Making The Gospel Your Own

As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.
–John 1:12

Both men in Matthew 13:44-46 recognized the value of the treasure they had found, and both decided to obtain it. So what did they do? They sold all their possessions to purchase that treasure. It is the same way with the gospel. When you truly understand the value of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you are willing to do whatever is necessary to obtain it.

Now, I am not suggesting there is some price we can pay to obtain eternal life. Jesus paid that price for us–that is the message of the gospel. Salvation is a gift from God. Nevertheless, there may be things we need to be willing to give up in order to receive the gift of eternal life. We have to be willing to give up our pride and say, “God, I understand that I cannot save myself. I need a Savior.” Some of us have to be willing to give up the wrong religious ideas that we grew up with. Some of us have to be willing to give up our concern about what other people will think if we become a Christian. We have to be willing to give up whatever is necessary in order to gain eternal life.

Both men in these parables sold all their possessions to purchase the treasure, but they also individually appropriated the treasure. You can understand the value of something, you can decide you want it, you can even be willing to sell everything to obtain it, but it does not become yours until you individually receive it. Suppose we leave off the last part of verse 44: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has.” It is not complete, is it? You have to add the last phrase: “And buys that field.” For something to become yours, you have to receive it as yours. It is the same way with the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can understand the value of the gospel, you can decide that one day you want to receive the gift of eternal life, you can say, “I am willing to do whatever I need to do to receive that gift,” but it is not yours until you go through the transaction of receiving that treasure.

How do you receive the gospel as your own? The Bible says you must simply confess your need for a Savior and place your full faith and trust in Jesus as your Savior. In these stories, both the owner of the land and the owner of the pearl were willing to sell what they had to the one who wanted it. God will not sell you eternal life, but He will give it to you freely when you ask.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “The Treasure And The Pearl” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2005.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org