The Basics

1. All people sin. A person sins when they do things that God does not want them to do (for example: stealing, murder, lust, pride, etc.) or when they fail to do things God wants them to do (for example: loving God or loving our neighbors as ourselves).

Romans 3:23

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"

2. The consequence of sin is death:

Romans 6:23a

"For the wages of sin is death"

This is not talking about physical death. It is talking about separation from God after our physical death in a place the Bible calls the Lake of Fire, commonly referred to as Hell.

3. The Gospel (Good News):

1 Corinthians 15:3b-4

"Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried,

and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures"

Did you catch that? Jesus Christ died for our sins! Here is another Bible verse that talks about that:

Romans 5:8

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

1 Corinthians 15:3b-4 also indicates that Jesus’ resurrection is important in all of this. In another place, the Bible says that Jesus was

Romans 1:4

“declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness,

by the resurrection from the dead:”

Furthermore, the Bible says that without Jesus’ resurrection we would still be in our sins.

1 Corinthians 1:16-17

“For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”

In other words, all of this indicates that we don’t have to pay the penalty of sin because the penalty was paid for us when Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross and Jesus’ resurrection is the proof that He was the Son of God and, therefore, sufficient to pay that penalty for us.

So, Jesus Christ’s death for our sins, His burial, and His resurrection from the dead is very good news! This constitutes the Gospel and this is what the finished work of Jesus Christ in the subtitle above is referring to.

4. What must a person do to get the benefit of this Good News?

The answer is simple:

Acts 16:31

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved"

So, all you have to do is believe (trust, have faith in) the Gospel. The following Bible quotation is longer but explains the results of belief versus non-belief.

John 3:16-18

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;

but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,

because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

The Bible never mentions any of the following things as necessary to get the benefit of the Gospel:

Turning from or repenting of your sin;

Doing good works;

Confessing your sins;

Asking for forgiveness;

Asking Jesus into your heart or life;

Turning your life over to Jesus;

Praying a prayer.

Ephesians 2:8-9

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:

it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

Romans 4:5

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,

his faith is counted for righteousness."

The religions of the world, including some that call themselves Christian, teach that you have to do or continue to do works (good deeds) of some kind to get into Heaven. Biblical Christianity is unique in that it only calls for believing (trusting, having faith in) the Gospel.

5. What happens when you believe?

Many things. Some of them are:

You are spiritually born into the family of God (you are Born Again, a child of God, a Christian);

Your sins are forgiven;

Your faith is counted for righteousness;

You are a new creature.

So do you believe? If so, that's fantastic! You might have the desire to thank God for all of these things. Feel free to do so. God, your Father in Heaven, wants to hear from you. You no longer have to worry about going to Hell. You won't. Jesus said: