Jesus Wants the Rose – EGP Blog post from November 3, 2013

While I don’t know the full context of the original sermon referenced in the video by Matt Chandler, may we never turn the Victorious News (Gospel) into moralistic dont’s and do’s. Jesus always wants the broken, downtrodden, and those deceived by sin…otherwise He wouldn’t want anybody, because we ALL are all of those things.

John 10:10 ()

[10] “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have§ it abundantly.

John 10:10 Or have abundance

Now, this doesn’t mean that we are to forgo moralism all together or that there isn’t a time or place for preaching it, but typically the order of things is to catch the fish and THEN clean it. (, )

If people think it’s all about “being a good person,” then they’ll deceptively compare themselves to other people…the thief will say “at least I haven’t murdered,” the murderer will say, “at least I never ______,” etc.

Romans 3:20–24 ()

[20] For no one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God’s law, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying it. [21] But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight—not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. [22] We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. [23] For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. [24] Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.

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