The Scandalous Gospel of the Grace of God

Jesus came to earth as God s representative announcing His Father s love and unconditional forgiveness. There was nothing for His listeners to do to obtain God s forgiveness no commitment to make, no new leaves to turn over and no vows to never do it again. Jesus said God s forgiveness was absolutely free. The rub was, and still is, that those who don t know they are sick don t know they need a physician. Forgiveness for sin? Why would I be interested in that? The Pharisees were, of course, theological sinners--they were heavily immersed in a system of animal sacrifices to atone for their sin but real, live, everyday sinners? They thanked God daily that they were beyond all such messiness that was so obvious in the lives of those sinners all around them. So Jesus message was not well received by the religious establishment. The response was to be scandalized that Jesus would actually believe that they needed to be forgiven for tangible sin. They were so angry that He would even say such a thing, not just once but again and again, that they killed him. They killed Him because He wanted to forgive their sin, sin they could not see, and they would not have it! The reaction to the proclamation of the unconditional forgiveness of God by grace alone (indiscriminately, just because He wants to!) is the same today, primarily among the religious establishment just as in the 1st century. Cries of antinomianism (against the law), license, negativity, and passivity can be heard wherever the true gospel is preached. In this book Robert Andrews explores what it is that makes the religious so uncomfortable and why this often angry reaction occurs when a no-strings-attached forgiveness is proclaimed. What is the scandalous gospel and how can we experience it--the gospel that is truly the power of God unto salvation? Join Robert for a look.