The gospel explained - Part 1

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3 :3

Could Jesus Christ have appeared to bring yet another new religion? It is a great deception to have imposed upon the entire world and in all ages the idea that "Christianity" is just another religion. Christianity is a religion only in name, invented by man because all religions must have a name, am I right? Christianity, Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism..."ism, ism, ism."

Did Jesus die on a terrible cross just to bring another "ism"?

Did not religion and Jesus always violently oppose each other from the beginning?

Who were Jesus' fiercest opponents during his earthly mission? Religious leaders.

Who condemned him, led him to the cross, incited the crow to make a demonstration to have him crucified like a common criminal? Religious leaders.

Who constantly tried to trap him and make him say things they could use against him? Religious leaders.

Religion loves religious leaders, but it hates and will always hate the true message of Christ. Here is what Jesus says about them and what they will be willing to do to his disciples in the name of their sacred religion:

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’. John 15 : 22-25

They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. John 16:2-3

Let's step away from the beaten path of religiosity and go to Eden.

A beautiful garden where God placed man to tend and cultivate it. In the middle of this garden, there was a magnificent tree, the tree of life. The tree of life was not only prominently displayed at the center of the garden, it was also not forbidden to eat from it.

And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.. Genesis 2: 8

There is another tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which appears precious to Eve to make one wise.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise Genesis 3:6

Make one wise ? Adam already has already plenty of intelligence and creativity, as he has just invented a name for all the animals of the field and birds of the sky!

The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. Genesis 2 : 20

God had given one order regarding this tree - not to eat from it. This was an order of love, a warning: do not eat from it because if you do, you will die.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat[d] of it you shall surely die. Genesis 2: 16-17

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate Genesis 3:4-6

Eve took from the tree and convinced her man to do the same. She was so beautiful, so convincing, and she was his friend, his only friend, the one he had longed for and who was now there with him, and whom he certainly deeply loved. The one whom God had given him, flesh of his flesh, and whom he loved so ardently. Could he refuse? The serpent was very cunning.

The fruit of this tree gives Adam and Eve the ability to discern for themselves and/or to decide what is right and what is wrong. Like gods. And there it is! Religion enters onto the stage of human history.

Religion with a capital R, which decides what is right and what is wrong. That is the role of religion, isn't it? This is not a promising start for religion, which objectively, was born from the fact that Adam and Eve chose to believe the words of a snake rather than those of their Creator.

Without a now severed relationship with God, they would have to use the abilities of their own souls to establish the definitions of good and evil, plucking them from a tree.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Genesis 1: 28

As God, they will dictate on earth the rules and laws, for God established them as kings on earth to subdue and wisely rule over creation (not over their neighbor!). Fall or not, as the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable, He does not take back what He has given so they will be kings.

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.. Romans 11:29

Everything is accelerating. Their eyes open. They are surprised. They did not expect it. Their nudity suddenly appears to them as something condemnable, whereas until then they had accommodated themselves without any embarrassment.

First condemnation. First shame. First unexpected effects of the tree.

Before:

And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:25

After:

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. Genesis 3 :7

They become slaves to a system they have set in motion, a system of external laws, a subjective moral order of which they are the gods. They have just introduced notions of guilt, shame, and condemnation.

Note that God has not yet established any laws. He had given only one command. The law will come later with Moses. In the Garden of Eden, therefore, it is the beginning of all religions, the beginning of the nightmare.

God is no longer there, and everyone will forge their own idea of good and evil and impose it on others by erecting it as a universal, absolute, and indisputable truth: This is what is good and this is what is evil, and woe to those who violate it.

All of this is very distressing. But something even sadder and more sorrowful happened that day, which is seldom talked about. See for yourself!

ow may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ I Thessalonians 5 :23

Here we learn that man and woman, in the image of the Trinity God, are also one in three parts: spirit (Greek: pneuma), soul (Greek: psuche), and body (Greek: soma). God had created a complete human being:

• With a spirit (pneuma) to be in contact with Himself because God is Spirit and we can only have a fusion and living contact with Him and the spiritual world through this part of ourselves, which is our spirit.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24

• With a soul (psuche), endowed with intelligence, creativity, imagination, feelings, emotions, will, the power to decide and choose. A soul with magnificent faculties, capable of manifesting and expressing to the external world the immense or subtle movements of its unique personality, a personality lovingly created by the Creator.
• With a body (soma) to communicate, to make visible the inner movements of the soul and thought, through words, movement, gestures, and attitudes on a planet, on a material world magnificently arranged, orchestrated, a world created for their happiness and to reign over it.

