As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.  — Acts 13:42-44

How about this. People were begging Paul to preach. And why? Well, because for the first time, they heard the Gospel of freedom by grace. And they were so excited about it, they wanted their friends to hear about it.

Imagine hearing your whole life about Old Testament Law and feeling weighted down by the oral and written traditions needed for obedience to God. One that is entirely performance-based. A law and its legal requirements that only condemn. Remember, the point of the Law was to make us conscious of sin, so that's what the Law did — it condemned. Paul says this years later in his letter to the Romans. In Roman 3:20, he says,

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. — Roman 3:20

And then one sabbath day, you are at the synagogue, and you hear a clarifying interpretation of the Law in light of the Old Testament Messianic promises realized in Jesus. And you hear this from a man educated in the Law who had also seen Christ pre-death and post-resurrection who is telling you the story that some did not want to be told. The story of an Old Testament Law, not abolished, but made complete in Jesus. A message of good news and freedom from the Law and its hundreds of laborious demands. And guess who was excited. Everyone is excited. Especially Gentiles because they are pumped they don't have to be circumcised to become a believer. And I am half-joking about that, but it does prove the point. The Jewish Law had all these rules, written and oral, that were required to regulate obedience. And Jesus Christ loosens the shackles on what Jewish legalism had made imprisoning and impossible.

Gentlemen, this is the gospel the world needs to know. One of freedom from sin. Not freedom to sin. Freedom from sin, by faith in Jesus, followed with obedience to him.

Performance-based systems beat down people around us all day, just like this one Paul is talking about here. Everything in this life is performance-based. Our work environment. Sometimes our families. And sometimes even our churches. But Jesus's system is not. His system is one of grace redeeming broken and sinful people because he knows we can't live righteous lives. So he lived a perfectly righteous life for us. And then died a sinner's death to reconcile the gap between our sin and a Great God. And guess what, this is the good news. You have the means to be a child of God. Not by performance-based obedience but by grace and through faith in the resurrection of Jesus.

If you are ready to begin a relationship with God today, you can do that right now. By giving God all the good and bad parts of your life, surrendering to Him as your Savior and Lord, and walking daily in obedience by his grace.

If you need guidance as you make this decision, let me know, and I will pray with you.

ASK THIS: What do you need to surrender to God today? (Share it in the comments below)

DO THIS: Leave it with God, and accept Jesus's grace.

PRAY THIS: God, I need your grace today. I give you all my sin. Forgive me and make me new.

PLAY THIS: I Surrender.
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