<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Romans 1;16&amp;17<div><br></div><div><b>16. &nbsp;For I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also the Greek.</b></div><div><b>17. &nbsp;For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.”</b></div><div><br></div><div>Just what is the Gospel? &nbsp;The word itself means, ‘Good News’. &nbsp; But, what is the Good News?</div><div>Understanding the greatness of God’s Gospel to us is essential for walking by the Spirit in ‘Newness of Life’</div><div>(Romans 6;4)</div><div><br></div><div>For many in western Christianity, the Gospel has been reduced to&nbsp;a ‘transaction.’ &nbsp; In essence, God gives forgiveness of sin and promises eternal life to all who in repentant hope and faith,&nbsp;call upon the name of Jesus for mercy, forgiveness, and cleansing.</div><div><br></div><div>This understanding of the Gospel as being ‘transactional’ is not wrong, but it is certainly not&nbsp;complete.</div><div>In fact, to limit the Gospel to a transaction: (Christ the Holy Son of God&nbsp;humbles Himself, and as the sacrificial Lamb of God,&nbsp;sheds His precious blood and dies in our place&nbsp;upon the cross so that we may be forgiven and receive the promise of eternal life), amounts to just the beginning of the Good News of God.</div><div><br></div><div>In fact if we limit the Gospel to just this transaction, we actually oppose God and His good will for us.</div><div><br></div><div>The Gospel does not end with the forgiveness of sin, nor God’s gifts to us&nbsp;of repentance and faith (which believes in the resurrection, ascention, and promised return of Jesus for Judgement,)&nbsp; it <u>BEGINS</u>&nbsp;there!</div><div><br></div><div>The full complete&nbsp;Good News of the Gospel is what Jesus quoted in the synagogue in Nazareth when He said,</div><div><br></div><div><i>“The Spirit of the Lord GOD&nbsp;is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; To grant to those who mourn in Zion—&nbsp;to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.” &nbsp;</i>(Isaiah 61:1-3)</div><div><br></div><div>It is one thing to be forgiven, and another altogether to be repaired, renewed, and&nbsp;regenerated! &nbsp;That is what “<i>bind of the broken hearted” </i>means. &nbsp;It means to be cared for and restored, healed, not just from physical wounds, but from the ‘wound of our selfish nature,’ which was inflicted upon us from our father Adam. &nbsp;It means to be made whole and right as before the fall into sin, (beginning with our soul and spirit, and in the resurrection our flesh as well)!</div><div><br></div><div>The Good News of God is ‘restoration’! &nbsp;</div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>“Create in me a clean heart O God, and put a new and right-</i>(ous) <i>spirit within me. &nbsp;Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. &nbsp;Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free </i>(willing) s<i>pirit.” &nbsp;</i>(Psalm 51;10-12)</div><div><br></div><div>The Good News of God is not simply ‘transactional’ it is ‘TRANSFORMATIONAL’!</div><div><br></div><div>We are not just being forgiven, we are being made new, born-anew!</div><div><br></div><div>AND, this is not the best part of the Gospel…in our baptism into Christ, we are being given death to our sinful nature, and by Christ’s resurrection, we too&nbsp;are&nbsp;given&nbsp;newness of Life, we are given&nbsp;His own Life, and best of all we are given&nbsp;the Holy Spirit by which we have&nbsp;<span>power to walk by faith, in&nbsp;the Spirit,&nbsp;in the&nbsp;new-Life, (denying ourselves, carrying our crosses and following Jesus).</span></div><div><br></div><div>The Holy Spirit empowers Believers to <i>“live for the praise of His </i>(the Father’s)&nbsp;<i>glory.” &nbsp; </i>(Ephesians 1;11&amp;12)</div><div><br></div><div>This we <u>can do</u>&nbsp;by Christ indwelling us by the Holy Spirit.</div><div><br></div><div>This is what Paul points us to when he writes, <i>“the righteousness of God is revealed through faith <u>for faith”.</u></i></div><div><i><u><br></u></i></div><div>Living the lives of good works, which we are created in Christ Jesus for, <u>can be done ONLY by faith, which believes Christ by the Spirit is indwelling us</u>.</div><div>This faith believes<span>&nbsp;not only the ‘transactional Gospel, but also&nbsp;the ‘transformational Gospel’.</span></div><div><br></div><div><span>This Good News is that we <u>ARE</u>&nbsp;able to,&nbsp;<i>“by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body”. &nbsp;</i>(Romans 8;13)</span></div><div><span>This Gospel is joyous not only because we are forgiven, it rejoice in the transformation of the sinner into the saint, a holy one of God, the dwelling place of God. &nbsp;This Gospel gives us the joys of eternal life now in this world, even before we die and enter heaven.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, bless us to believe that we are forgiven,&nbsp;restored, regenerated, destined and appointed,&nbsp;to live now in the Mind of Christ, empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit. &nbsp;Bless us by faith in the indwelling Christ to truly be <i>‘oaks of Righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that You may be glorified,”</i></span></div><div><span>in us now as we by faith&nbsp;walk by the Spirit. &nbsp; In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His!”</span></div><div><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Romans 1;16&17
16.  For I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also the Greek.17.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.”