The soul was never meant to be the sole center of decision, the headquarters of man's life. It was part of a unique whole, spirit, soul, body. Its function was just to reflect and manifest the life given by the Creator and received in the spirit, in perfect harmony and synchronization with that spirit and body.

However, the complete human being is amputated on that day. The spirit, this part that served to correspond directly with God, this part destined to merge into the divine infinite, in an act of total love, loses its connection with the God of life and thus dies. Communication with the Creator is broken. The tree of life becomes inaccessible, guarded by cherubim waving a flaming sword.

Man becomes a mere living soul (psuche). His spirit is cut off from the supreme source of all life because he has chosen the path of the soul with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil instead of the path of the spirit with the tree of life.

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3 :22

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being (psuche)”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit (pneuma). 1 Corinthians 15:45

Adam and Eve became living souls (psuche). They were already alive in a physical sense! However, before, they were more than just living souls. They communicated directly through their spirit with God, who is Spirit. They naturally communed with the God of life. They were complete beings, spirit, soul, and body. Cut off and separated from God, they are now only soul and body. Their spirit is no longer connected to the Source of life. This is what happened when we put this verse back into the context of Holy Scriptures. But it is too early to develop further. We will come back to this soon, and everything will become so clear!

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2 :1-3

Who are we speaking to here? Zombies? Ghosts? You were dead in your sins... Clearly, this verse speaks to people who have experienced a transformation and are being reminded of their past, being told that before something happened, they were dead.

It's certainly not addressing people who were clinically dead and would have come back to life. Before, are they told, you were dead and you were fulfilling the desires of the flesh. They hzd to ve very much alive to carry out the works of the flesh.

Alive in body and soul, but dead in their spirit. The Holy Spirit, who inspired these lines through the hand of the apostle Paul, is speaking of the death of the spirit.

It also says: you were by nature children of wrath. Note 'by nature'. All of this requires explanation. And the understanding of everything that follows brings us into the subject, into this extraordinary mystery, extraordinary and revealed today. Let's discover it!

When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. Genesis 5 :3

After his unfortunate decision, Adam had children with Eve, children in his image, who themselves had children. And from generation to generation, all of his descendants inherit the same nature: they are living souls separated from the God of life. They are no longer in the image of God but in that of Adam and Eve. A cherry tree gives cherries. An apple tree gives apples. A spirit without divine life gives a spirit without divine life, a spiritually dead. From a sinner comes a sinner. Is there anything surprising about this?

One can already begin to ask a question: if I am born a sinner by nature, if I am a sinner by my birth as a descendant of Adam, since I have inherited simply the nature, the DNA of my fathers, is it surprising that this nature quickly does what it knows best in the world?

For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners … Romans 5 :19

This text is a thunderbolt. It is indeed because of one man, the first man, who sinned, that his descendants, all of humanity, became sinners by nature. What an astonishing explanation!

We have been made sinners by Adam's disobedience. Some believe that disobeying makes them sinners. Not at all! It's the other way around. It is because I am naturally, involuntarily, and by birth a sinner that soon my nature produces what is called sin.

We understand better what Paul said: "you were by nature children of wrath"... by Adam's disobedience, all were made sinners by nature; all human beings of all races, of all times. Adam is the father of rebellion since he was the first to disobey an order from the Great Chief. And this is what makes us, through inheritance, the sons of rebellion.

The disobedience of one man, Adam, made all his descendants sinners, in his image. This is the meaning of this discreet verse in Romans 5. However, the second part of this verse is a tremendous news that we will soon (re)discover.

The influence of the tree of knowledge of good and evil remains powerfully present in human history because everyone feels, deep down, a need for religion, for belief, whatever it may be. Through religion, humans unconsciously (or consciously) want to reconnect with God, improve themselves, rise above, be powerful like God, regain a lost Eden, with this deep and inexplicable intuition that intense and lasting happiness does exist somewhere. Maybe it has been lost?

When despite his efforts, humans cannot achieve the desired heights, or chase away vice with their religion, they hide their misery under legalistic appearances, or under an air of holiness. They deceive themselves with false reasoning.

All religions, including Christianity (since it is considered a religion), have this common point that none has the power to change the nature of a descendant of Adam.

Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil. Jeremiah 13 : 23

Imagine a leopard tired of its spots. Whatever its religion may be, it starts by saying to itself, "It's not good to have spots! It's making me very unhappy." The leopard goes to wash in a river with purifying virtues, but to no avail. Then, it embarks on a great initiatory journey and meets other wise leopards to ask for advice, but soon realizes that they too have been unable to get rid of their own spots. The leopard then puts on a lion's skin and convinces itself that it is now different, but unfortunately, this artificial skin quickly reveals some holes, and the spots return. It then rolls in the dust to make its color uniform, but with the first rain, the beautiful color disappears and its efforts are in vain. And then one day, it resigns itself. "These spots, I will never get rid of them. I am and will always be a leopard." It is not wrong.

We choose our religion. This power comes from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We choose the "best," the most comfortable, the least or most restrictive, the most suitable for our character, our culture. Or it may be the religion of our parents, or perhaps the one that offered itself to us when we were in deep search. If needed, we customize it. Whatever it is, it is Adam's legacy. I define what is good and what is bad. The real problem, son or daughter of Adam, is that you have inherited a nature from birth, like the leopard with its spots or the Ethiopian with their beautiful black skin. We choose our religion, but we cannot free ourselves from ourselves.

We were talking earlier about being wrong with false reasoning. Some people are very happy with themselves. They practice their religion and say, "I have neither killed nor stolen. I am a good believer." In today's times, some even say, "I have killed, I have murdered for God. I am a good believer." Everything and its opposite! And others say, "I do not kill anything, not even a fly. Maybe it's my grandmother!"

I once had a conversation with colleagues who were very sincere in their faith, and they assured me that they were good "Christians." I asked them the question, "Why do you think God gave the Ten Commandments and all the others, because there are many more?" They replied, "To show the way of good and evil, so that we can be good people." I remember their bewildered look when I told them, "That's not what the Scriptures say. God gave the commandments so that you would disobey them. Did you know that God never gave the Ten Commandments or any law with the expectation of being obeyed?" My colleagues and friends remained silent and looked at me strangely. Let's look at the Scriptures together. I'm not making this up!

as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one! Romans 3 :10

In the Scriptures, a righteous person is one who meets God's criteria, not the criteria of religion or tradition. It is someone who does God's will and does everything that pleases Him. There is not a single person who fits this description. It's clear!

Did you know that according to the Scriptures, the law, including the Ten Commandments and others, is a complete package? You either obey all of it, or you become disobedient to all of it.

You may not have killed or stolen, but you have lied. It's as if you have committed murder and theft. Who determines which sin is more serious than another? Religion! Adam, Adam, what an ugly inheritance you have left us... Read instead:

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. Jacques 2:10

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them. Galates 3:10

Before this divine law, this insurmountable wall, we all find ourselves equal in the curse, in disobedience. The very kind, the somewhat kind, the unkind, the wicked, the very wicked, the extremely wicked! Some have killed, others have lied, stolen, coveted. All have broken at least one rule and are therefore considered to have broken them all. There is not a single righteous person before God.

For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. Romans 2:14

A moral law, more or less stifled, is written in every heart, because we have been created by God. We all have, religious or not, believer or not, a more or less clear intuition of what is good and what is not, just to be able to live in society.

A law was then brought, precisely detailed, explained and amplified by Moses, a widely spread and known law in the world with its famous ten commandments that no one has ever been able to follow. And this law was made even more difficult and inaccessible by Jesus Christ. Listen to this:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:43-45

Who can do this with all their heart? Make all your efforts to try to improve yourself, you will have the satisfaction of having made some progress. But ultimately, what's the point? God will never consider us righteous just because we do some good here and there. In His eyes, because it is His law, the law that supposedly we strive to follow, this law, His law says that we are guilty of all His commandments if we have disobeyed even one rule!

Do not run away! There is good news. Gospel means good news. But the good news only works in the hearts of those who have stopped trying to buy God's favor with their "good" behavior and who are willing to understand what will follow.

For our nature is the real problem.

What we mean is that the most beautiful commandments, the best rules, cannot tame or change it. We are sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, hereditarily disobedient and rebellious by nature to everything that comes from God, and the law serves only to unmask this terrible reality!

