The Bible says in Romans 1:17, “The Good News shows
how God makes people right with himself” (NCV).
How does God make us right with himself? This is called the
Gospel, and there are three points.
First, we can’t make ourselves righteous.
Heaven is a perfect place. There’s no sin, sadness, evil,
or injustice. But here’s the problem: We are imperfect, and God can’t let
sinful people into Heaven because then it would be full of sin, too.
Romans 3:20 says, “No one can ever be made right
with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we
are”
(NLT, second edition).
The only people who think they can keep God’s laws are
those that don’t know them, because God’s laws are perfection, and none of us
are perfect. We cannot be made right on our own. So God had to come up with a
plan.
Second, God sent Jesus to pay for our sins so
we could be declared righteous.
When you break man’s laws, you pay man’s penalty. When you
break God’s laws, you pay God’s penalty, which is eternity in Hell. Somebody
has to pay for all the things you’ve done in life that hurt other people,
yourself, and God. God said, “I’ll send my Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty. He
will take your place so you don’t have to go to Hell. You can be with me
forever.”
Do you understand why the Gospel is called Good News? It
means everything you’ve ever done or will ever do wrong in life has already
been paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross. You have been made right with God.
“[God] saved us, not because of righteous things
we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus
3:5a).
Third, we have to accept by faith what God did
for us.
To be made right with God, just believe and accept by faith
that what Jesus did on the cross paid for your sins. Then, you are a part of
God’s family. You can live the way he wants you to live now and then go to
Heaven in eternity. That is righteousness.
Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you openly declare that
Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right
with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”
Hallelujah! We can all be saved no matter who we are, what
we’ve done, or how long we’ve done it.
Today is the day to settle this. If you are not sure if you
are going to Heaven when you die, please pray this prayer: “Dear God, thank you
that you made me and that you made me to know you. Thank you for the choice
that you’ve given me to accept or reject your offer of salvation. Today I
humbly ask you to save me — not based on what I’ve done but based on what Jesus
Christ did for me. I don’t understand it all, but as much as I know how I want
to put my trust in your Son. God, I want to get to know you. I want to learn to
love you. I want to hunger and thirst for righteousness the rest of my life. I
put my trust in your grace and in your forgiveness. I want you to be the Lord
of my life. Amen.”
Please contact me if you have made a decision today.
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