Just what is the Gospel?  The word itself means, ‘Good News’.   But, what is the Good News?Understanding the greatness of God’s Gospel to us is essential for walking by the Spirit in ‘Newness of Life’(Romans 6;4)
For many in western Christianity, the Gospel has been reduced to a ‘transaction.’   In essence, God gives forgiveness of sin and promises eternal life to all who in repentant hope and faith, call upon the name of Jesus for mercy, forgiveness, and cleansing.
This understanding of the Gospel as being ‘transactional’ is not wrong, but it is certainly not complete.In fact, to limit the Gospel to a transaction: (Christ the Holy Son of God humbles Himself, and as the sacrificial Lamb of God, sheds His precious blood and dies in our place upon the cross so that we may be forgiven and receive the promise of eternal life), amounts to just the beginning of the Good News of God.
In fact if we limit the Gospel to just this transaction, we actually oppose God and His good will for us.
The Gospel does not end with the forgiveness of sin, nor God’s gifts to us of repentance and faith (which believes in the resurrection, ascention, and promised return of Jesus for Judgement,)  it BEGINS there!
The full complete Good News of the Gospel is what Jesus quoted in the synagogue in Nazareth when He said,
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; To grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”  (Isaiah 61:1-3)
It is one thing to be forgiven, and another altogether to be repaired, renewed, and regenerated!  That is what “bind of the broken hearted” means.  It means to be cared for and restored, healed, not just from physical wounds, but from the ‘wound of our selfish nature,’ which was inflicted upon us from our father Adam.  It means to be made whole and right as before the fall into sin, (beginning with our soul and spirit, and in the resurrection our flesh as well)!
The Good News of God is ‘restoration’!  
“Create in me a clean heart O God, and put a new and right-(ous) spirit within me.  Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free (willing) spirit.”  (Psalm 51;10-12)
The Good News of God is not simply ‘transactional’ it is ‘TRANSFORMATIONAL’!
We are not just being forgiven, we are being made new, born-anew!
AND, this is not the best part of the Gospel…in our baptism into Christ, we are being given death to our sinful nature, and by Christ’s resurrection, we too are given newness of Life, we are given His own Life, and best of all we are given the Holy Spirit by which we have power to walk by faith, in the Spirit, in the new-Life, (denying ourselves, carrying our crosses and following Jesus).
The Holy Spirit empowers Believers to “live for the praise of His (the Father’s) glory.”   (Ephesians 1;11&12)
This we can do by Christ indwelling us by the Holy Spirit.
This is what Paul points us to when he writes, “the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith”.
Living the lives of good works, which we are created in Christ Jesus for, can be done ONLY by faith, which believes Christ by the Spirit is indwelling us.This faith believes not only the ‘transactional Gospel, but also the ‘transformational Gospel’.
This Good News is that we ARE able to, “by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body”.  (Romans 8;13)This Gospel is joyous not only because we are forgiven, it rejoice in the transformation of the sinner into the saint, a holy one of God, the dwelling place of God.  This Gospel gives us the joys of eternal life now in this world, even before we die and enter heaven.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, bless us to believe that we are forgiven, restored, regenerated, destined and appointed, to live now in the Mind of Christ, empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Bless us by faith in the indwelling Christ to truly be ‘oaks of Righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that You may be glorified,”in us now as we by faith walk by the Spirit.   In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His!”

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