But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them". Galatians 3:12

The verse states that the implementation of the law through personal efforts (which everyone still falsely believes today) was supposed to give us abundant life. But as no one can practice it perfectly as required, due to the Adamic inheritance, no one has life, divine life, abundant life, the overflowing life of God where true happiness lies unless… And the next verse gives us a key:

For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. Romans 11:32

ou read it correctly! God has put all men on the same level TO show grace to all. Through the law, He exposes in man his irreparably rebellious and incapable nature to receive life. But His purpose is not to humiliate or condemn, but to show grace TO ALL. That was the true purpose of the law: to place us in a condition of humility to prepare us to receive grace, as it is, a gift, a gift in every sense of the word, coming from a loving God.

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Galatians 3:21-22

Here we are ready to go even further. The question now is how we can enter into this abundant life and receive what has been promised according to the extraordinary words of Jesus Christ:

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as[f] the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”. John 7:37

Would it be another religion? Certainly not! As we said, could any religion bring rivers of living water? It will always come up, sooner or later, against the reality of our stubborn nature. The law is good for revealing the sin nature that clings to me. This is what is described in this passage from the letter to the Romans

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me..

For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Romans 7:7-11

he good law shows us the terrible reality: it awakens and exposes sin within us because by nature, I am sold to sin. This is so well described by the Holy Spirit, through the pen of the apostle Paul in this other passage:

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?? Romains 7:14-24

It is a cry that anyone who understands what has just been explained will not fail to shout out! Who will deliver me from this nature that is in my body, that struggles in my members, and that drives me despite myself, to do what I do not want and not to do what I would like to do. A body of death!

"It's stronger than me!", "you can't change yourself", "I'll never make it". That's what we say, isn't it? And it's true. We can't change ourselves. Religion doesn't change us either. It just sets goals for us, great and magnificent ideals, rules, principles, and then figure it out. Help yourself and God will help you. That's what we say, isn't it!

And we flagellate ourselves, condemn ourselves, self-censor, deprive ourselves of everything and the good things that God created for us, inflict punishments on ourselves, get discouraged, and give up. We spoil our own lives and the lives of others, whereas God created us for happiness. How desolate religion is. What an infernal legacy this tree of the knowledge of good and evil is!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

The topic we are going to discuss now is not new. It is the essence of the gospel, the great plan of God hidden from eternity and revealed today through the gospel.

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things,, Ephesians 3:8-9

the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints., Colossians 1:26

This mystery, now revealed by the Spirit of God, is the immense and extraordinary news:

God's plan is to address the problem at its root:

He wants to recreate in you a new nature, if you agree. This promise is for anyone who despairs of themselves and first understands, then believes, accepts and humbly receives the dazzling work accomplished by Christ on the Cross and through the resurrection. It's free.

It's no longer a matter of making all your efforts to obey laws, as we have seen, they are only there to highlight our rebellious and disobedient nature. Everything is accomplished so that this can happen and there is nothing we have to add (this is the meaning of Jesus' last words on the Cross).

God now asks us: Are we willing to receive a new nature that loves and can observe his law? I ask you: would you accept it?

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:23-24

Justified means made righteous. The law was a good pedagogue. It showed us our total inability to please God through our own efforts, if we are sincere, of course. Now it leads us to the One who can change this situation, to Christ.

Today God offers a miracle, a supernatural transformation. He announces good news to you that is not new, I repeat. These inspired texts were written some 2000 years ago and have been experienced throughout the centuries by men and women all over the world. So let's go further.

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3

Being born again! Being born a second time. Receiving a new nature. It is Jesus himself who speaks! This had already been announced by the prophet Ezekiel, 650 years before the birth of Jesus, the Son of Man on earth.

This announcement, this promise had been made to a people, the people of Israel, who had received the divine law in supernatural conditions unlike any other religion. But do you think that the people of Israel who received these laws are so different from us? We are all sons of Adam. God chose for a time a people to make himself known and then extend the blessing to the whole world. Israel has not yet understood because this Messiah they are still waiting for has already come and accomplished what they read every day in their law without understanding it.

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.

For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. Romans 11:25-32

After confining the whole world in disobedience by giving a universally impossible law to fulfill, God reveals His will: since men are incapable of following His commandments, He announces through the prophet Ezekiel that He will give them a new heart and a new spirit. He will put His Spirit in them and He Himself will ensure that they follow His commandments. He will accomplish everything from start to finish. We just need to agree with this plan because God does not force any door.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezekiel 36:25-27

This prophecy was fulfilled (the "It is finished" of Jesus Christ) and has become a reality today and for the past 2000 years thanks to the supreme work of Jesus Christ. God saves men from themselves, from their disobedient nature, by communicating His Spirit to them. He gives them a new spirit, a new heart, and He Himself makes sure that finally, man desires and is fully capable of following His commands. Re-read the text. That's what it means, it's not an interpretation. And it is confirmed and reconfirmed throughout the New Testament and by Jesus Himself, as we will see.

