Gospel (the "Good News")

What is the “gospel“?

The gospel is the “good news” about what Jesus Christ has done to reconcile sinners (those disobedient to God’s 10 Commandments such as lying, lusting, hating, coveting, idolatry, etc. – see Exodus 20) to God and to provide the way to salvation (eternal life in Heaven). To enhance the explanation of the gospel message, we have incorporated colorful and descriptive illustrations as shown below. We hope you enjoy, but more importantly we pray you gain a deeper understanding of this powerful, all-important, and life-changing message (and ultimately believe it & receive it)!

To begin, the Bible tells us we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and that our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). In other words, because of God’s holy and righteous nature, He cannot associate with sin, which is evil, impure, and wicked (and from the Devil via a hereditary spiritual disease from Adam & Eve). The Bible continues to tell us that the wages, or penalty, of sin is death (spiritual death), which means eternal separation from God in a terrible place called hell (Romans 6:23).

Many people try to find or earn their way back to God by doing good deeds, trying to be a good person, trying to be religious, and other similar efforts. The problem is none of these activities or approaches can get us reconciled back to God, and they ultimately all lead to the same spiritual death penalty (eternal separation from God in a terrible and tormenting place called hell). The Bible states there is only one way to God, which is through His son Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

Fortunately, our great Creator, God, loves us and does not want any of us to perish (2 Timothy 2:4). Therefore, He devised an inconceivable rescue plan. God sent His son Jesus to die on a cross approximately 2,000 years ago to pay the penalty for our sin (His sinless blood shed on the cross provides atonement for our transgressions)(John 3:16|Romans 5:9-10). In other words, we (sinners) broke God’s Law, but Jesus paid our fine, which allows God, the Almighty Judge, to legally dismiss our criminal case. Jesus was then buried and raised from the dead, which demonstrated that God accepted his sacrifice. Now, Jesus becomes the way or the “bridge” to reconcile us back to God (2 Corinthians 5:18)!

Friends, this is the “gospel” story, and it is indeed “good news”!

The Bible states if we repent (turn away from our sinful ways and turn towards God and His ways)(Acts 3:19) and put our full trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31) and confess Him as our Lord (surrender to God’s will and ways) (Romans 10:9) and Savior, God provides His supernatural and saving grace upon us. When this transformational process happens, the Bible states we are born again into a new life (1 Peter 1:23), become children of God (John 1:12-13), receive the Holy Spirit within us along with many extraordinary gifts (Ephesians 1:13-14; Galatians 5:22-23), and will spend eternal life in heaven with God (John 3:16). Finally, it’s important to realize that being a Christian is a lifelong and exciting journey that entails many other activities beyond receiving God’s precious gift of salvation such as getting baptized (Matthew 28:19), reading and studying your Bible (Joshua 1:8), praying and talking to God (1 Thessalonians 5:17), learning to be obedient to God’s commandments (Matthew 28:20), joining a Bible-based church (1 Corinthians 12:21-26), etc.

So, there’s more good news! In addition to saving us from the “penalty” of sin (hell and eternal separation from God), Jesus also provides us salvation from the on-going “power” of sin (Note: upon salvation you’ve immediately been cured of the spiritual disease sin from your spirit-man (our connection with God), but the sin nature still swims around in your mind/soul (until the subsequent renewing of our minds) and bodies (flesh). In other words, we can now have victorious living due to the Holy Spirit indwelling within us, which gives us the power to conquer sin when it comes knocking (tempting). In fact, the Bible states we have died to sin and thus we are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:6, 11-12). Please see the below informational chart to help further understand this additional good news about God’s amazing salvation plan!

Salvation from Sins Penalty Power and Presence image

Ok, friends, there’s still more good news! Did you know that joining God’s family (repenting and believing/receiving Jesus as your Lord) comes with many “family benefits”? Some of these include:

♥ Eternity in heaven (clearly the #1 benefit)

♥ Joy (divine “joy” which is deep and lasting and not based on circumstances)

♥ Peace (divine “peace” which is deep and lasting and not based on circumstances)

♥ Love (divine “love” that is selfless, unconditional, and never-ending)

♥ God’s Presence (via the Holy Spirit indwelling us)

♥ God’s Power

♥ God’s Protection

♥ God’s Provisions

♥ God’s Promises

♥ God’s Mercy and Blessing

♥ Divine Healing and Deliverance

In summary, it’s no wonder Jesus told us that he came to not only give us life, but also to give it to us more fully and abundantly (John 10:10)! Thank you Lord!

Now that you know the “gospel” we challenge you to take our “Gospel Quiz“! Game on!

Go take the Gospel Quiz

NOTE: It should be noted that the scriptures cited through-out this page are not all-inclusive. In other words, there are many other Bible verses and passages that address the various message elements above and readers are highly encouraged to seek and study God’s Word accordingly. And finally, may God bless you in your endeavors and may He open your spiritual eyes in new ways to His transformational truth!

If you would like a pdf of our Gospel infographic, please click the below image:

To further your understanding about this “Good News” and to read it in other unique and creative ways, we highly recommend you visit our related website called “Romans Road” at www.RomansRoad.org. Essentially, the Romans Road is the scripture-driven and easy-to-understand ROAD-TO-SALVATION. And this is a road God desperately wants everyone to travel!

The $1 Million Dollar Question:

Will you go to Heaven when you die? Here’s a quick test:
Q. Have you ever told a lie?
Q. Have you ever stolen anything?
Q. Have you ever used God’s name in vain?
Q. Have you ever lusted over someone?
Q. Have you ever hated someone?

If you have done these things, God sees you as a liar, a thief, a blasphemer, an adulterer-at-heart, and a murderer-at-heart. And this is only 5 of God’s Ten Commandments (a/k/a “God’s Law”). And the Bible warns that on the Day of Judgment, God will punish you in a terrible place called Hell. But, there is “good news”! God is not willing that any should perish. Sinners broke God’s Law, but Jesus paid their fine by shedding His sinless blood on a cross ~2,000 years ago. This means that God can legally dismiss their case (and yours!): “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Then Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death. Today, repent (turn away from your sins), put your complete trust in Jesus, and confess Jesus as your Lord & Savior… and God will give you eternal life as a free gift.

The $1 Million Dollar Myth:

Contrary to popular belief, being a “good person”, doing “good deeds”, or being “religious” will not get you a ticket to heaven! Many people are hoping God will dismiss their sins because their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds. They further hope that because God is “good” he will let them go unpunished and enter heaven. However, because God is “good” he must by nature punish sinners (i.e., God would not be a good judge if he let criminals go free). The Bible states: “There is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20) The Bible also states: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) And finally, think about this, if your goodness could save you, Jesus would have died in vain (i.e., for no good reason). The Bible states: “I (Jesus) am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father (God) except through me. (John
14:6) Friends, please don’t “roll-the-dice” and gamble your eternal life on the life-threatening lie that being a “good person” will get you to heaven.

Yes, today I am deciding to follow Jesus:

Here is a prayer you can use to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord & Savior. It is a suggested prayer – the key is that you are speaking from your heart.
“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me turn away from sin going forward. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus into my heart and I confess him as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for sending your Holy Spirit to help me obey you, and to do your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

Congratulations! And welcome to God’s family!

Yes, I am already a follower of Jesus:

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Gospel (the “Good News”)