Most people I’ve met who aren’t Christian or claim to be “Christian but not religious”, when I’ve spoken with them at length, had never really had the gospel properly described to them.
Most believe that God can look past their past “mistakes”; that as long as you’re sincere then God will look past your “sins”. Many also believe that as long as they’re a “pretty good person” and haven’t “killed anybody” that God will open wide the gates of heaven once they die. However, the gospel isn’t “doing the best you can” and it isn’t just “believing in Jesus”, whatever that may mean to you.
The word gospel means “good news”, but you can’t have the good news unless you first learn why it is good to hear.
God is good.
God defines goodness and righteousness. It isn’t that we “lucked out” and God just happens to be good and nice and full of love. God defines what is good. God isn’t good because he has love; love is good because it is an attribute of God.
So, God not only defines love, righteousness, etc. but his attributes are the perfect existence of those attributes. God is perfect. God defines perfection. God is perfectly good. God is perfectly righteous (Isaiah 6:3).
So far that sounds pretty cool doesn’t it? What’s the problem then? Well, the problem is you. You aren’t perfect and most people don’t have a problem admitting that. However, that does present a problem for you if you ever what to be in God’s presence (which is what “heaven” really is).
God cannot have anything imperfect in his presence! Whatever comes to God most be perfect and without any kind of sin or blemish. By the way, sin is a word used for failing to meet God’s moral perfection. As soon as you commit your first sin you are no longer able to ever be in the presence of God. Actually, it’s worse than that. Your nature at birth is a sinful nature (Eph 2:3). You can’t help but sin! That’s some bad news, no? So where’s this “good news” that everyone keeps raving about?
The good news is that God has not left man to wallow in his sin. God have provided a redeemer. Someone who can rescue us from our sin! That someone was, yes you guessed it, Jesus. Jesus, who was God himself come in the flesh. For thousands of years the prophets of God had prophesied about the one who would come and rescue His people from their sins and He came (Isaiah 61:1-3). He came to take away the sins of the world.
So, Christ came. He took the sins of all those who would believe upon him and he suffered the punishment for them. Not only was he crucified but he suffered through the separation from God that we all deserve!
Christ not only suffered for sin, but did you know that he also did more than that? If Jesus had come and taken our sin we would be free from punishment from sin, but Jesus also lived the perfect life! Why did he live the perfect life? That too is a requirement for being in the presence of a holy God. You must have lived a perfect life and completely fulfilled God’s law; every jot and tittle of it. If you fail to do that in your life you cannot enter God’s presence. But, even that has been fulfilled by Christ. He lived the perfect live and that perfect life is applied to those who believe in Him.
Now, Christ lived the perfect life and he suffered for our sin, but not only did he die but he rose again! Even so, those who believe in him will one day rise again. So, Christ’s resurrection is for us who believe!
And that is Good News!!!
What must you do to be saved? You must repent (Acts 3:19) and believe in Christ (Acts 16:31). Repentance is turning from your sin and looking to Christ alone, not your own efforts to save you.
You cannot save yourself from the just punishment for sin and God cannot look past your sin, otherwise God would not be just. Otherwise, God would be “unjust” and “unfair” which would go against His perfect nature. But praise God who has sent His only Son so that we can be made right with God and enjoy Him forever!
Whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.”
(John 3:15-21 ESV)
Related Tags: Gospel, Good News, Christianity, Jesus, God, Salvation, Sin, Law, Death
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