In simple terms the Apostle Paul states the gospel as this in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures"
Now lets take a deeper look at to what Paul was saying here.
"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures"
Now lets take a deeper look at to what Paul was saying here.
WE ARE SINNERS
A part of being human is our innate nature to sin, in other words we have a natural tendency to do the wrong thing and act out of selfish desire. Sin can range from lies, sexual impurity, as far as murder. And here is the catch, one sin is all it takes for us to be separated from God! That one lie you told in middle school.... Yep, that was enough for you to be separated. Many people, however have a major misconception, they will think something like this, "As long as my good outweighs my bad than I will get into heaven." This is not what the Bible says, the Bible tells us that we are sinners and that we are all bad, not one of us is good.
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
Romans 3:23
GOD LOVES US REGARDLESS OF OUR SINS
Sin makes us dirty, unclean, and unable to come to God. Sin has caused us to be separated from God and there is nothing that we can do about this. Here is the beautiful thing though, God is willing to save you. Why? Because He loves you! God knows that we are sinners and knows that we are messed up people, but God mad a way for us to come to him. God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross and take the punishment of our sins. God made a way and that way is through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
"but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8
NO WORKS CAN SAVE US
So we now see that to get to God we need a removal of our sins. However, we cannot and will never be able to do this on our own. We will never be able to clean ourselves up enough to be able to come to God. Nothing we can do will convince him to save us or persuade him to do so. God saves us not because of anything we can do, but because he wants to . God saves us because He loves us!
"he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit"
Titus 3:5
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9
COMING TO GOD REQUIRES PAYMENT OF SIN
For anyone to become a Christian there has to be a payment for sin. Your sin has to be paid for so that you may be made holy in the eyes of the Lord. God makes this possible by sending His son Jesus Christ as a payment for our sins. Jesus paid the debt sin had set when he died on the Cross.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 6:23
POWER OF THE RESURRECTION AND REPENTANCE
We have seen that Jesus died on the cross as a payment for our sins. He did this at a physical place right outside of modern day Jerusalem. However, Christ not only died, but he resurrected from the dead! Through this God has made a way for us to have a personal relationship with Him and to be made free from the punishments of sin. Once we understand how deeply troubled our sin makes the heart of the Lord and How desperately we need a savior, we are ready to receive the gift of salvation. We need to admit that we are sinners an that we need a savior. Then we need to believe that through the death and resurrection of Jesus our sins are paid for and we are made clean. Finally we need to realize we are living a sinful lifestyle and turn from it and begin to pursue the life God has called us to. This last step is what we call 'repentance', To change our mindset to see sin in our lives and to turn from it and pursue God.
"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."
Romans 10:9-10
IF YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE SAVED
The Bible is clear to say that if you believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus and that he has paid the debt for sin then you are saved. The Bible promises that you are now made right with God and you will be with Him for eternity!
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16
God is offering you the gift of eternal life! God is offering you the chance to have your sins paid for, all you have to do is Accept Him as your savior, believe he paid that debt, and confess your sins! Let's review what that all means:
NEXT STEPS
If you made this decision or have further questions we would love to know so that we connect with you to give you materials, put you in contact with people who can further talk to you, and to celebrate! Click here to do that.
After believing the next step is baptism, learn more about that here.
A key part of our lives as christians is community with each other and serving our communities in order to share the gospel.
For more on becoming a church member click here
For more on service opportunities click here
A part of being human is our innate nature to sin, in other words we have a natural tendency to do the wrong thing and act out of selfish desire. Sin can range from lies, sexual impurity, as far as murder. And here is the catch, one sin is all it takes for us to be separated from God! That one lie you told in middle school.... Yep, that was enough for you to be separated. Many people, however have a major misconception, they will think something like this, "As long as my good outweighs my bad than I will get into heaven." This is not what the Bible says, the Bible tells us that we are sinners and that we are all bad, not one of us is good.
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
Romans 3:23
GOD LOVES US REGARDLESS OF OUR SINS
Sin makes us dirty, unclean, and unable to come to God. Sin has caused us to be separated from God and there is nothing that we can do about this. Here is the beautiful thing though, God is willing to save you. Why? Because He loves you! God knows that we are sinners and knows that we are messed up people, but God mad a way for us to come to him. God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross and take the punishment of our sins. God made a way and that way is through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
"but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8
NO WORKS CAN SAVE US
So we now see that to get to God we need a removal of our sins. However, we cannot and will never be able to do this on our own. We will never be able to clean ourselves up enough to be able to come to God. Nothing we can do will convince him to save us or persuade him to do so. God saves us not because of anything we can do, but because he wants to . God saves us because He loves us!
"he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit"
Titus 3:5
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9
COMING TO GOD REQUIRES PAYMENT OF SIN
For anyone to become a Christian there has to be a payment for sin. Your sin has to be paid for so that you may be made holy in the eyes of the Lord. God makes this possible by sending His son Jesus Christ as a payment for our sins. Jesus paid the debt sin had set when he died on the Cross.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 6:23
POWER OF THE RESURRECTION AND REPENTANCE
We have seen that Jesus died on the cross as a payment for our sins. He did this at a physical place right outside of modern day Jerusalem. However, Christ not only died, but he resurrected from the dead! Through this God has made a way for us to have a personal relationship with Him and to be made free from the punishments of sin. Once we understand how deeply troubled our sin makes the heart of the Lord and How desperately we need a savior, we are ready to receive the gift of salvation. We need to admit that we are sinners an that we need a savior. Then we need to believe that through the death and resurrection of Jesus our sins are paid for and we are made clean. Finally we need to realize we are living a sinful lifestyle and turn from it and begin to pursue the life God has called us to. This last step is what we call 'repentance', To change our mindset to see sin in our lives and to turn from it and pursue God.
"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."
Romans 10:9-10
IF YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE SAVED
The Bible is clear to say that if you believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus and that he has paid the debt for sin then you are saved. The Bible promises that you are now made right with God and you will be with Him for eternity!
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16
God is offering you the gift of eternal life! God is offering you the chance to have your sins paid for, all you have to do is Accept Him as your savior, believe he paid that debt, and confess your sins! Let's review what that all means:
- I know I am a sinner- I acknowledge that I am a sinner and there is nothing I can do to get to God.
- I believe Jesus died for my sins- I trust that Jesus died and resurrected as a payment of my sins and to create a way for me to be with God.
- I confess Jesus as Lord and Savior- I completely surrender my Life to Jesus and turn away from evil desires and actions in repentance.
- I received Jesus as my Lord forever- I accept what Jesus has done for me and believe that God will fulfill his promise of saving me to Himself.
NEXT STEPS
If you made this decision or have further questions we would love to know so that we connect with you to give you materials, put you in contact with people who can further talk to you, and to celebrate! Click here to do that.
After believing the next step is baptism, learn more about that here.
A key part of our lives as christians is community with each other and serving our communities in order to share the gospel.
For more on becoming a church member click here
For more on service opportunities click here