Simplicity

“Oh, that you would bear with me in a little
folly—and indeed you do bear with me. For I am jealous for you with godly
jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a
chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve
by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is
in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:1-3).

St. Paul was concerned about people deceiving other people away
from the simplicity that is in Christ. All (or at least most) denominations of
the Christian church have made salvation in Christ a little more complicated
than the Bible makes it.

Rather than drawing attention to all of these complications, I
thought I would go through the Gospel with simple, biblical words.

God

God is.

God is love.

God so loved the world.

The world was the object of His love.

The expression of His love is giving.

What He gave was His only-begotten Son.

He gave what was most valuable to Him.

Sin came into the world through man.

All men have sinned.

The soul that sins shall die.

The son of God died for sinful man.

The son of God rose from the dead to justify sinful man.

The sinful man who believes in the Son of God is saved.

Written June 1, 2018.

This post coordinates with tomorrow’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.