The gospel is quite simply that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again. Paul described it perfectly in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, "... Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time..."
The Bible states quite simply that by believing that one fact, you will go to heaven. (Read Romans 10:9.)
Sound too easy?
That's why it's called the free gift of God! (Read Ephesians 2:8.)
The Bible states quite simply that by believing that one fact, you will go to heaven. (Read Romans 10:9.)
Sound too easy?
That's why it's called the free gift of God! (Read Ephesians 2:8.)
If you want to know more about what the Bible says about this amazing gift, keep reading...
Just by clicking on this page is an indication of your desire to know more about the Gospel. I'm so excited to share it with you!
In Romans 3, verse 23 it says that "... all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..." There is not one person on the face of the earth that is blameless before God. We have all sinned. We are all sinners. We have all hated, lied, disrespected our parents, commited adultry, idolotry, and the list could continue on and on. And we keep doing it over and over again. What's worse is that Scripture is very clear how depraved we really are,
"None is righteous, no, not one;Paul goes on to quote Scripture that compares our mouths to open graves and our words to venom of asps. If you want to read what our feet compare to read Romans 3:15. It gets worse and not better. We are ALL so submerged in sin that Paul claimed we are dead,
no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
(Romans 3:11-12, bold, italics, underline mine)
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the mind and the body and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind." (Ephesians 2:1-3)Pretty bleak isn't it? Hopeless? Well, yes; and the truth of the matter is that because we are dead in our sin, we deserve to die and go to hell.
Romans 6:23 confirms this, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." So because we are sinners, we deserve to die.
BUT, these verses keep talking about a "free gift" and that gift is that Jesus Christ came to this earth as a perfect person - blameless, sinless, holy - to die for sinful, prideful, loathful humans. Romans 5:8 "...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God loves us so much that He died for us, on a cross! The beautiful part of this story is that he rose again after 3 days and went into heaven to prepare a place for us.
The rest of Ephesians 2 is beautiful! One of my favorite words in all of the Bible is BUT,
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:4-10)This gift of salvation had nothing to do with what you've done or what you're going to do. He saved you even while you were still a sinner (reread Romans 5:8) and because of the work Jesus did on the cross and your faith in the fact that He lived, died, rose again and is coming back someday should give you assurance in the hope found only in Christ. What do I mean by that? How do you know for sure whether you're going to heaven according to Scripture? Romans 10:9 says that, "... if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." If by faith you believe that "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the the twelve." (1 Corinthians 15:3-5) You will be saved.
It's that simple.
If you're ready to do that today, pray along with me:
Dear Heavenly Father I know I'm a sinner. I deserve to die because of the things that I've done, and I need your forgiveness. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus died for my sins, was buried, and rose again. Please help me to live my life for you. Thank you so much for this free gift you've given us in Jesus Christ! Because now I am free from the burden of sin and the penalty of death! In Jesus name, Amen.
I hope that you feel lighter, like a burden has been lifted from your shoulders! I'm so excited for you and this new life you're about to start. The old you has passed away and now you have the Holy Spirit guiding you and never forsaking you. Remember that you're human, you will continue to screw up, but if you truly believe and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, there is nothing you can do to lose your salvation. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1 and there is no greater hope than in that! Do your best to live your life for Christ, He will take care of you, and love you, and never forsake you through the good times and the bad.
What now? Get a Bible. There is no better way to grow closer to God, after all it's HIS WORD. If you can't afford one there are plenty of places to get one for free. This website offers ideas on how to do that: Free Bible - How to Obtain a Free Bible. Next, find a church (here's 10 reasons why) or a Bible study group that teaches you about God through His word (here's an excellent website to search for a Bible teaching church: https://www.9marks.org/church-search/). Engross yourself in it and learn from Christians who are in His word daily, because they have a lot to teach you. Pray that God would open your eyes to His word and show you His meaning so that you can rightly apply it to your life. Surround yourself with believers who will hold you accountable to God's word, but will also give encouragment and hold you up when you experience the lows in your life. Best wishes and don't be afraid to contact me with any questions. beckylelowery@gmail.com I'd love to hear from you!
Struggling to know if what the Bible says is absolute truth? Read this.
Some of My Writing about the Bible and/or Jesus:
- What I Believe About the Bible
- Favorite Bible Stories
- Why Christians are Jesus Freaks
- The Secret to Their Hope
- His Law and His Love
- Why Mommy's Should Memorize Scripture
- Hope
- Self Love
- A Handle on God's Word
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