Saturday, June 3, 2017

What is the Gospel?




The gospel is the story of Jesus.  It means “good news”.  It’s God's plan for salvation.  The Bible says that we are all sinners.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”Rom. 3:23.  We have all done wrong things called sin.  This has offended God and has broken our relationship with Him and separated us from Him.  We must pay for those sins.  We can’t save ourselves from punishment by our own efforts so we are hopeless.  God didn’t leave us hopeless.  He sent His Son, Jesus who is God in the flesh into the world to take the punishment we deserve.  Jesus was sent by God, born of a virgin, was crucified, died on the cross & was buried.  Then 3 days later He was raised to life.  He did all this so man could have a renewed relationship with God.  All we have to do to be saved from the punishment we deserve is to believe in Jesus and His story. 

Salvation means to be rescued from God’s wrath and the judgment that we deserve because of our sin.   It means to be delivered from the penalty of sin.  This happens the moment we first believe.  We can’t attain salvation by our own efforts or good works.  If this was the case, then Jesus would not have had to die on the cross.  Salvation is received by faith alone.  Belief in Jesus is a choice.  It’s a choice that each person must make on their own.  You must personally believe in Christ.

Jesus is the only way to salvation. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me.” John 14:6. 

If you desire to receive Jesus as your savior and escape God’s punishment, here’s what you need to do:
1.       Acknowledge God as Creator
2.      Admit to God that you are a sinner
3.      Confess your sins
4.      Repent from your sins
5.      Believe that Christ died on the cross for you and was raised to life

Then there are things to practice daily for spiritual growth:
1.       Find a Bible-believing church – a place where other Christians encourage each other
2.      Be baptized – do this as a public testimony of your salvation
3.      Pray – talk with God often
4.      Read your Bible – let God speak to you and guide you how to live
5.      Witness – you talk for God telling others about Him

Scriptures about salvation:
Isaiah 59:2
John 1:1; 1:14; 3:16; 5:24; 8:58; 14:6
Acts 4:12; 17:30; 20:21
Romans 3:10-11; 5:8, 12; 6:23; 10:9-10, 13
1 John 1:8-10
Luke 13:5 

Once we believe then we will have eternal with God in heaven.  “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remain on him.”John 3:36.

The gospel message isn’t believed by everyone.  Some say it is foolish thinking.  Jesus knew that many would be ashamed to follow Him.  He knew it would be hard to be His follower.  People would laugh at them and tell lies about them just as they did Jesus.  He warned that we should not be ashamed of Him.  “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes to his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”Mark 8:38.

The world is opposed to God’s gospel and ridicules it.  They did it in Jesus’ day and they do it today.  We are all tempted to be ashamed of the gospel at one time or another.  Maybe you don’t want to admit that.  It is the power of God for salvation for anyone who will believe.  We need never be ashamed of it.

Do you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ?
How are you tempted to be ashamed of the gospel?
Do you still believe when you fail and Satan accuses you?
Is your salvation evident in your relationships?

See you next time.  Have a blessed day and thanks for visiting my site.
_______________________________________

If you have enjoyed my post and have found if helpful, please leave a comment or share this post with the buttons below. 

You can also join this site by clicking on the blue button at the top left "Join this site" or you can "Subscribe by Email".  If you follow by email, you will receive an email every time there is a new post. 

No comments:

Post a Comment