THE BASIC GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

This is not about self-righteousness or shoving religion down your throat. This cannot be a forced decision--it's yours to make. Our purpose here is to gently share with you the Gospel which has given us hope.

You've probably heard it before, and we'll explain it in more detail later on this page, but the gospel, in a nutshell, goes like this:

God is Holy....
In other words, we mean that God is so pure, so perfect, that any presence of evil is impossible in the presence of God. It is like oil and water, it is physically impossible for the two to mix.

Humanity is NOT Holy...
At least, not since Adam & Eve sinned. Therefore, we are separated from God by our sin and have absolutely no way to make ourselves holy enough to enter heaven to be with God. (Romans 3:23) The sin of mankind, which we all carry, results in death. (Romans 6:23)

For another example, think of a beautiful, bright white carpet. Part of what makes the carpet so beautiful is the fact that it is so white. Now, think of yourself covered with mud from head to toe. You can't walk on the carpet without the carpet being ruined. The carpet can't continue to be white if you walk on it. Therefore, you can't walk on the white carpet. God is holy, and can only remain holy if we are kept away from Him. But check out what's next...

God Had A Plan...
God loves us all, and He created us so that we could love HIM. The trick to that is, it had to be voluntary. We couldn't very well love God if we were forced too, right? So, God gave us free will. Sadly, we chose NOT to love Him when Adam and Eve sinned, and that made all of humanity UNHOLY.

God anticipated this. So, He set His divine plan in motion. God's only Son, Jesus Christ, is the Savior whom God sent to restore us. Jesus is the Son of God and is "One with the Father." (John 10:30) This Scripture verse, along with many others, make one thing clear. Jesus is God.

His Life on Earth...
When the time was right, Jesus left heaven to be born as a human man and to live a human life on this earth. Although in His life here on earth He experienced all the pains and temptations every person faces, Jesus never sinned. He was absolutely without flaw.

God's Law...
From the beginning, God's holiness required that all sins be atoned for in order for humanity to have fellowship with Him. The Jews, God's chosen people, were given very specific laws and regulations for living and for gaining forgiveness for their sins. Sin always results in death. Rather than bringing about the deaths of those who sinned, the Law called for animals to die in their place. These were called sacrifices, and it called for animals–often a lamb, without defect, to be sacrificed in order to atone for the sins of man.

The trouble was, men couldn't keep up with their own sin. Try as they might, they could not, from their own effort, earn their salvation. That, in fact, is exactly what God wanted to teach the Jews for all the world, including ourselves, to see.

The Lamb of God...
That's where Jesus comes in. Jesus came to the earth as a man, lived without sin and was without defect. His earthly ministry included teaching and healing many people, but the main reason He came was yet to be fulfilled.

Jesus came to be our sacrifice. Once for all, the death of God Himself as a sacrifice for all the world's sin, past, present and future, would atone for all the sins of the world.

The Final Sacrifice...
When the time had come, Jesus was then falsely accused and executed. This was all part of God's plan. God's justice required that all the sin of the world should be put to death forever. There are only two ways for this to happen.

One way is for each person to die because of their own sin and never enter the presence of God. The other way is for someone who is perfect--someone who is holy--someone who is actually God Himself, to die in our place.

Jesus took our place and died for us. Our sins (our wrongdoings and basic tendencies toward rebellion) are like an enormous debt that we each owe, and if the debt is not paid in full by the deadline, we face execution. It's a scary concept, but don't worry.

Jesus can pay all of our debts for us! Now, we can choose for ourselves. We can either choose to pay our own debt and then discover that we don't have enough to cover it and be executed, or we can let Jesus pay our debts for us! You see, the penalty for our sin is death, but Jesus bore that penalty for everyone who loves Him. (Romans 6:23)

Victory!!!
Jesus' resurrection from the dead proved that He is God, and also proved that death could neither defeat Him nor anyone who trusts in Him and who love him. After all, what good was His sacrifice if He's dead? Jesus is alive!

Think about what this means to you! Not only has Jesus paid for your sin, He defeated death for you! If He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, so will you! There, for all eternity, you can be with Him after you die!

It's Still Your Choice...
That brings us back to love. By now, there should be no doubt in your mind that God loves you. The question is, do you love Him? Even after all that's happened, it's still your choice, and the results of your decision have eternal implications.

You see, Jesus' death for you is a gift of love, but the gift can't be yours unless you claim it as yours! Unless you acknowledge that Jesus is God, that you are a sinner who needs the forgiveness Jesus purchased for you, and that you love God and will commit to loving Him, Jesus' gift cannot be yours!

So, who loves him? Those who obey Him--that's who! You see, Jesus loves us, but He's still God. We show Him our love by being obedient to Him and doing things to make Him happy. We can't fake that, by the way. Jesus knows who really loves Him and who doesn't.

In other words, you and I are sinners, unable to be with God. But by believing in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior (accepting Him as the Son of the one true God, promising to obey Him and love Him, acknowledging and repenting of your own sin and accepting that Jesus' death paid the price for your sin) you can be made holy and can therefore enter heaven after you die.

Make Him Your Lord and Savior!...
If you are ready to believe this, you can ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior right now, simply by talking to him (praying), admitting your sin to Him, and asking Him to be your Savior. If you do this, you should then tell someone of your decision and get involved with a Bible-teaching church. We would love to meet with you and talk with you about this, so if you can't come to worship with us this Sunday, give us a call at 1-303-451-5433. We look forward to welcoming you into the family of God!