The Good News
The term "gospel" simply means "good news". As Christians, when we talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ, we're referring to the good news of Jesus Christ. Here's the story...
The Bible clearly indicates that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glory. In fact, we do more than fall short - we rebel completely against the will of God! As a righteous judge, God has every right (in fact, the responsibility) to punish sin and injustice. The sentence? A place called hell, created for the punishment of Satan and his followers. Hell means permanent seperation from God's mercy and physical anguish as the punishment for rebelling against the Holy God of the universe.
So what's the good news in all of this? God Himself, as the man Jesus Christ, humbly left his heavenly home to be born of a virgin. He lived a sinless and exemplary life, and subsequently died (unjustly) a horrific death by crucifixion. On the cross, and by the shedding of his blood, Jesus died as our substitute; he paid the penalty for our sin so that we don't have to. Not only that, but after his death, Jesus rose from the dead three days later, giving us the amazing gift of eternal life! That is good news!
This gracious gift is available to all who will turn from sin and follow Jesus, becoming Christians and living new lives by his grace. Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship with the living God and Savior Jesus Christ. Those who seek to please God with good works and earn their way into heaven by "being a good person" are fighting a futile battle. No amount of morality is good enough in God's eyes, except his own.
That's why Christians trust in Jesus for their salvation. They recognize that eternal life in heaven is a gift from God that is neither earned or deserved. No Christian trusts their good works to get them into heaven...they simply trust in the finished work of Jesus and live a life of worship to him.
Become a Christian by believing in Jesus today as your God and Savior!
