ambassadors for the risen Christ ministries

by Shawn Brasseaux
Published in The (Opelousas, Louisiana) Daily World

God is a gracious God, pouring undeserved mercy on all of humanity. As long as the Holy Spirit opens a person’s heart to the truth of the Gospel of the Grace of God, that person is confronted with a free will choice to either accept or reject God’s salvation.

Have you been taught that you have to do something to please God so that He will accept you? According to the Bible, this statement is completely false, not to mention blasphemous to God. How sad it is that people have overly-complicated salvation, and most church members are lost, confused, and Scripturally unlearned. People casually stroll to church out of obligation, but there is no genuine hunger for God’s Word. In recent decades, the vast majority have enjoyed Sundays but completely ignored God’s Word. Shame.

It is very dangerous to rely solely upon what you hear in church. We need more “Bereans,” and fewer “Sunday Christians” who warm pews and take power naps! Please search the Scriptures, and remember that every statement you hear in church MUST fit in perfect accordance with the Bible (Acts 17:10-11). Study your Bible.

Grace is defined as “unmerited favor,” apart from works (Romans 3:18-28; Ephesians 2:8,9). If God’s grace were dependant on what we did, we would never, ever see grace because merited grace is a negation. Grace was the ultimate factor that sent Christ to die on a Roman cross. The epitome of God’s grace was the Lord Jesus Christ, humbly becoming flesh only to shed His blood and die for us. Before any of you had a chance to merit favor and grace, Christ had already provided grace and favor 2000 years before! “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:1-11). The Lord paid the price in full, and you need do nothing but trust in His death, burial, and resurrection!

If we never check to see what God’s Word says, how will we ever determine what we hear in church is true? Eternity is not something you take lightly: eternity is how long God lives, and God lives forever. Let me be emphatically clear that everyone will live out eternity in one of two places: heaven or hell, dependent entirely on their denial or acceptance of the Gospel of Grace of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.

You must lean entirely upon this Gospel alone, without working for salvation, in order to go to heaven.