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Romains 11:36

Freely, by pure grace, because of His love and His justice. Provided that we recognize our total inability to love Him according to His standards, to follow Him by our own strength and within the framework of the Adamic nature we received from our parents.

In a few words, provided that we renounce the tree of knowledge of good and evil and accept His life in us, the tree of life. That we repent... The term repent means: to renounce, no longer want our original nature with all its sins, no longer want it and accept to be rid of it by the supernatural action of God in Christ Jesus. The tree of life is Christ. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. But no hurry, we will explain it through the Scriptures.

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches

(…) And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.. Revelation 22:16-17

Today and for centuries, this promise of a bursting life has been fulfilled and continues to be fulfilled in the lives of millions of men and women around the world. They all have one thing in common. They have renounced the sterile action of religion, whatever it may be, and have been born again by the supernatural action of the Holy Spirit.

God has fulfilled His promise and begun to build His kingdom throughout the earth. An invisible kingdom because it is first established in the hearts of those who accept it, an invisible but very real kingdom, I assure you. Beyond religion. A miracle that seizes and transforms from within and upsets the heart.

This strategy is the divine strategy. He conquers hearts with His Love, His Grace, and His Faithfulness. We are far from religions (including Christianity when referring to conquistadors, the Inquisition, or the Saint Bartholomew massacre) that to force men to embrace a doctrine, does not hesitate to the kill the recalcitrants.

Jesus Christ comes, through the Holy Spirit, to make His dwelling in the amazed hearts of those who give Him their lives. He reveals Himself and manifests Himself in the hearts of those who believe in Him. And this happens unexpectedly, inwardly, and independently of any action on our part, except our repentance and faith.

This is not reserved for mystics, priests, or pastors, but for every man and woman, today and until Christ returns.

You who read this text, you can immediately enter into this extraordinary plan simply by believing and accepting because listen carefully:

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:3-4

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

All men or anyone, that means you and me. It's the will of the Heavenly Father and He has already put in place everything necessary for the miracle to happen. It is finished!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself, 2 Corinthians 5:17-18

If anyone is in Christ. To be in Christ means to have been united with Christ through a supernatural action of the Holy Spirit, to have His nature flowing in us like a branch that, having just been grafted onto a tree, sees a new sap flowing in it.

To be in Christ. God offers us nothing less. To become overnight a new person who discovers, day by day and week by week, different tastes than before, different ambitions, different aspirations than those they had before.

Do you want to receive this life? Listen (read!) now. God is a legislator. He dictates the method. It is He who decides how we receive. And I will show you the way. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil no longer has authority here. God takes the reins. He has shut up all men in disobedience and now He explains to us how He has decided to show grace, to give a new Life according to His own terms. He sets the rule and the framework in which it can and will happen.

Firstly, God gives freely to all those who first understand, then realize what Christ has done and who then simply accept Him in their souls and trust Him with the direction of their lives. Please reread that sentence. It's as simple as that. That's the point of these few lines; to explain to you so that you can make an informed choice. God doesn't want you to swallow religious platitudes that you don't understand, or to be smothered with superstitions or sterile philosophies. It's life that you need!

Therefore, God wants you to understand. His work is great and perfect. You have nothing to do. You can add nothing. Start by accepting that only His immense Love and His wisdom are at the origin of this incredible plan. You have nothing to do with it.

We will explain what Jesus Christ did. Understand it and then you will be free to accept or reject it, knowing that the moment you accept it, the conditions are met for the supernatural miracle of new birth to occur, a miracle that will overturn your entire life as it has overturned mine and that of millions of men and women on earth and in all times. God WANTS all men to be saved, so only your decision can prevent Him from doing so.

Listen, see, and understand the magnificent work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I'm not talking to you about a religion but about an encounter with the One who is alive. Prophets, gurus, and others have all died without exception. None of them have been resurrected and living to meet you today. That's why the miracle can happen. There's nothing magical about it. However, there are laws, principles that I will describe. Then you will decide because your choice is important. Your free will is complete.

