Jesus wanted the Ephesians to remember that they were sinful and needed to repent . They couldn ’ t save themselves at the beginning , and they couldn ’ t earn their way into spiritual maturity now . They needed a Savior . They needed to return to their first love . They needed to return to the good news of the gospel . an invitation to go to heaven when we die . The gospel is an invitation to be with Jesus . And that ’ s the antidote for trying to live the Christian life .
Excerpted from Unburdened by Vance Pitman . Used by permission of Baker Books , a division of Baker Publishing Group ( http :// www . bakerpublishinggroup . com ). Copyright 2020 .
The same is true of us when we fall into “ trying .” God desires to have a relationship with you . But we have the same problem those first disciples had two thousand years ago . The Bible says our sins have separated us from a relationship with God and that we can do nothing in our own strength to fix that . No amount of doing good things and avoiding bad things will earn us enough credit to bridge that gap and reconcile us to God . Thankfully , that ’ s where the “ good news ” of the gospel comes in .
Jesus ’ s call to His first disciples was an invitation “ to be with Him .” And His invitation to us is the same . It ’ s not an invitation to participate in a religion . It ’ s not an invitation to “ get involved in church .” It ’ s not an invitation to moral activity or doing the right thing . It ’ s not an invitation to a system of rules and regulations . It ’ s not even
Vance Pitman , is the pastor of Hope Church in Las Vegas , Nevada , a church he planted in 2001 . He speaks across America and around the world to inspire people to join in God ’ s eternal , redemptive mission of making disciples and multiplying the church among every tribe , tongue , people , and nation . He lives outside Las Vegas , Nevada , with his family .
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