God says these three things which are sure;
1) “I Am”
2) “My grace is sufficient”
3) “We win”
This is a simple, yet entirely sufficient personal gospel. Believe these things and do what is required.
1) God exists and He is what He is. He is not going to change and you do not get to define Him, although many try to do exactly that. He wants you to know who he is, but to know Him you have to accept Him on His terms and grow to appreciate and love Him for who He is – not according to your opinion, desire, or definition. Theologians are especially bad about trying to define God and they just end up putting Him in a box made to their own specifications. Let God out of the box; you will be astonished.
2) God’s grace is sufficient. In other words there is nothing He cannot or will not forgive. No matter what you have done, what sins you have committed, they can all be forgiven and forgotten. Many people suppress memories of traumatic events as a psychological defense against things they were incapable of dealing with at the time, such as suffering sexual abuse as a young child. While this made sense, and might even have been necessary, at the time; as an adult there are all kinds of unintended consequences. These can range from distorted sexual identity to judging yourself incapable of being forgiven. You may think or believe God can forgive much, but not you. This is false and it twists and distorts your being in ways that can be difficult, but not impossible, to repair.
You cannot earn a reward (other than death), but you do have to be worthy of the reward God wishes to give you. You cannot save yourself, but that does not mean you can sit around and do nothing. God might indeed ride in on a white horse and rescue you – but He will pluck you from the field not your easy chair. Grace is a gift you cannot earn. Grace is a gift you deserve because you repent when needed, strive for righteousness, and do not make excuses. God is not seeking obedience. He desires agreement, and agreement in thought leads to agreement in actions and being (who you are). If you do these things, God will do everything else. There are no limits to what He can and will do. His grace is sufficient for anything.
3) In the end, when restoration is complete, God wins. Read this conclusion in the last chapter of the book of Revelation. By then the enemies have been defeated, Satan judged, the unrepentant destroyed, and death itself abolished. Only then can we begin work on the sequel, i.e.,the next step in God’s original plan. This victory is not just God’s – it belongs to all who fought the good fight, humans and angels, who overcame, persevered, and stood with God no matter what. That is what He means when He says we, all of us together, win.