Many today have had brief but confusing contact with Christianity. The following is intended to clarify the truth of the Gospel— the good news of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.

The good news comes to us through the Bible, which is God’s own message to all mankind. There we find that God rules over all things— He does whatever He pleases and no one can stop Him. But God is also good — all that He does, He does for good reason. That means that all that God commands us to do, or forbids us to do, is for our good. He created us to enjoy a never ending friendship with Him as our Father.

The Bad News

Unfortunately, the first people doubted the goodness of God. They thought He was holding out on them. In their distrust they disobeyed Him. They thought they knew better than God what was good and what was evil. But because God is good, He had to punish them for their disobedience and that punishment is the reason why everyone dies. In this way they brought both sin and death on all of their descendants.

Our sinful human nature now corrupts everything we do. We have all done things we knew were wrong when we did them. Our guilt keeps us from enjoying any friendship with God. We know in our hearts that we deserve only punishment from God.

The Good News

However, because God is good, He is also merciful. God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to teach us about God and then to die in our place on a cross in order to rescue all who trust Him.

Why did Jesus have to die? Because the goodness of God requires Him to be absolutely just. He cannot be unjust. Someone must die for all the sins we have ever committed and Jesus agreed to do so. He took our punishment on Himself. He really did die for us.

But how can we know for certain that Jesus is who He said He was, and that God’s plan to rescue us through His death actually worked? The answer is astounding. After three days God raised Jesus from the dead as proof that Jesus death satisfied God’s justice. And because Jesus rose from the dead, He is now the one in charge. He is Lord and all the benefits of believing in Him flow from our willingness to obey His command to love. We show our love for God by the way we love one another.

Today, only those who trust Jesus enough to actually obey Him are really Christians. Those who don’t trust Him enough to obey Him still don’t know him. They are still lost. It is our trust in who Jesus is and what He has done for us that saves us, not anything that we can do for Him. But an authentic faith in Jesus will not remain alone, it will always produce what Jesus called good fruit— the good works that are the evidence of a new heart. Those who claim to be Christians without bearing this good fruit of love are only deceiving themselves.

What About You?

Have you trusted Jesus in this way? Enough to do whatever He says? If so, you desire to please God and you fight against sin. But if not, you are still dead in your sins. You are still lost. If so, own up to the truth. Trust in Jesus now. Repent and ask Him to rescue you. And He will! That is the Good News!