Ever felt you are too bad to be a Christian; that you will never be good enough? One truth Jesus reminds us of is that He was a "fisher of men," and all fishermen know that fish aren't cleaned until after they are caught. Never forget that. Come to Christ and He will clean you and make you good enough to go to Heaven.
First look at God's Word. Our text today is John 1:12-13.
We have come to John. The Master's Message in John is watching Jesus, the One who sent us to go and preach the gospel, through the eyes and ears of the Apostle John. Jesus is the best One to summarize the message He wants us to share in His name. What is the Gospel? Christ Jesus answers through the eyes and ears of the Apostle that He loved - John.
Now as we approach the Master's Message, or the way Jesus presented the Gospel, we note a dramatic shift in the vocabulary of the Gospel by John. Most noticeable is the shift from the words repent and repentance to belief and believe.
Repent occurs 9 times in the Synoptics (3 times in Matthew; 2 times in Mark; 5 times in Luke) but never in the Gospel by John. Again repentance occurs 10 times in the Synoptics (3/2/5) but never in John.
However the words believe and believed are often in John. John has 26 powerful scenes where our Lord Jesus Christ explains the truth about salvation, and identifies those who are saved. John calls saved people "believers," and describes them in 26 beautiful ways. He says that believers: possess Jesus Christ; understand salvation is only by substitution; have been overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit; hang on to Christ alone; get to start life over again - only this time brand new and in the right way; has no wrath of God to ever fear; drinks water of life; is convinced that Christ is their only hope; takes God at His Word; hears, comes, and obeys; partakes and stays in Jesus ... and on for 15 more scenes!
Taken from "What a Wonderful Change" by Discover the Book Ministries (used by permission).
