God’s Good News
God’s PURPOSE
We were created to be loved by God, and to please and glorify Him by living forever in a personal, loving, authentic relationship with Him.
Col. 1:16 …all things were created by Him and for Him.
1 Jn. 4:19 …We love because He first loved us.
Eph. 1:4-6 …In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace…
Mt. 22:37 …Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.
2. Our PROBLEM
Our sin has separated us from God, who is holy. It is a debt that can only be paid through death.
Rom. 3:23 …For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Ja. 2:10 …whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
Rom. 6:23a …For the wages of sin is death…
3. God’s PROVISION
Jesus Christ, God’s sinless Son, died in our place for all of our sin, to save us from it, and bring us to God and to Heaven.
Three days after dying, Jesus came back to life, proving who He is and what His death accomplished. (I Cor. 15:3-5)
Ro. 6:23b …but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Tim. 2:5-6 …there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men…
1 Pet. 3:18 …Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteousness, to bring you to God…
2 Cor. 5:21 …God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 Jn. 5:11-12 …God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Jn 11:25-26 …I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.
4. Our PART
We receive God’s salvation as a free gift by personally placing our trust in Jesus Christ for it; trusting in Him completely and in Him only.
Jn. 3:16, 18, 36 …For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life…Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already…Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on Him.
Eph. 2:8-9 …For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.
Our sin debt cannot be paid through good works or being religious. It is only paid through death. (Rom. 6:23a)
“Placing trust in” Jesus Christ (this is what “believe in” means) is all any of us can do to receive the salvation God offers. “Through faith” means “through reliant belief”.
“Placing trust” is not just becoming intellectually convinced that what the Bible says about salvation through Jesus Christ is the truth about salvation.
“Placing trust” is personally choosing, in a moment of time, to rely on who or what we have become convinced about. In salvation, it is coming to God in simple faith, to depend completely and only on His Son, Jesus Christ, for our own salvation from our own sin.
The New Testament word “repent” that is used with reference to personal, eternal salvation means “change your mind”, sometimes along with your inner attitude…your thinking. This verb does not mean “be sorry for and/or turn from your sin”. Only the context in which this word “repent” is used tells us what we are to change our mind and attitude about, and what will follow as a result. In salvation, we are repenting when our thinking changes from whatever we have been believing that is not true about the Lord Jesus Christ and salvation, to a reliant belief in who and what is true. Our reliant belief is the essential result of our repentance. While repentance is necessary for salvation, the word “repent” is not mentioned in most New Testament salvation references. This is because, as we decide to believe in Jesus Christ in a reliant way (place our complete trust in Him alone) for our own salvation, we are repenting in the way that we must.
5. God’s PROMISE
All who place their trust in Jesus Christ are forgiven, and given new, eternal life, beginning now, in a personal, family relationship with God.
Jn. 5:24 …I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
Jn 10:10, 28 …I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full…I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish…
1 Jn. 5:13 …I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life
Do you recognize that you have a sin problem?
Do you understand the Bible’s “good news” central message - that God has graciously provided the only way for your sin problem to be solved, through His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ?
If you have not already, will you receive Jesus Christ now, just as you are, by placing your trust in Him to save you and bring you to God?
We are not saved by saying a prayer, but through faith... through depending on the Lord Jesus Christ’s death in our place, to put us in a right relationship with God. Even so, since you are right now entering into a relationship - a real, personal, most wonderful, forever relationship with God, why not talk with Jesus about what you are doing? You could say something like this…
“Dear God, I know I am a sinner and that I cannot become right with you through my own efforts.
Christ Jesus, I believe that you are God - the Son, who died in my place for all of my sins. I believe that you proved who you are and what you accomplished for me by returning to life.
I am, in this moment, placing my trust in you alone, as my Savior. I’m not counting on anything I can do, but only on what you did for me - because of your love for me and your grace - as the only way I can be forgiven of all my sin and enter into a right personal relationship with God.
Thank you for giving me the free gift of eternal life in Heaven. Thank you for new life, with new potential, beginning now. Thank you, God, for making me your own child forever.”
© Mike Otto (A printed handout version is available.)