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 1 Corinthians 1:21

The wisdom, techniques, and religions of the world are powerless to make us know God. God has decided to use preaching, which is an announcement, an explanation of His mysteries delivered by humans. An explanation that leaves the choice, the possibility to believe or not because God expects only one thing from each of us: faith and the decision to let Him be the shepherd of our life.

God does not send angels or great flashes of light to the sound of resounding trumpets. That is not His method. He has chosen preaching, which is an announcement made by weak and imperfect (in the generally understood sense) people. It is not the vessel that we should look at but its content. It is not the preacher who can save us but the message he carries that is charged with life.

Faith is not a magical virtue that appears spontaneously or that we have at birth or do not have at all. Before believing, we hear, then we evaluate, and if arguments are good and we are of good faith and convinced, we adhere. God will not reproach you if you follow this approach. It is natural, human. He created us with an intelligence to use. And this intelligence is illuminated by listening to the Gospel. God has good arguments, I assure you.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?
And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Romans 10:14

Today God expects faith. You might say, "I don't have faith!!" It's normal, faith comes. It comes. It comes from what we hear, if we hear. Keep reading, that's the purpose of these few lines! Hear, understand. God who loves you will produce faith as you listen to His Word. Use your intelligence because faith comes from what we hear. It is naturally produced by listening, but the word "hear" here does not only mean to hear with your ears but also with your understanding, your comprehension. You know the expression: "I hear you" to mean "I understand.

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path Matthew 13:19

One must listen and understand. And I assure you, the gospel is not difficult. The miracle of the new birth was announced by Ezekiel and confirmed by Jesus who said: you must be born again. This miracle which was promised, this miracle which has been the ultimate goal of the Lord from the beginning, occurs in the heart of the one who believes and as a bonus, God produces the necessary faith as you listen. This is the rule set by God. There is no other way. Receiving a free gift by believing that this amazing promise is really for you and will become a reality in your life.

Faith and repentance, which we have already explained, are God's requirements. And faith and repentance can occur as soon as you understand, if you have understood well and if you are not hostile, dishonest, or biased.

Accepting something once you have understood it and if it is acceptable is a natural way of functioning for human beings. When my children wanted to convince me to buy something for them, I was amazed at their inventiveness in giving me good, rational, and indisputable arguments. They knew that if they convinced me, I would agree to their request. Faith works like that.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13

The power to be born again and thus become a child of God is given by the word, by Jesus Christ, to those who believe in His name. That's what this text says. From being a child of Adam, one becomes a child of God.

Only God can perform this operation. Only He can do it, or else nothing will happen. Your efforts, your merits, your attempts and resolutions to do good are certainly pleasing to Him but do not have the power to transform you from within and make you children of God. You are currently a son of Adam, a daughter of Adam, created by God, but descending from and inheriting from those who, in the garden, lost their relationship with God.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:16-17

The new birth is a divine work that does not come from you. It comes from above. It is a supernatural and divine miracle that God wants to produce in everyone. It is not received at birth (not by blood) even if our parents are born again. It is not obtained by the power of our will (will of the flesh, of human nature). It does not come by the power of man, a priest, or a preacher (will of man). The power to become a child of God comes from God. One is not born a child of God. One becomes a child of God according to principles that God Himself has established. It is an excellent grace, a perfect gift that comes from above. So relax, it's His work.

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. James 1:18

In the letter of James, it is said in a different way. Here, it is indeed a matter of being born again. Our natural parents gave birth to us once. God begets us, causes us to be born again according to His promise, through the word of truth.

You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 1 Peter 1:23

Born anew means generated anew. Here's how it works: the Word is sown into your heart like a seed through preaching. You hear it, understand it, and the moment you accept it as true (faith), the Holy Spirit causes this seed to sprout. He generates, He brings forth life because this seed, activated by the Holy Spirit and your faith, is Christ himself in the form of a seed.

You have heard the good news: God wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. We're not talking about truth as a doctrine or philosophy, but a living word. The Truth is a person. Jesus said:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me Jean 14:6

He did not say, "I give you the philosophical truth so that you can then go out and tell the whole world that I'm right and you're wrong." He is the Truth. When he comes to dwell in us, from the first day of our new birth, it is the Truth that comes to dwell in us. It is real, it is experiential. We do not need to convince ourselves because it is true. But we would do better to say that it is Christ who comes to dwell in us, to avoid useless and sterile discussions. Jesus Christ is a living person, and he wants to dwell in us through his Holy Spirit.

