What is the gospel?
The gospel is the Good News that God sent us a savior through Jesus Christ. The name of Jesus in the original Hebrew is Yeshua, which literally means “The Lord is Salvation”. That is why it is written “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Indeed, Jesus said of himself that, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
The word Christ is Greek for “anointed one” and “Messiah”. He is “the Unique One, who is himself God” (John 1:18) that came to save us and predicted his own death on the cross, then he rose from the dead on the third day. Hundreds of eyewitnesses saw him after the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). Then Jesus ascended to heaven in the presence of his disciples and promised he would come again (Acts 1:9-12). For it says that God“…has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). In the end, you either get grace or justice from God. You are saved by grace through faith when trusting in Jesus, and he warned to “flee the coming wrath” (Matthew 3:7).
Sin is what separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2) and “everyone has sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). It does not matter how good you think you are because “the person who sins is the one who will die”(Ezekiel 18:20). And it is written, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). Your salvation is a gift that you either choose to receive or not, but a gift cannot be earned and it is not a work. Wages are something a person earns. Therefore, every time we sin we are storing up for ourselves the wrath of God because our sin is ultimately against God and His commandments, not solely against other people.
The Bible says, “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). And another place it says, “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
Have you have ever lied, stolen anything, or taken the Lord’s name in vain? If you have, even if it was in the past, you still did it and so you need a savior. Jesus even said if you lust after someone, then you commit adultery already from the heart (Matthew 5:28). He also said if you have been angry with anyone you are subject to judgment (Matthew 5:22). If you ever hated a brother or sister, you are a murderer from the heart (1 John 3:15). Self-righteousness is also a sin for it is written, “If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts” (1 John 1:10). God’s morality is perfect, and God is the source of all objective truth (John 3:33). God cannot lie, nor can He sin, and His justice is infinite. And the penalty for sinners is death and The Bible speaks even of a second death in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). For it says, “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).
Therefore, a holy and perfect sacrifice was needed to go in our place to pay our sin debt because God is holy, and God is love, and the ultimate display of love is to lay down your life for another, which is exactly what Jesus said (John 15:13). Because God is holy that also means sin must be punished because God is good. Even so, God said of Himself that He is “…The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). That is why God provided Jesus as our atonement for our sins. The Scriptures say he never sinned once and died in our place, so that both of God’s requirements for mercy and justice could be satisfied at the cross. This is why it says of Jesus, “Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying”. And “…without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 2:15, 9:22). That is why the gospel came and is called “the good news”. For it is also written, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (Revelation 21:4).
“This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life” (Romans 1:17)
Do you still think you are a morally good person? Why did Jesus have to die then? Was it only for some people? The prophet Isaiah wrote, “when we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Jesus said that “only God is good” (Mark 10:18). And elsewhere in The Bible it says that “no one is righteous” (Romans 3:10). Therefore, we are not justified before a holy God by following the law. While we are called to live obedient lives and God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). You should say you are sorry for your sins and turn away from them, but doing that by itself is not enough because payment must still be given for the wrong you’ve done. Yes, the Bible also says that we are “God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10). This comes only after you receive Jesus as Lord. Just before this particular verse it says the following:
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God” (Ephesians 2:8). Again, you are saved by faith in Jesus alone, so it was written “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved” (Romans 10:9-10). This verse makes sense in lieu of something else Jesus said, “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven”. (Matthew 10:32-33). It takes faith to openly declare Jesus is Lord (He is God - “Adonai” in Hebrew) before people. But you must know who Jesus is first to be able to deny him, so God does not send people to hell unless know who Jesus truly is.
Still not convinced? Click on the button below to see how you compare against the 10 commandments. Assess each of them honestly with yourself and see if you think God would declare you innocent or guilty on the day of judgement.
Are you saved?
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”
(John 3:16).
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God “commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him” (Acts 17:30). Repentance means to change your mind and your actions. In other words, repenting is to confess your sins to God with the end goal to forsake sin (i.e. turn away from it). Realize that Jesus paid it all on the cross, so this is not about being religious or thinking we can earn heaven by being good. Repentance is only made possible by the grace of God. When you trust in Jesus your sin debt is paid.
Therefore, you must understand that repentance alone does not save you. But it is an important step towards your accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. Because without a change of heart, you won’t see your need for Jesus dying on that cross. For it is written, “the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Come clean to God in prayer, which is a one-to-one conversation between you and God. Remember, you do not need an earthly priest to confess your sin. You can talk to God anytime and anywhere. As it is written, “since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Finally, to repent is a lifestyle choice. Don’t think you do it just once. Because after accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and savior of your life, then you will sin again. So, the need to continue practicing repentance when you sin going forward is necessary to live a holy life, which God commands us to do (see 1 Peter 1:16). The Scriptures also say, “Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us” (Hebrews 10:20).
