What is the Gospel?
The word “gospel” means “good news”. The gospel is a message from God saying “Here is the good news of how you can receive eternal life and be saved from my judgment.” That’s a message that is just too important to ignore.
The first thing to know about the gospel is that “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”(Genesis 1:1). Because God created everything including us, we are accountable to Him. Therefore He has the right to tell us how to live. God is holy, therefore He will not tolerate or ignore our sins.
When God created the first human beings Adam and Eve, he intended for them to live in perfect joy under His authority, obeying Him and living in fellowship with Him. However, they rebelled against God when they ate from the one tree that God had told them not to eat from – The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:15-3:7). What happened was, they allowed the serpent to convince them that God was holding back on them. The serpent claimed that if they ate from the tree, they would be like gods (Genesis 3:5). The thought of being like a god sounded very appealing to them. Therefore they decided to believe the lies of the serpent and disobey God by eating from the tree. From that moment, their fellowship with God was broken and because of their disobedience, their sin has been passed on to all of us (Roman 5:12). All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sin is the rejection of God Himself and His authority over those to whom He gives life.
Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. That’s not just physical death, but spiritual death – an eternal separation of our sinful, rebellious selves from the presence of God forever. The Bible teaches that the final destiny for unbelieving sinners is eternal judgment in a place called “hell”(Revelations 21:8).
But there is hope. Romans 6:23 goes on to say “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We can’t earn our way to heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9), and none of us deserve to go because heaven is a holy place. It takes just one sin to keep us out of heaven and because of our sinful nature inherited from Adam and Eve, we commit so many sins in our lifetime. However, God is a God of love therefore He offers eternal life as a gift. God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to save us, that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16.)
Jesus Christ came from Heaven, became a man by birth and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and to purchase a place for us in heaven, which He offers as a free gift. But the story doesn’t end there. Jesus the Crucified is no longer dead. The Bible tells us He rose from the dead three days later in great victory (1 Corinthians 15:3,4) and He is now in Heaven.
What does God expect us to do with the information that Jesus died in our place so we can be saved from God’s judgment against our sins? He expects us to respond with repentance and faith. To repent of our sins means to turn away from our rebellion against God. We must confess that we have done wrong and repent of our sins. Faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone and what He has done rather than what we can do to get ourselves to heaven. If we faithfully receive Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior and ask Him to save us from eternal punishment, we can now live forever with Him. (Acts 4:12, 1John 5:12,13). He desires to save everyone who will receive Him as their personal Lord and Saviour.
The Bible says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” You can do that now by simply praying:
“Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and do not deserve eternal life. But I believe You died and rose from the grave to purchase a place in heaven for me. Jesus, I ask you right now to please come into my life, forgive my sins and save me. I am now placing my trust in You alone for my salvation, and I accept Your free gift of eternal life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
If you have read this and trusted Jesus for eternal life, you have made the correct decision about the most important decision of your life. God has forgiven you of your past and it is time to start growing your faith, so don’t look back. We therefore encourage you to take the next step in water baptism.
We would also like you to regularly attend our Sunday and mid week services to learn about the wonderful blessings and promises God has in store for his children. Please contact us so that we can rejoice with you and help you along as you grow spiritually. May the Lord God continue to bless and guide you.