God
The Gospel begins with God, just like the Bible begins with God in Genesis 1:1. Contemporary thinking says man is the product of evolution. But the Bible says we were created by a personal God to love, serve, and enjoy endless fellowship with Him. The New Testament reveals it was Jesus Himself who created everything (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). Therefore, He also owns and rules everything (Psalm 103:19). That means He has authority over our lives and we owe Him absolute allegiance, obedience, and worship. God is absolutely and perfectly holy (Isaiah 6:3); therefore He cannot commit or approve of evil (James 1:13). God requires holiness of us as well. First Peter 1:16 says, You shall be holy, for I am holy.
As we see that God is perfectly holy and requires holiness of mankind, we realize that we are not perfect or holy. In fact, according to Scripture, every person is guilty of sin (Romans 3:23, James 1:10). The Bible teaches that there is no person who does not sin (1 Kings 8:46). This is not to say that we are unable to perform acts of human kindness. But ultimately, we are unable to love and please God on our own because of our sin nature and our inability to meet God's standard of perfection. God's holiness demands that our sin be punished by death and eternal separation from God in hell (Romans 6:23). Simply trying to change our habits and behavior does not solve our sin problem or cause us to be made right before God. We need a Savior to save us from God's ultimate and perfect judgment.
Jesus
The Bible teaches 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 (Romans 10:9). Even though God's holiness and justice demand death for our sin, His love has provided a Savior Who paid the penalty for our sin and died in the place of sinners. Because of Christ's perfect and sinless life, He was able to satisfy God's demand of justice as He died on the cross, paying once and for all the penalty of sin. Since Jesus has accomplished these things, He alone is able to forgive and save those who place their faith in Him and allows mankind to have fellowship with God. Jesus makes it clear that the way to the Father is only through Him (John 14:6). God has always pursued a relationship with mankind, but that relationship was severed because of our sin. Now it has been made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:18).
You
Being a Christian is more than identifying yourself with a particular religion or affirming a certain value system. Being a Christian means you have embraced what the Bible says about God, mankind, and salvation. The Gospel is a demand on your life to confess and repent from your sin and to turn to faith in Jesus Christ who can save you (Mark 1:15). True faith is always accompanied by repentance. Repentance is agreeing with God that you are sinful, confessing your sin to Him, and then making a choice to turn from your sin to pursue Christ, who offers you eternal life (Romans 6:23). It is not enough to only believe facts about Christ. The Bible says that even Satan and the demons believe in God, but they do not love God or obey Him (James 2:19).Evidence of true saving faith ends in obedience to God that results from loving Him because He first loved us (John 14:15, Ephesians 2:10).
There are a few links here which we encourage you to check out…
- Two Ways to Live. This is a excellent consideration of the choice we ALL face!
- The Way of the Master. It’s got a great slideshow about an interview with God.
- Just Stop and Think. There’s a film you can watch here that will really cause you to “just stop and think.” There are also lots of questions answered on this site about Christianity, the Bible and the purpose for your life.
If you have any questions about any of the things you read here or you’d like to talk, we would love to talk to you personally! It’s always a privilege when we can tell someone about what it means to have a genuine relationship with Jesus and answer questions they may have. Please feel free to send an email or call the church office at 818.881.1230 and we will get back to you as soon as we can!
Jesus said…“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6 (NASB)