Daily Devotional
Are You Adding to the Gospel of Grace?

December 3, 2023

Ponder This

I was on an airplane with a man who was a member of a denomination that believes you have to be baptized to be saved. I said, “What if I were a businessman on this plane with you, and we heard we were minutes away from a deadly crash? What would you do if I asked, ‘Sir, would you tell me how to be saved?’” He said, “I wouldn’t have a message for you.” Is that not sad? In that logic, you have to take the “whosoever” out of the Bible and say, “Whosoever would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be fortunate enough to be near water and have a preacher there to baptize him—and some would say, ‘and be of my denomination’—will be saved.” Do you see what that does? It emasculates the Gospel. It takes the good news out of the Gospel. I am so everlastingly glad that I can say to anybody, anyplace, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). It is totally, completely by grace. It extends to every person. It extends to every place, and it extends to every problem. There’s only one thing that ultimately matters, and that’s your relationship with God. There’s no other message that has an answer to sin, sorrow, and death, but the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

• What are some conditions you feel tempted to add to the Gospel?
• What’s a recent example of God’s grace in your life?

Practice This

Practice sharing the Gospel with someone. Are you prone to make much of grace or works in sharing with others? Evaluate how you can grow in sharing the Gospel.