34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34 (NASB)
I have been working on writing a commentary. It is very tiring, but also exciting as I dig into an Epistle that I thought I knew pretty well, but now I think I will almost have it memorized. Here is a list of the different offenses of the Gospel that can cause us to not be the witnesses that we should be.
26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:26 (NASB)
The first offense tells people that their life is a lie and as our Lord asked in Matthew 16:26 above, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Many people, both religious and non-religious, are trying to live good moral lives in the hope that God will welcome them into heaven. However, this would require a perfect keeping of the Law and no one except the Lord Jesus Christ has ever done that. No one does good, no not one (Romans 3:12). This offense of the cross is that a person cannot do anything to add to its effects. Either a believer is saved through the cross or they are unsaved with their own works. There is no other way to God except through Christ and that means through the Cross. That means that all those in other religions, no matter how good or moral, they are lost if they are outside of Christ. When the genuine Gospel of salvation by Grace through Faith alone is preached, it is very offensive to all who see their works as their means of salvation.