Truth to the Core

Some people have a real knack for cleverly summing up complex concepts in a single sentence that packs such a punch that it continues to be quoted centuries after they're gone. St Francis of Assisi, who lived in Italy in the late second and early third centuries AD, is credited with having said this: "Preach the Gospel, use words if necessary." But it turns out that there's no historical evidence that he actually said or wrote those words. In fact, his actual teachings emphasised both living out the Gospel and  proclaiming it verbally –  with which I totally one hundred percent agree. To be honest, there are too many well-meaning Christians around the world who through their good deeds are loving the lost into a Christless eternity. Ultimately we each need to have the Good News of Jesus explained to us. And that good news is this: 1 Peter 1:19 You were bought with the precious blood of Christ's death. He was a pure and perfect sacrificial Lamb. Jesus, the very Son of God, God Himself, became a man who lived on this earth who, although completely innocent, completely without sin or blemish, was convicted and crucified to pay the price that God's justice demands for your sin and mine. And, when we believe in this Jesus, it's through that faith in His sacrifice that God forgives us our sin, and gives us a new life, an eternal life – not through what we've done, but through our faith in what Jesus did on our behalf. You were bought with the precious blood of Christ's death. He was a pure and perfect sacrificial Lamb That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.