Covenant can lead to emotional problems and spiritual disorders (2 Cor. 11:3-4 NKJ; Gal. 1:6-9; Col. 2:8-10; 20-22).

• Being under law does not liberate sinners from sin but rather through the fleshes weaknesses arouses it (Rom. 7:5, 8; 1 Cor. 15:58). Only regeneration; that is being born-again by faith in Jesus Christ through the grace of God liberates us from sin (2 Cor. 5:17, 21; Titus 3:4-7).

• Being under law in the New Covenant leads to fear of judgment. Not grace based courage to face our sins and problems and overcome them (1 John 4:18-19; Rev. 3:19-21).

• Being under law often leads to justifying horrible atrocities. No greater example of this is the attitude of the Scribes and Pharisees dedication to the law which ultimately made them hostile towards the Lord Jesus Christ as they became more and more ardent in their evil minded zeal to betray Jesus when He would not be silenced by them, even to the point of Christ's death on a cross.  

• Being under law means working to find Gods approval through it, which can never be attained by sinful humanity. For the law does not require a certain amount of obedience to it to be approved before God by it; but total obedience to it (Lev. 18:5). "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10   Therefore trying to be justified by the law or mans own legalistic regimes in the New Covenant leads to anger at God and others, rather then love towards Him who is Love (1 John 4:15-21). For God cannot accept a person based on their own merits, since the law confines us all under sin (Rom. 3:19-28). Therefore working for salvation means one only acquires debt, not grace in their attempts to become approved before God.  For it is by faith in Jesus Christ alone, crucified and risen from the dead that we are justified in the sight of Almighty God. "Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness" Rom. 4:4-5 Therefore living obediently to the Lord Jesus Christ by keeping His commandments is a by product of receiving God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not as a means to it.

• Being under law destroys creativity and individuality. Yet in the N.T. neither individuality or creativity is forsaken in the pursuit of holiness, righteousness, peace and unity (1 Cor. 12:4-6; 27).

• Being under law suppresses healthy laughter and carefreeness. Nonetheless all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are accepted in the Beloved, (Eph. 1:6) and are sealed for the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30). Therefore being under law brings fear of rejection which does not allow individual personalities to express themselves in their own uniqueness in accord with the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).

• Being under law hinders genuine heartfelt worship of God. Instead of liberating people's hearts to praise God according to the fruits of the Holy Spirit it often confines worship of God to following the worship traditions of men (John 1:17; 4:24).

• Being under the law is the antithesis of being free in Jesus Christ and living out the glorious liberty of the children of God (2 Cor. 3:5-6; 3:17).

• Being under Law invariably leads to injustice and hypocrisy. Concealing one’s own sins to maintain the false front before others, even if it means destroying ones neighbor to do so (Matt. 7:1-4).

• Being under law very likely means you will become a Pharisee towards the very people you yourself used to be. Nobody who remains dedicated to law will find their heart yearning for the return of repentant sinners to God. But those who live by the grace of God will always hold out hope for their return.

• Being under Law often leads to being excessively dogmatic, Job's three friends are a Biblical example of that error.
• Being under Law means you only accept those who have lived good, clean lives in the church as being acceptable to God and thus qualified for His service. Which flies in the face of God's election of individuals by His grace to both salvation and His service as in the case of the Apostle Paul.

An Invitation

Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Devotional
The Lord Jesus Christ invites all who labor and are heavy laden to enter His rest. For everything as a disciple of Jesus starts with believing in and receiving Him as one’s own personal Savior. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" John 1:12 Therefore Jesus invites us all to come to Him, everyone who is burdened or is heavy laden without reference to context to come and enter His rest. In other words you don’t have to disqualify yourself from the life of God because of your past, or because someone else has. God has a place for you if you believe in and receive His Son the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. It is really that simple, and it is for that purpose that Jesus came forth from God and willingly died in our place so that we might all have forgiveness of all our sins and new life when we repent and believe in Him (Mark 1:15). Therefore the Scripture promises: “If anyone is in Christ they are a new creation, all things have passed away, behold all things have become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17

Again Jesus came to take people's burdens away, not impose them, whether burden's of guilt (John 8:1-12), sorrow (Matt. 5:3) or simply burdens of life. Jesus didn’t come to bring in a new religion, as if religion itself can solve anything. Rather Jesus came to restore us to God, by which we experience His life in us, and through us (Gal. 2:21). In this Jesus provides both our justification (by His Crucifixion death) and the sanctification (by His Spirit) so that when anyone believes in Him, they receive forgiveness of all their sins, and new and everlasting life. That is why the Bible say’s God has made peace through the blood of Christ’s cross (Col. 1:20). For without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness, whether in the Old Covenant or in the new (Heb. 9:22). Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ's Sinless Person's shed blood is the price paid for every sinners peace and reconciliation back to God. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor 5:21

Therefore what man cannot do, and what religion will never do, God has done by sending His own Son to die in our place so, that we might have peace with Him through Him. Therefore there is nothing that we can do to make peace with God other then believe what He already has done to save us from our sins and eternal condemnation, when we believe in Jesus. That is why Jesus Christ’s blood was shed on the cross so that the relationships we see Jesus living out with everyday people in the gospels; the tax collectors and sinners, and people burdened by every sort of circumstance of life, we can now have with Him, because of what God has done through Him, to make us all acceptable to Himself. God’s grace is available to everyone who simply repents and believes in Jesus Christ the Lord. They will have remission of all their sins and eternal life.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:16-17

Scripture Quotations
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

Where's Your Loyalty?

