The Gospel

God exists and deserves to be honored in our lives. 

God is the Creator and Lord of all things and all people (Genesis 1). As Creator and Sustainer He possesses absolute authority over humanity. He is a perfectly holy God – distinct from His creation and perfectly pure. He is the enthroned Lord of perfect love and compassion; the judge of justice and righteousness. 

  • Habakkuk 1:13 “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not look on wickedness with favor.”
  • Psalm 11:7 “For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.”
  • Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.”
  • Exodus 34:6 “Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth”
  • 1 John 4:8 “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

 

We’ve turned from God and deserve to be punished.

Instead of seeking to know and honor God, we naturally rebel against His good authority. We choose to live our own way and fall short of His perfect way. This is sin. Man is sinful by birth, nature, choice, and practice. Sin separates us from God and is the root of all human suffering, guilt, shame, selfishness, and dysfunction. Sin has corrupted the heart so that man stands legally condemned plummeting towards a godless eternity in hell. The Bible’s truth about the human condition is not flattering, but it is accurate.

  • Romans 3:10-12, 23 “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, there is not even one…  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
  • Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”
  • Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”
  • Romans 6:23  “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
  • Galatians 3:10 “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.”
  • Matthew 13:41-42 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 

Jesus Christ came, died, and was raised to rescue mankind from sin and judgment.

Because of His great love, God provided for our great need. Jesus lived the perfect life of obedience we have failed to live, and He died in our place for our sins. In a “double exchange,” God counts Jesus’ record of perfection to man, and counts man’s rotten record of guilt and shame to Jesus. The cross demonstrates divine love because upon it, Jesus pays sin’s death penalty as a substitute. He rose proving that divine justice had been served, payment for sin had been accepted, and wrath against sin had been satisfied. 

Jesus, the Godman is the only possible way of rescue.  Because Jesus is fully man, He is able to truly represent and substitute Himself for us.  Because Jesus is fully God, His life and death have eternal saving power to secure forgiveness from sin’s guilt, cleansing from sin’s defilement, and eternal life. 

  • Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
  • Hebrews 4:15  “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
  • 2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
  • 1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
  • Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
  • Romans 4:25  “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”
  • John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
  • Colossians 2:13  “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions”
  • John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

 

You must respond by repentance and trust in Jesus Christ.

The condition to receive God’s grace in your life is faith alone. No amount of religion or sincerity can make you right with God or contribute to His free forgiveness. In fact, the Bible says even our good deeds are like filthy rags before an infinitely perfect God (Isaiah 64:6). We must humble ourselves before Him admitting our sin, turning from rebellion, receiving His offer of salvation, and confessing His rule over our life. Saving belief is not intellectually affirming the data on this web page – but rather a personal trust, personal surrender, and personal allegiance to Jesus as Lord of our life.

  • Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
  • Acts 3:19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”
  • John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name”
  • Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”
  • Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.”

Becoming a Christian

We would love to share more fully with you what it means to become a Christian (or to help you grow in your relationship with Christ if you are a Christian). Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

You can find out more about finding forgiveness with God by listing to the sermon
“From Forgiven to Forgiving” on Matthew 18:21-22.

To find out more about the person and saving work of Jesus, start reading in the Bible in the Gospel of John.

Do you have more questions or wonder what to do next? Our pastors would love to talk with you!