Our purest works are no better than filthy rags, when tried by the light of God’s holy law. The white robe which Jesus offers, and faith puts on, must be our only righteousness – the name of Christ our only confidence – the Lamb’s book of life our only title in heaven.

Jesus is a complete Saviour. He does not merely take away the guilt of a believer’s sin, He does more – He breaks its power. (1 Peter 1.2; Rom 8.29; Eph 1.4; Heb 7.10).

“Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, flee to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace.”

If we say with Paul “O wretched man that I am,” let us also be able to say with him, “I press toward the mark.” Let us not quote his example in one thing, while we do not follow him in another. (Rom 7.24; Phil 3.14).

J.C. Ryle, Holiness (chapter 3).

Here’s what happens when you google the gospel:

The gospel is…

– about God!
– easy to distort…
– the good news that God decided not to abandon…
– is the singularly most important communication of God to man.
– carried from the altar…
– that God has provided a way of salvation…
– available for purchase at bookstores Tuesday, March 28th.
– the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for Jew, then for Gentile.
– greater than just the redemption of fallen human nature.
– the message of hope for absolutely everybody.
– the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ…

The Jolly Blogger has some further thought on it.

Our weekly bash into Mark took us last night into chapter 13 with that mash of information about the destruction of the temple and the end of the world… the tricky bit was trying to work out which bit was which.

We figured there may be parts of the chapter describing events that occur both pre-end-of-temple, and pre-end-of-world, for instance 3-8 (there are plenty of wars, famines, and earthquakes… ‘this must take place, but the end is not yet’), and 9-13 too (the call to preach the gospel ‘to all nations’, which hasn’t yet been completed, and the promise that ‘the one who endures to the end will be saved’).

14-23 seems to focus in on the destruction of the temple, with the ‘abomination that causes desolation’ being the sign it was soon to happen. The claims of v. 19 are big: ‘for in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be’, initially causing me to infer it’s the end of the world on the agenda. But hang on, the destruction of the temple was, in short, a localized picture of God’s judgement on old Israel… pretty massive.

The description of the coming of the Son of Man (24-27), already referred to in 8.38, seems to bring about the end of this old world, with the Son of Man gathering his elect and the natural lights coming to a halt.

And the lesson of the Fig Tree? When the leaves come out, summer is near. Thus, when the temple is destroyed, Jesus’ return is also near, ‘at the very gates’ (v. 29). What Jesus says to his disciples, he ‘says to all: Stay awake’ (v.37). The command to be alert is all over the chapter (5, 9, 23, 35-37).

Is Jesus’ (and Mark’s) point that we have no grounds to assume that Jesus’ return won’t be tonight, tomorrow, this week, etc. It seems as followers of Jesus we’re called to be a watching people, potentially tried & beaten ‘for my sake’ (v. 9, 13), preaching to all nations, and not getting so caught up that we lose an eternal perspective… would our lives look significantly different if we knew He was returning tomorrow? (…I think that’s a rhetorical question).