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THE GOSPEL

What is the Gospel?


You may have heard the word used before in reference to a style of music, or some kind of church event, but there is more to it than that. 

The word "gospel" simply means "good news," and the Gospel message is so good that it should be shared with all people.  It's not good news like finding out you get to leave work early or grade on your homework.  The Gospel is life-altering good news that speaks to issues of life and death, to heaven and hell, and ultimately to our relationship with the God who created all things.  

The foundation of this message is the Bible.  The Bible is God's word to mankind, and it reveals the truth about who we are, who God is, and why we have been created.

1. God is Eternal.  He Created Everything.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - Genesis 1:1
We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made the heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. - Acts 14:15b

What Does This Mean?

  • God, our creator has always existed.  He has no beginning and no end. 
  • God is alive.  He isn't just an idea.  He simply spoke and created the world and the universe that we all live in. 
  • Because God has created all things, He also owns all things and is the One who will judge the world. 

2.  God Reveals Himself Through His Word. 

But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:15-16
For God is love. - 1 John 4:8b

 What Does This Mean?

  • God Is Love - Everything God does is loving. 
  • God Is Righteous - Everything God does is right.  Unlike us, God never sins.  
  • God Is Holy - God is set apart from evil. 
  • God Is A Good Judge - God is the ultimate judge, the one all of us must stand before when we die to give an account of our lives.  

3.  All of Humanity Has Sinned. 

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23
 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God's paths to follow our own. - Isaiah 53:6

Questions To Consider?

  • Have you ever lied or been dishonest?
  • Have you ever taken something that wasn't yours?  Big or small, the value doesn't matter to God. 
  • Have you ever had lustful thoughts?  Envied?  Hated?

What Does This Mean?  All of us have, at times, known what is right and done what is sinful.  This sin separates us from God.  Imagine that God is a huge forest fire and you are a tiny ice cube.  The two are incompatible because of their nature.  In the same way, our sin puts a distance between God and humanity; meaning we cannot be in the presence of God.  


4.  Everyone Will Stand Before God. 

I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne.  And the books were opened, including the Book of Life.  And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. - Revelation 20:12
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God.  Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes. and He is the one to whom we are accountable. - Hebrews 4:13

What Happens When We Die?   One day you will stand before God and give an account for everything you have done.  Every thought, every deed, every word, every hidden thing, and every motivation will be exposed in the presence of a holy God.  Those who are right with God will spend eternity in heaven.  Those who die in their sin will spend eternity in a place called hell.  

Questions To Consider...

  • If God judged you according to what you have done, would you be innocent or guilty?
  • If you are guilty before a just God, should you go to heaven or hell?  

5.  We Can't Do Anything To Fix Our Sin

We are all infected and impure with sin.  When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.  Like autumn leaves, we wither ad fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. - Isaiah 64:6
For whoever keeps the whole law, yet fails in one point, is guilty of breaking them all. - James 2:10

What Does This Mean?  There are many myths about how to be made right with God:

  •  I just need to be a good person. 
  • I am a good person; I just need to be a little better. 
  • I need to stop drinking or sleeping around. 
  • I need to start going to church. 
  • I need to believe in God, feel sorry for my sins, and read my Bible. 

6.  Jesus Made The Way To Have Peace With God. 

Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through me. - John 14:6
You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.          - 1 John 3:5 

Bad News / Good News:  

 All of the evil in the world - broken homes, adultery, lying, stealing, pornography, human trafficking, greed, jealousy, selfishness - is the result of sin and leads to death.  Whenever we sin, God says that justice must be done.  Sin can't be swept under the rug because God is a good judge.  Consequently, we ALL deserve to pay for our sin.

But motivated by love, God sent Jesus, who was fully God and became fully man, to the world.  He lived a perfect life and never sinned.  Jesus voluntarily died on the cross to pay for your sins - taking the punnishment YOU deserve.  In His death, the justice and love of God was fully expressed.  Jesus, an innocent man, died for YOU.


7. Salvation Is Available For You. 

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

  1. Repent of your sin.  Acknowledge that your sin separates you from God and turn from your sinful ways.  
  2. Reject your own righteousness as a means of salvation.  Reject the myths about being made right with God by your own efforts and embrace God's grace through faith.  
  3. Believe in Jesus by faith and declare Him as your Lord and Savior.  If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.  - Romans 10:9-10

What Happens When I Believe?

  1. Your sins are forgiven - Colossians 2:14-15
  2. You become a child of God - John 1:12-13
  3. You are at peace with God - Romans 5:1
  4. You have the hope of heaven - Colossians 1:4-5

Now What?

  1. Tell a faithful Christian you know that you have repented and put your faith in Christ Jesus. 
  2. Read the Bible.  Start with the Gospel of John, then Romans, then Ephesians.  
  3. Get involved with a local church that teaches the Bible.  Contact me so I can help you find a church that is solid where you can grow in your new faith.  

EPHESIANS 2:1-10

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.


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