Gospel

The God of the Bible loves us and created us to daily and forever enjoy a relationship with Him. And with God as our Creator, we are ultimately accountable to Him. Regretfully, we all have sinned against our Creator and have severed our relationship with Him. Therefore, we will be rightfully held accountable for our sins.Thankfully, God has acted in Jesus Christ to save us from these consequences. The Lord Jesus Christ, being God Himself, became a man and lived a sinless life 2000 years ago so that we can become the righteousness of God; He was crucified on a cross as our substitute in order to pay the penalty for our sins; and His desire is to restore the relationship with God He originally created us for… because God loves us.

God saves us by pure grace, not because of anything we have done, but solely because of what He has done for us in the person of Jesus Christ. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV). This is called ‘The Great Exchange’ – When we trust in Jesus Christ, God exchanges our sin for Christ’s righteousness. It means that when God looks at us, rather than seeing our sin, He chooses to see His Son. Our sins are forgiven and we are covered by the perfection of Jesus Christ. Our standing before God is “just as if we have have never sinned” and “just as if we have always obeyed.” This is the gospel – which literally means “good news!!”

We take hold of this good news by placing our faith in Jesus and repenting of our sin. This free gift can only be received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. If you desire to make this great exchange by receiving Jesus as the forgiver of your sins and the leader of your life, admit to God that you have sinned and need His forgiveness and righteousness. Tell Him that you believe Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected from the dead on the third day in order to save you from the destruction that sin brings and give you eternal life in relationship with Him. Express your desire to turn away from your self-sufficiency and turn towards Jesus as your sufficiency by beginning a new life trusting and following Jesus by faith. Ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. Then thank Him for forgiving you for all of your sins, for covering you with His perfect righteousness, and for restoring your relationship with God.

When you have received God’s gift of Jesus Christ, please let us know. We want to rejoice with you, share with you about being baptized, and help you learn how to grow strong through the power of the gospel in your new adventure as a follower of Jesus.