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John the Baptist said that God spoke to him and said, “‘when you see the Holy Spirit descending and resting upon someone, he is the one you are looking for. He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit’.” Then John said, “I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Son of God” (John 1:32:34). John knew that Jesus was the promised Messiah they had all been waiting to come for many generations.
We also know that Jesus was miraculously born. For the angel Gabriel spoke to the virgin Mary, who became pregnant without human conception, and the angel said to Joseph and Mary to name the child Jesus. The angel said “He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” (Luke 1: 31-33).
Many hundreds of years earlier the prophet Isaiah declared this would happen one day. For it is written in the Book of Isaiah as follows:
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isiah 9:6).
Mighty God is used in the next chapter of the same book of Isaiah where it says of Israel, “A remnant will return…to the Mighty God” (Isaiah 10:21). Therefore, Jesus having the same name as Mighty God (i.e. “El-Gibbor”) in the original language of Hebrew means he is greater than any man, angel or other created being. No other person could bear this name except God.
In fact, the very name Jesus means “Yahweh is salvation” or “Yahweh saves”. Yahweh is the sacred name for God given to the Jews. Jesus himself said “…unless you believe that I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). Jesus also said, “Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am! (John 8:58). Thousands of years before that Moses spoke to the burning bush in the desert where God spoke and revealed, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” (Exodus 3:14).
Therefore, put your trust in Jesus to save you today. Don’t put it off until tomorrow. For it is written, “believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved…”(Acts 16:31). Jesus is “God manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). He accomplished God’s mission and “came to give his life as a ransom for many”(Matthew 20:28). Surrender to Jesus now, the only one who gave his life for you, so that you might have everlasting life through him.
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Baptism is crucial to your walk with God and important for your soul. It is an act of obedience to God and comes after you put your trust and faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior (not the other way around). As it is written, Peter gave the gospel message to non-Jewish men and they “…were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too” (Acts 10:45). Then Peter said, “can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” (Acts 10:47).
Therefore, it was only after these men had first heard the gospel and believed in Jesus that Peter gave orders for them to be baptized (see Acts 10:48). The church today gets this wrong many times by baptizing babies, which is before they are humanly capable of making the choice themselves to have faith in Jesus. If you were baptized as an infant and don't remember it, then you need to be baptized properly and renounce your infant baptism that was chosen for you by someone else anyway. We can't accept faith in Jesus on the behalf of someone else, so why would baptism be any different?
Our example to follow is Jesus. So, when you get baptized do it like Jesus did and it is that simple. He was dunked in the Jordan river by John the Baptist and immersed in water. God never put a moratorium on baptism and when people used to get baptized by John they would confess their sins. So, if you have never been baptized then you must do it if you have trust in Jesus.
Jesus is our model even though Jesus never did sin. However, the rest of us have sinned and we need to repent of it. Therefore, baptism shows that you have and are repenting as a believer. This is a commitment to God that symbolizes being washed clean of sin because of what Jesus did for us.
Don’t let certain misguided church traditions of this day get in the way of Jesus’ example for us. There is not a documented instance of baby baptism in all of Scripture. Furthermore, faith in Jesus always comes before baptism in water as mentioned above (there are other examples). You have to chose it and be capable of following Christ because it says, “all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes” (Galatians 3:27).
Moreover, the New Testament was originally written in Greek, and so the word "baptize" is taken from the Greek word “baptizō”, which literally translates to “submerge” or “immersion”. Therefore, the Scriptures say, “Jesus came up out of the water” (Mark 1:11). He was about 30 years old at that time, and not an infant either. Clearly it says Jesus was coming up out of the water, and this is not describing being sprinkled with a little water.
So, don’t listen to man-made tradition that contradicts what Jesus did and how he did it. For Jesus himself said, "you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition" (Mark 7:8). Even though in this passage he was talking about the fifth commandment, he goes on and says, "you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others" (Mark 7:13). You are baptized by The Holy Spirit when you trust in Jesus, then you get baptized in water after believing in Jesus, just like Paul did too (see Acts 9:10-21).
Who is it for? Baptism is for anyone who believes the gospel message and trusts in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For when you truly believe in Jesus it says “…we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). Having faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior is that spiritual baptism that saves, and this is when The Holy Spirit dwells in you when you believed (i.e. Acts 10). Baptism with water is your chance to proclaim your faith in Jesus and serves as a witness to others, who in turn witness that you have faith. For it is the opportune time to openly declare public testimony to others. For it is written that Jesus said, “everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). We are not to be ashamed of Christ and the gospel, so baptism shows others you have faith from the heart because “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). This is why Jesus also warned “but everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). So, be bold in your faith and proclaim it openly and at the time of baptism. You can proclaim any time, but baptism is a special time to do it.