What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ

A friend of mine just returned from a mission trip to Guatemala. They built a house for someone who did not have a house. In one week they built it. This house will improve the quality of life for this family for years to come. Why did he go and do this? Was it to earn salvation? Was it to become worthy of God’s favor? No. He did this out of love and appreciation for what God has already done for him through his faith in Jesus. He did this because years ago he believed the gospel, and it changed his life forever.

The word “gospel” means good news. It is the good news from God to us, that He has made a way for us to be saved, to be brought to life in Him through no effort of our own. There is no “do” or “try” or “work” in the gospel. We do not have to earn it or be worthy of it in some way. The gospel is a free gift from God to us, and the work is done, it is finished, as Jesus claimed from the cross before He took His last breath. There is nothing to add to it. There is nothing we must do – we only receive the gift. Jesus did it all. In Ephesians Chapter 2 we read:

“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. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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 ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:1-10

We are born dead. That is one crazy thought. But it is true. We are born dead in sin, because of the sin of Adam and Eve. Through them we have inherited the sin nature, and are dead on arrival, spiritually speaking. Our body of flesh and blood is alive, but our spirit body is dead. We must be brought to life by God, through the new birth. As we go through life we are by nature “children of wrath”, without hope, doomed to eternal judgment. But God!

God steps into the scene and there is hope. Because of His love for us and His merciful demeanor, He makes us alive in Christ, not just for this life we are living now, but for all eternity He plans to show us His kindness toward us in Christ. And how do we get to partake of this and be included in this promise? Do we have to do some extraordinary thing? Do we have to climb a mountain or go to the ends of the earth and bring some rare thing back to prove our worthiness? Do we have to go to Guatemala and build a house for someone who does not have one? What must we do to partake of this promise?

Nothing. We do not have to do anything but believe. We are saved by grace (what God has done) through faith (accept the gift – believe). We do not do anything. There is no work. There is no try. there are not ten steps to salvation. There is no process to follow. We do not have to prove ourselves worthy or honorable or just, etc. etc., etc. We only have to believe, believe in the name of Jesus (John 1:12-13). When explaining the gospel to Nick at Nite (Nicodemus), Jesus said:

“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. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18

Like moths drawn to the light, the children of God are drawn to Jesus, the light of the world, who enlightens every man (John 1:9). If we believe in Jesus, we are saved. If we do not believe in Jesus, we remain dead and judged (ouch). Period. We are all born dead and judged – that is the current state of humanity – so God sent Jesus into the world to give us a way out of death and judgment. Through Jesus God gives us a new life here and now, and everlasting life when we depart this earth. It is a free gift. This is the gospel, the good news – that God has rescued us from our current situation and made a way for us to be spiritually born again into newness of life through belief in His Son Jesus. The work is done – Jesus did it. If we will believe it we are in. Why on earth would anyone say no to such an amazing offer?

“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” John 3:19-21

As hard as it is to believe, some of us prefer darkness over light, and rejecting the offer of new life in Christ we refuse to believe in His name. Crazy. That is worse than winning a five billion dollar lottery and saying, no thanks, pass, I am fine, don’t want it. What? You have got to be kidding. But there it is. Jesus said there would be those who reject Him. All I can say is, please do not be one who rejects the free gift of God. Believe in the Son, call upon His name and be saved.

What is keeping you from believing the gospel? Some say it is all the evil in the world. But how does our not believing in Jesus make that any better? If anything, our unbelief probably makes it worse. Some say they do not believe because they cannot see God. But can we see atoms and quarks, and yet we believe in them? We cannot see gravity but we believe in it. However, we can see the effects of gravity, and God is like this as well. Though we cannot see Him, we can see the effects He has on the world around us. The positive effects that Jesus’ life had on mankind is beyond measure – hospitals, education, caring for the poor, caring for widows and orphans, loving our neighbor, etc, etc., etc. Jesus impacted the world more than any other person who came before Him, and His followers have continued what He started.

At the end of the Ephesians 2 passage above, it says we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works”. Salvation is the gift of God, not of works, that no one can boast about it. After we are born again, like a seed planted in the ground that grows into a fruitful tree, we grow and bear fruit. The fruit we bear is the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 – Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Patience, Self-Control. My friend’s trip to Guatemala grew out of the fruit of love for others, out of the fruit of kindness and goodness, that the Holy Spirit has born in his life. James writes in his epistle:

“But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”” James 2:18

The works that we do as Christians is the evidence that we have been born again, and that the Holy Spirit is at work in us, bearing fruit. We may not go to Guatemala to build a house for someone, but we can let someone go in front of us in line at the grocery store or help someone pick up the things they have dropped on the ground. We are brought to life and saved by what Jesus has done for us. We receive it as a gift from God. As the fruit of the Spirit increases in us, we cannot help but do good works, which are visible proof in our life that we are His children and belong to Him. We are not saved because of them, we do them because we are saved.

So again, what is keeping you from believing the gospel? What in your life is more important to you than eternal salvation? Would you “sell your soul to the devil” so you can live with your girlfriend or boyfriend? Really? Is something else keeping you out? Eternity is a very long time. They say that the earth is over 4 billion years old, yet that is less than a milli-second compared to how long eternity is. The good news is that God has made a super easy way for you to spend eternity in style. All you have to do is believe. I challenge you today to take that step if you have not done so already. Following is a prayer you can pray if you would like to accept God’s free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus and get started on a new life in Christ.

Father God, I accept Your gift of salvation. I ask that You would make me alive in Christ. I believe in Jesus, and I call upon His name, asking that You rescue me from sin, judgment, and eternal death. Bring me into new life. I ask that I would be spiritually born again into newness of life, that I may be called a child of God. I ask this in Jesus name, amen.

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 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; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” Romans 10:8-13