The Gospel of The Lord Jesus Christ

Ephesians 2:8-9, “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.”

“you have been saved” This is a phrase that is often repeated but what does it mean? From what do you need saving? You need to be saved from the consequences of our sin. If you have ever committed any sin, either by your deeds, words, or thoughts you stand guilty before the just, holy, and righteous Creator. It doesn’t matter how many “good deeds” you do; you already stand condemned before God destined for hell. So, you need to be saved from hell, God’s holy wrath for your sin.

Ephesians 2 : 3: "among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

Romans 3 : 10 - 18: "as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 6 : 23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

John 3 : 36: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him."

James 2 : 10: "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it."

Revelation 20 : 15: "And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Since you need saving from the wrath of God because of your sin, how does God save you? Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Son of God, God who became man, fully God and fully man. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary without any sin. He lived a perfect sinless life. Never once did He sin in his deeds, words, or thoughts. He obeyed the law of God perfectly. Jesus is the only possible mediator between you and God because He fully represents you as a human and He fully represent God. Jesus did not have any sins for which He needed to be punished for, so he could take on the punishment for the sins of others, and because He is God and has the righteousness of God, He is able to provide the righteousness we need to be saved from our sins and be restored to a right relationship with God. You can be saved because of the work of Jesus on your behalf! Jesus lived the life you never could and died the death you should. He did all this in your place, so that you could know God’s forgiveness and grace! Please also read 1 Corinthians 15 & Philippians 3 : 1 - 11

2 Corinthians 5 : 21: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

John 1 : 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

John 1 : 14: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

1 Timothy 2 : 5: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

“For by grace you have been saved” The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was the plan of God, initiated by God. As a sinner already condemned there is nothing you can give God to avoid the punishment of your sin. Despite being in a position where you have nothing to offer God, God showed you grace by providing an offer for you! God could have sent every sinner to hell, which is what we all deserve, but instead He decided to show grace to some. Every person who lives is faced with one of two options: Justice or Grace! When someone goes to heaven they do so based on God’s grace. If someone goes to hell, they do so based on justice since they are law breakers. It is the grace of God that allows for us to be saved. Not our own works, intelligence, or goodness.

Ephesians 1 : 4: "even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love"

John 3 : 36: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him."

Isaiah 64 : 6: "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."

Exodus 34 : 7: "keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation."

Matthew 7 : 13 - 14: "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

“For by grace you have been saved through faith” The only way you can be saved from the wrath of God by the grace of God is by having faith in God. What does this mean exactly? It doesn’t just mean believing God exists, even the demons do that. It means having faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ ALONE! Faith is another way of saying trust! Having faith means trusting Jesus is who He says He is, that He did what He said He would do and that his life, death, and resurrection is enough for salvation. Trust in Jesus Christ is the ONLY way you can escape the wrath of God for your sins and be reconciled to God. Putting your faith in Jesus means that you consciously trust in Him and Him alone and that you live for Him and Him alone! Placing your faith in Jesus means that you repent of your sins, in other words, ask God’s forgiveness for your sins and turn away from your sins to pursue Christ. Please also read Romans chapters 3 to 5 & 1 Corinthians chapter 15

Galatians 2 : 15 - 21: We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

James 2 : 18 - 26: But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” - and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Acts 2 : 38: And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit

“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” Nothing we can do can make God overlook our disgusting sin. Our sin demands justice. It is because of Jesus that justice has been accomplished. He stepped in and paid off a debt that we could not pay and gave us a righteousness that we could not obtain. The one who trusts in Christ is in a right standing with God. We are saved from God, by God, for God!

John 3 : 16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Romans 6 : 23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Colossians 1 : 9 - 20: “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”