Prompt: Do you practice religion?

Christianity is not a religion. A religion is where you follow a set of rules or laws in the hope that at the end of your mortal life you may have scored enough points to obtain salvation and go to heaven, or your religions equivalent.

Christianity is all about a relationship with God and his son Jesus Christ. Salvation is obtained by grace. A free gift from God paid for by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Here, read this, it may save your life…

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So, in simple words, here is the GOSPEL.

God created us to be with Him. In the beginning, God created the universe, including the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. They were designed to live in perfect fellowship with God and each other. Their nakedness symbolized their lack of sin and shame. However, sin disrupted this harmony.

Our sins separate us from God. When Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the Tree of knowledge, they hid from God. Sin entered the world, leading to immediate consequences like being banished from the Garden of Eden and future consequences like physical death. All of humanity inherited this sinful nature.

Sin has devastating effects. We’ve been hiding from God ever since, covering our shame with religious or philosophical fig leaves. Spiritually, we’re separated from God, and our souls are polluted by sin and selfishness.

People try to find their own way to God. Just as Adam and Eve blamed others, we often blame circumstances or others for our sin. But our efforts to reach God fall short.

Eternal life is a gift. Despite our sin, God loves us. He sent Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, to die for our sins and rise again. Through faith in Him, we receive forgiveness and eternal life.

Life in Christ brings joy. Believers experience everlasting joy because there is no condemnation for those who trust in Jesus.

Remember, the gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ offers forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe in Him. 

To expand that a little…

The word gospel means “good news” and is explained by the following six key truths of the G.O.S.P.E.L Journey.

God created us to be with Him. (Genesis 1-2)

In these two chapters God creates all of the universe and everything in it (Genesis 1:1), including the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. God created Adam and Eve with purpose. He called them to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28) and fill the earth with their offspring. He gave them the mission of taking care of the earth and tending the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15.)

God made them to be in complete fellowship with Him and with each other. Their nakedness (Genesis 2:25) represented the fact that they had no sin, and no shame, therefore nothing to hide before God or each other. They regularly communed with God in the garden and had sheer bliss, pure happiness, and unadulterated joy. It was during this time that they were living every day as God intended, in the right relationship with each other, God and His creation. The only command God gave to them was not to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In the same way, God made us to be in fellowship with Him. His original plan was that you and I were in an absolute and perfect relationship with Him and with each other in total unity. God created us to be in harmony with all of heaven and all of earth. But that plan was disrupted by one evil act thousands and thousands of years ago.

Our sins separate us from God. (Genesis 3)

When Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6), and thereby sinned, they immediately became aware of their “error.” They sewed fig leaves together to cover their shame and hid in the garden from God (Genesis 3:7,8). Now they were hiding from the one that they used to fellowship with regularly. Men and women have been hiding from God ever since, covering their sin and shame with the fig leaves of religion or philosophy.

God confronted them face to face. As a result of their sin, there were immediate and future consequences. The immediate consequences were being banished from the garden (Genesis 3:23,24), having difficulty in childbirth (Genesis 3:16) and our work turning from a joy that we love to a job that we hate (Genesis 3:17-19).

The future consequence for Adam and Eve was physical death. God had promised in Genesis 2:17 that the day he sinned by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he would “surely die.” Spiritually Adam and Eve died the day they sinned in the garden. Their souls became immediately polluted by sin and selfishness. As a result, all of their offspring (and that includes you and me) were born sinful and selfish. Through Adam, every person ever born is born deprived and depraved, deprived of God’s fellowship and depraved to the core (Romans 5:12-14).

When confronted by God the blame game begins. Adam blames Eve (Genesis 3:12) and Eve blames the snake (Genesis 3:13). Humanity has been playing the blame game ever since. What began as paradise unravelled with a single choice to disobey God and listen to Satan instead. Every war, famine, argument, sin, and tragedy can be traced back to the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve chose to turn their backs on God for a taste of fruit.

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds. (Genesis 4 – Malachi 4)

From the beginning, humanity has attempted to remove the stain of sin by good deeds. When Cain offered God vegetables as an appeasement for his sin God rejected it (Genesis 4:1-4). Cain was infuriated and killed his brother Abel.

In Exodus, the second book of the Bible, God gave the Israelites the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), not to save them from their sin, but to show them that they couldn’t live up to his perfect standards on their own (Galatians 3:23-24). Instead of looking to Him in faith many of the Jews looked to themselves and thought they could please God in their own strength. But God saw their “righteous” deeds like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Even the best of their good deeds were corrupted by selfish motives.

