You may have heard someone describe Jesus dying for your sins and the free grace given to those who believe. 

But what is sin?  
Who is God?  
What does all this mean?  

Jesus told His followers, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6*) You might be thinking, “Why do I need to go to the Father?” or “I thought I could already go to Him.” The reality is that God loves us and made us to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever in relationship. (Colossians 1:16) 

We have all chosen another path—the path of what we want rather than what God wants. This leads to sin and rebellion (Romans 1:18-32). We inherited this path, called a sin nature, from the fall of mankind when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden (Romans 5:12). Sin leads to death (Romans 6:23).  

Not only have we inherited a sin nature, we regularly act on that sin nature, making decisions that are against God’s will (Romans 7:15-20). The problem with sin is it can’t be erased by how much good we do in the world. We are held to the biblical consequences of our sin and rebellion. Because of our sin, our own choices to rebel and disobey God, we are due a just punishment—eternal death (Matthew 25:46). 

Good news! 

The word gospel simply means good news. If there is good news, there must be bad news. The bad news for us is that not a single person can deal with their sin nature by overcoming it or out-doing it with good things. 

This is where the good news enters the picture! The gospel message is this: Jesus Christ entered our world and became a man. He is 100% God and 100% man. He lived sinlessly as the perfect man. Christ died a sinner's death in our place. He paid the price to take away our sin. He came back to life and gives new life to anyone who believes Jesus is God and that He rose from the dead (Romans 10:9).  

Faith and repentance is changing your mind to believe in Jesus Christ (Matthew 4:17, 21:32). His sacrifice was necessary to wipe out the penalty of sin and forgive those who believe. His resurrection gives us life forever. God gives you His righteousness—righteousness you couldn’t earn yourself. He earned it. He died for you. He rose from the dead. He gives you what He earned! Those who believe in Jesus Christ will not only have life in Him now, but will also have life with Him for all eternity (John 10:10; John 3:16). 

This is the story of God—to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). He showed us His love through the cross of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:8). The question is this: Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ? If after reading this, the Lord has moved in your heart to believe in Jesus Christ, now is the time to pray to Him and receive the free gift of salvation! The Bible says in Romans 10:13, “For ‘everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.’” 

The Lord desires for you to know Him and be saved! Today, if you desire to be saved and begin your relationship with God, pray to God and ask Him to save you. Your prayer could be as simple as this,  

“Jesus, I believe You are God and that You died for my sin and rose from the dead. I confess that I am a sinner. I believe in what You did on the cross to save me from eternal death. I ask You to forgive me of my sins, and I receive Your perfect goodness. Please save me! Amen!”  

This is what we describe as “calling on the name of the Lord”! If you did that today, you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ. Now you have a relationship with Him! 

*You can look up the scriptures included here: Bible.com

What is next? 

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