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The Gospel
Message
The gospel is
the singularly most important communication of God to man. In Jesus, who
is God the Son, we have the revelation of God’s love and sacrifice that
saves us from God's righteous judgment upon sinners.
If you are not a Christian and want to know how
to be forgiven of your sins and follow Christ, or are just curious to know
what the Christian gospel is, then this is for you.
The Bible tells us what the gospel is in 1 Cor.
15:1-4,
Now I make known to you brethren, the
gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also
you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word
which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered
to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and
that He was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures..."
The Bible says
that we are all sinners (Rom. 3:23). This means that we have all offended
God. We have all broken His law. Therefore, we are guilty of
having sinned. Because of this, we are separated from God (Isaiah 59:2),
are dead in
our sins (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:3), cannot please God (Rom. 3:10-11), and will
suffer damnation (2 Thess. 1:9). The only way to escape this
judgment is by receiving Christ, by trusting in what Jesus did on
the cross
(John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Pet. 2:24).
Since we are sinners, we are incapable of
removing the guilt of our sinfulness through our own efforts. Gal. 2:21
says, "...if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died
needlessly." The Law is the do’s and don’t’s of moral
behavior. In other words, we can’t become righteous by what we do. Why?
Because we are dead in our sins (Eph. 2:3).
This means that since we cannot remove our own
sins, God must do it.
Jesus, who is God in flesh (John 1:1,14; 8:58;
Col. 2:9), bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). He died in our place. He paid the penalty
of breaking the Law of God which should that
should have fallen upon us. He satisfied the law of God the Father
by dying on the cross.
It is only through Jesus that we can escape the penalty
that God will execute upon all who have broken his holy and perfect
law. Do you want to be saved from the righteous judgment of
God? If so, if you want to become a Christian and follow God,
then you must realize that you have sinned against God, and are under his
judgment. You must look to Jesus who died on the cross and
trust what he did in order to be forgiven of your sentence and be
saved from the judgment of God. This is accomplished by faith
alone in what Jesus has done. You cannot add your sincerity
nor can you add any human works to add to what Jesus is done.
First, count the
cost
Jesus
said, "For
which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit
down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete
it?" (Luke 14:28). Jesus tells
us to count the cost. The cost of becoming a Christian can be
quite high sometimes. In some parts of the world it can cost
you your life. Here in America, it is not nearly as dangerous.
Nevertheless, if you become a Christian God will take it very
seriously. he will work in your heart and in your life to
change you and make you more like him. Sometimes this is an
easy journey and other times it can be difficult. But, this is
what it means to become a Christian to have God work in your life
and to continue to work in your life after you have been saved.
Receive Christ
If you
desire to receive Christ we offer the following prayer is an
example. It is not a formula, but it is a representation of
what it means to trust in Christ.
"Lord Jesus. I come to you and
confess that I am a sinner, that I have lied, thought evil in my
heart, and broken your word. Please forgive me of my sins. I trust in
what you have done on the cross and I receive you. Please cleanse me
of my sin and be the Lord of my life. I trust you
completely for the forgiveness of my sins and put no trust in my own
efforts of righteousness. Lord Jesus, please save me."
Tell others about your commitment to Jesus.
The Bible says, "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and
believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be
saved; 10for with the heart man believes, resulting in
righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in
salvation" (Rom. 10:9-10).
In Jesus,
Matt Slick
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List all the scriptures referenced above.
- Isaiah 59:2, "Your sins
have caused a separation between you and your God...."
- John 1:1, "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
- John 1:14, "And the
Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory
as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
- John 8:58, "Jesus said
to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I
am."
- John 14:6, "Jesus *said
to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes
to the Father, but through Me."
- Acts 4:12, "And there
is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven
that has been given among men, by which we must be saved."
- Romans 3:10-11, "as it
is written,’ There is none righteous, not even one; There is none
who understands, there is none who seeks for God...’"
- Romans 3:23, "for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
- Romans 6:23, "For the
wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord."
- Romans 10:9-10, "if you
confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that
God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; 10 for with the
heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he
confesses, resulting in salvation."
- Ephesians 2:3, "Among
them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children
of wrath, even as the rest."
- Colossians 2:9, "For in
Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,"
- 2 Thess. 1:9, "And
these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,"
- 1 Pet. 2:24, "and He
Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to
sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were
healed."
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