And in Christ you are being built together with his other people. You are being made into a place where God lives through the Spirit. Ephesians 2:22

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 1 Corinthians 6:19

… I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Galatians 2:20

All these texts in the New Testament attest to the new birth. Why don't we ever hear about it when it's at the heart of the gospel? The first disciples of Christ proclaimed that they had become a habitation of God in the Spirit, that they had become the temple of the Holy Spirit, that Christ lived in them. They lived it simply, naturally. It was real. It would never have occurred to them to consider it as a religion. It isn't one!

This supernatural experience is the very essence of the Gospel, at the heart of God's eternal plan for humanity. This is what makes it powerful and the standard. It is us who have forgotten God's standard and replaced it with a tasteless religion without the supernatural action of the Holy Spirit. Christianity has become for many a religion like any other, a pure product of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, a corrupted version of the divine plan. In fact, the Apostle Paul had prophesied it. Listen to this:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Preaching is there, offered to our faith or unbelief. Preaching, the proclamation, does not impose anything. It leaves us the choice to believe or not.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6

In summary: faith is the only means, required by God, to enter into this life. And He undertakes to produce it as we listen. That's how much He loves us. Faith inevitably leads to an experience because it inevitably moves God's supernatural arm. It helps to germinate the seed of life, this Word that we hear. I believe and then I see. Not the other way around.

Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? John 11:40

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. James 4:8

Draw near to God. Drawing near to God is good. In fact, that's what we're doing right now, but the goal is that he draws near to us, isn't it? I draw near to God by reading these lines, by reading the Bible, by talking to Him (what is called prayer), by assembling with other born-again children of God ("going to church"). This is the first natural phase. You are approaching God. If your heart warms up while reading these lines, if a glimmer of hope begins to appear on the uncertain horizon of your existence, it is because you are drawing to Him.

But the huge news is that soon, very soon, if not already, He will draw near to you. This is the second supernatural phase, beyond your control, beyond any control. It is He who speaks to your heart, who seizes you, who enlightens you, illuminating the words of the Bible, it is He who loves you and embraces you.

This is the normal experience of the new creature who regains its lost communion with God. This experience is different for everyone, but it is overwhelming and definitive.

TO BE BORN AGAIN. You then know that you have crossed over into a new life, you have passed from death to Life. You know this because:

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Romans 8:16

This is what the first disciples of Jesus Christ affirmed, as well as those who are born again today. It's an inner testimony, a deep, deep certainty that goes beyond our human understanding. It has nothing to do with self-suggestion. The Spirit of God Himself gives this testimony in you, giving you this conviction, this inexplicable and yet indubitable certainty forever.

I'm describing something here that you may have never heard of. Yet it's the normal life of every person, of every race, nation, age, gender, and social condition who meets their Savior Jesus Christ. I repeat, ask a child of God who has been born again to tell you about their encounter with Christ. You'll hear a different story every time and yet the same story.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.. John 1:14

Jesus Christ is the Word of God. This Word became flesh in a human body over 2000 years ago.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as[f] the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39

This word is for today. Because it's done. After being crucified, then resurrected, then returning to the Father and ascending to heaven, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit. It's done. The rivers of living water are now operational, ready to bring to life and make concrete the life of God in the hearts of those who accept all the work of Jesus Christ, of those who come to Him.

In the second part of this gospel announcement, we will release two liberating, explosive seeds. Seeds of the Word of God. The detonator will be your faith. Believe it. The power of life and explosion (of life!) is in the Holy Spirit. And as far as He is concerned, there is no need to worry, He is there above you, near you, around you.

And we also thank God constantly[d] for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men[e] but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 1 Thessalonians 2:13

It will be at work in those who believe. It will be at work. Not you. Listen, understand, ask God to help you understand if you fear not understanding. And for faith, have no fear because faith comes from hearing, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. And I am making you hear the word of Christ.

Come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you have been forced to carry. I will give you rest. Accept my teaching. Learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will be able to get some rest. Yes, the teaching that I ask you to accept is easy. The load I give you to carry is light. Matthew 11:28-30

Remember! God wants all men to be saved, you, me. The Son wants to reveal the Father to all. He draws all men to Himself. We just need to follow His instructions. So have courage, do not doubt. It's for you too! Jesus does not lie. He is the Truth. Trust in His words!

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.- John 12:32-33

Following soon:Are we very sure to know what the gospel is ? 2^nd part