The Gospel is the good news that God has provided a way of salvation for humanity. Sin entered through the first humans in the Garden of Eden and has continued ever since, creating a barrier between our sinful human race and a holy God. However, God sent His Son, Jesus, to live a sinless life and bear the world’s entire sin debt as He hung on the cross. We learn in Scripture that “the wages of sin is death,” and since Jesus bore our sin, He died because of it. God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand, showing that He was fully satisfied with Christ’s sacrifice for all humanity.
Those who believe in the gospel are saved by grace, meaning we don’t deserve salvation and have done nothing to earn it. The only path to salvation is faith in the gospel—the sufficiency of Jesus’ death and resurrection. God did everything for us through Christ! We are simply recipients of His grace, receiving forgiveness, a new standing in Christ, and His righteousness and divine justification. Through this gift, we are transformed from sinners doomed to destruction to heirs of God with the riches of heaven. We gain this new identity because of what Christ has done, not through anything we have done. Our contribution was sin; Christ did everything else. Salvation is truly a miraculous reversal for believers.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
(Ephesians 2:8-10)
This Scripture confirms that salvation is a gift from God—an unearned gift. Since it is spiritual, it is received through faith, trusting that God has accomplished what He promised. We also see that salvation is not earned by good deeds, merit, or righteous living. Since we are saved through faith, we cannot boast or imagine that we deserved it. Christ’s death offers salvation to everyone—regardless of race, background, economic status, or moral standing. Belief in the gospel is within reach for everyone.
As Christians, we are called to do good works—to love, share, help, and show compassion. However, we remember that when we do these things, it is God working through us, as He planned before time. We are His handiwork, empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what we could never accomplish on our own. We begin a new spiritual life, growing in dependence on God, like a child dependent on a parent. Our faith is anchored in the finished work of Christ on the cross—the gospel of our salvation.
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…”
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
Belief in this gospel is within everyone’s reach. First, we must recognize our sinfulness and need for help. Then we learn God’s plan of salvation through Christ’s death and resurrection. We continue by testifying to our faith and sharing this good news with others. Although we still stumble, we know that Christ’s forgiveness is constant, and our salvation is secure. Once saved, we are made into a new creation, a fundamental assurance of salvation.
God originally formed Adam from the dust and breathed life into him, giving humanity physical life. Because of Adam’s sin, humanity was doomed to death, first spiritually and ultimately physically. But Christ came to overcome this death. He lived a sinless life, bore humanity’s sin, and died in our place. Moreover, He rose again, offering us spiritual life that never ends. Death came through Adam; life comes through Christ. Believers are now united with Christ—a new creation in Him!
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
(2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
Belief is the key to salvation. Right belief leads to right living; good works and a new life flow from genuine faith. Pray today and thank God for His love demonstrated through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Confess your need, and let the Holy Spirit guide you in a life of service. We have been saved to serve God and others.
To grow spiritually, it’s essential to explore the Bible, connect with other believers, and live by the Holy Spirit’s power. Baptism and sharing your testimony are ways to affirm your faith and acknowledge the new creation God has made you. It’s my prayer that we may all grow together in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
(Philippians 2:3-11)
“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)
All Scripture quoted from:
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
