What Is The Gospel?
Gospel means “good news.” When Christians refer to “the gospel”, they are referring to the good news of salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. In order to understand why this message is good news, we must first understand the bad news. According to the Bible, God is a holy God who is “of purer eyes than to see evil” (Hab. 1:13). This is a problem for us because we are not holy. We have all disobeyed God’s commands. We have not loved God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds as He requires. Neither have we loved our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-40). We have all “sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Since we have sinned against the holy God, not only are we unworthy to be in His presence, but we also deserve His judgment. The Bible teaches that “for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury” (Rom. 2:8). But God, because of His grace, has made a way for us to escape the judgment that we deserve. In His great love, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. Jesus, who is fully God, became a man just like us. However, unlike us, He never sinned. He alone has perfectly loved God and His neighbor. Jesus lived a perfect life of obedience, and then “Christ died for our sins...he was buried...he was raised on the third day” (1 Cor. 15:3-4) ... “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). No one goes to heaven because they are good enough. Salvation is “not a result of works” (Eph. 2:9). Those who go to heaven are sinners who simply receive the gift of salvation by faith in Christ - “by grace are you saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8).
How Am I Saved?
There are many common misunderstandings about what it means to be saved. We are not saved because we make a positive moral life change, attend church, read the Bible, pray, go forward at church, or receive baptism. While all of these things are positive, none of them are able to save us. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” According to these verses, we are saved by grace ALONE through faith ALONE. We are not saved by faith in Jesus plus anything else. Therefore, it is important that we understand what faith is. Faith is NOT merely affirming the truths of Christianity. James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe-and shudder!” The point is that we can have a faith similiar to the faith of demons. Demons may intellectually affirm the truth about Jesus, but they reject Him in their hearts. This kind of faith does not lead to salvation. A true faith that leads to salvation first knows and affirms the truths of the gospel. But then it goes one step further. When we truly believe in Jesus, we stop trying to save ourselves, and we personally trust in what Jesus has done to save us. Faith simply receives with an open hand the gift of salvation that Jesus has purchased. Once we believe in Jesus, then we become a “new creation in Christ Jesus” (2 Cor. 5:17). This transformation will produce the fruit of repentance in our lives, which is the turning away from our former allegiance to sin so that we now show surpreme allegiance to Jesus as our Lord.