1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Devotionals
As believers in the Lord Jesus we are a chosen generation in every generation, in which we believe. This is every believer’s heritage and privilege that God bestows on us, having chosen us through His Son. Nobody then who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is insignificant (1 Cor. 12:18-25). You may or may not have been a “significant” person before you came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But you’ll never be more significant then when you join God’s eternally redeemed people. For everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ (regardless of their past lives) is accepted by God based on Jesus Christ's merits alone. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. 5:21

That is the basis of our coming into a personal relationship with God. And thus our being accepted by God through the Lord Jesus Righteousness not our own (Rom 3:19-26). Therefore when anyone believes in the Lord Jesus Christ they receive not only remission of their sins, they become a part of God’s redeemed people. That is redeemed (or ransomed) back from sin and death and brought into new and everlasting life in Christ. As Jesus said:
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

For it is Jesus Christ alone who has not only purchased this life for us, by His death on cross. But He is the Source of this life, by His Spirit, whose life fully indwells our own when we open our hearts to Him. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Cor. 5:17

Therefore as a chosen generation we are granted some very high privileges, not the least of which is being made apart of God's royal priesthood, His holy nation, and His own special people, that we might proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but now we are the people of God, who had not obtained mercy before we knew God, but now we have obtained His mercy!"

Therefore never mind what you were or what you weren’t. Live each day as what you now are. Chosen by God and anointed by His Spirit and thus called to be His Son's witness and servant showing His mercy to others as well. “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Rom. 8:15-17
Therefore no matter what your past sins were, know this, you now belong to the Lord Jesus Christ the moment you believed in Jesus (Eph. 1:13-14). God sealed you forever with His Spirit and began the process of transforming your person from the inside out (Phil. 1:6). For He has made you a joint heir with His Son Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Therefore never mind what you were, put your loyalty with God’s people, not with whatever God called you out of, and away from.

Scripture Quotations
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

God Loves

God loves us. That is the basis of His sending His Son Jesus to suffer and die in our place so that we could be forgiven and made new, full of life, and freed from the power of sin and darkness where there is no hope. Therefore God’s wrath is not directed against sinners. God’s wrath is directed against unbelief (John 3:35-36). Against those who continue to deny Him by their unbelief and carry on in their sins (Rom. 1:18-32; 2:4-16). Again Jesus Christ the Son of God wasn’t crucified because the world is full of righteous people. Jesus Christ was crucified because of our sins. To provide the only possible atonement for all that we have done wrong. Therefore God does not want anyone to perish in their sins but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved" John 3:17-16

Again love is what motivates both the Father and the Son to so sacrificially give so we might be brought back into a right relationship with God and each other. For mankind having been born into sin, (that is Adam, the first man who sinned of whom we are descended from) and we all having sinned, nullifies all possibilities of self-redemption. Our separated condition cannot be rectified by ourselves; neither by law, nor by our own good works, (Rom. 3:19-28; 4:4-5) but only by God’s grace (Eph. 2:8-9). Individually and collectively then we are as Word of God reveals sinners. Both by default; that is being born into Adam’s sin; and by choice. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3:23
Which introduces the most important aspect of the gospel and that is faith. Specifically faith in Jesus Christ the Lord crucified and raised from the dead (Rom. 10:9-10). That is the deciding factor on ones justification (that is being declared righteous in the sight of God) and entrance into the Kingdom of heaven (John 3:3-5; Titus 3:4-7). Having sinned whether a little or a lot is not the issue. It is ones’ repentance towards God and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ (or not) that is (Acts 20:21). That is why the Apostle Paul say’s he was first saved by the grace of God as the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15), then sent as Christ’s ambassador to extend that same saving grace towards all. For the Lord Jesus said in commissioning Paul as His Apostle: 17 ‘I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 ‘to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ Acts 26:17-18

Therefore the Apostle Paul’s preaching was one of both repentance and faith. Repentance is our turning from our sins back towards God. This does not mean we get free of our sins by ourselves. It means we acknowledge them (in essence acknowledge our helplessness) and turn to God through Jesus Christ both for the forgiveness as well as the freedom from them (Rom. 6). For it is only by faith in Jesus Christ that we are justified in the sight of God (Gal. 2:16; 19-21). And is the means we receive new life through the Holy Spirit, who comes to live in us the moment we believe (Eph. 1:13-14; Gal. 3:2-3). Both as the transforming Person of God who makes us alive, but also as an eternal seal guaranteeing our redemption from sin and death, who progressively transforms us into the likewise of Christ. Again God does not hate sinners; He hates unbelief. For it is the only sin, outside of the unpardonable sin; which is likely born out of the same; that cannot be forgiven. And thus when we come to believe In Jesus Christ crucified for our sins forgiveness God’s love comes to live in us (Rev. 3:20), both in the Person of Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God. God’s love indwells in and is manifested through all who believe (Gal. 5:22-23; 1 John 4:7-16).

Scripture Quotations
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982