In Leviticus, the third book of the Bible, God gave the Israelites the sacrificial system. Every time a Jew sinned, he or she was to sacrifice a goat without any blemishes (Leviticus 4:27-31). Think about that. If you were a Jew in the Old Testament and had to make a sacrifice every time you lied, lusted, gossiped, complained, or argued you would soon run out of goats. Other offerings included offerings of bulls and sheep.

The sacrificial system was meant to point inward, upward and forward. It pointed inward to convince you of your sinfulness. If you were honest before God, then you would soon realize that you could never make enough sacrifices for your sin. It pointed upward to make you trust in God for your salvation instead of sacrifices that you could make (Psalm 51:16,17). It pointed forward to the ultimate sacrifice of the lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who would someday come to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

The rest of the Old Testament tells the story of the Jewish people, some of whom realized they were sinners and needed God to save them (Psalm 51:1,2) and most of whom trusted in their own goodness instead of the mercy and grace of God (Isaiah 64:6).

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

When Jesus came to the earth he came as the fulfilment of the law (Matthew 5:17) and the ultimate sacrifice (Luke 24:46). He lived the perfect life that we could not live and died in our place, for our sin. When he died upon the cross, he screamed the words “It is finished” (John 19:30). What he meant by these three words was that the price for our sins was paid completely. He was fully God and entirely man. As a perfect human, he could die for other humans. As the true and living God his payment for sin was infinite.

Jesus rose from the dead three days after he was murdered on the cross (Mark 16:6). He was seen by over 500 witnesses (I Corinthians 15:6) on at least 12 separate occasions over the course of forty days (Acts 1:3). Because he died our sins are paid for entirely. Because he rose from the dead, we know that Jesus was who he claimed to be, God in the flesh.

Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life. (John)

The amazing thing about eternal life is that it is a free gift given to us by God through faith alone and not by any of our good deeds (Ephesians 2:8,9). Jesus paid the price for our sins when he died on the cross and all we must do is receive the gift of forgiveness through faith. When we believe that Jesus died for our sins and trust in Him alone, we receive eternal life, are passed out of death into life and are guaranteed a home in heaven (John 5:24).

Eternal life is not achieved by good deeds but received through faith. It’s not a matter of trying but trusting. When we believe we receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. Almost the entire New Testament is dedicated to talking about this eternal life and the implications of it in our everyday lives. From John through Jude, the disciples of Jesus show us how to live like Jesus intended, serving each other in love. This is the heart of eternal life!

Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever. (Acts – Revelation)

Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead we will be with Jesus forever in heaven. When we trust in Jesus we enter into a personal, permanent relationship with God called “eternal life.”

Part of the reality of eternal life is that it doesn’t start after you die but as soon as you believe (John 10:10). This life is the joy of a real, exciting relationship with Jesus every single day through prayer, worship and living in the strength that God provides through his Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

The other part of the reality of eternal life is that all who have it will be with Jesus forever and ever in heaven someday. Once we receive it is ours forever and we are his forever!

The last chapter of the last book of the Bible makes it clear that we will “rule and reign forever” with Jesus (Revelation 22:5). In essence the last chapter in the story of the Bible concludes by saying, “and they lived happily ever after.”

The Sinner’s Prayer, also known as the Salvation Prayer, is a heartfelt expression of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a way for individuals to acknowledge their need for forgiveness and establish or renew a personal relationship with God. Here are a few variations of the Sinner’s Prayer:

A Simple Sinner’s Prayer:

“Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge that I am a sinner and am sorry for my sins. I need your forgiveness. I believe that your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins. I am now willing to turn from my sin. I confess Jesus as my Lord and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. According to His Word, I am saved. Amen.

Prayer of Salvation:

“Dear Lord, I admit that I am a sinner and have done many things that don’t please you. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your name, Amen.

Prayer for Commitment:

“Heavenly Father, today I make the commitment to a deeper life of prayer. I know that You answer prayer, and I desire an effectual, fervent prayer life. Help me stay committed and disciplined. My desire is to seek You and know You. Fill me now with your Holy Spirit and help me lead a Spirit-filled life as a witness to others of your saving grace. Amen.

Remember that it’s not solely the words in the prayer that save us eternally; it’s the genuine repentance and faith behind the prayer that lays hold of salvation. May your commitment to follow Christ wholeheartedly lead you to a deeper relationship with Him. 

If you have prayed any or all of the prayers above, tell another Christian and ask them to help you to find a church where God’s true word is preached, not a version which pleases the people, but one that pleases God our Father.

May the Lord Bless you.

Hebrews 13:20-21 WEB – Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, [21] make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

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