The Gospel

Who is good enough to get to Heaven? What would constitute as being the only good? That would only be Jesus Christ Himself because there is no good in the earth “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God“. Christ’s good is His own righteousness that is imputed upon us by our confession of belief on Him, believing in His Gospel of Grace and mercy for forgiveness of sins. Just being good doesn’t save you, going to church doesn’t save you, reading the Bible doesn’t save you, praying doesn’t save you, doing the rituals and sacraments and ordinances doesn’t save you, only confession of the belief of your heart that Jesus is your Lord and Saviour and asking Him to forgive and save you will actually save you.

Salvation is a free gift, no maintenance, no earning of favor, and once given it cannot be taken away. Ephesians 4:30) “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” – – if we do grieve Him we just confess and we are cleansed. The Father doesn’t disown the wayward child, but like the prodigal son the goodness of God leads us to repentance and cleansing. – – When did the prodigal son cease to be a son of the Father? – – Not by works, Not by righteous works, Not by deeds of the law, and Not by sight. But by Faith alone, through Grace alone, by Jesus Christ who is God alone.

Titus 3:5 / Ephesians 2:8-9 / Galatians 2:16 / 2 Corinthians 5:7 / 1 John 5:20

Believe that Jesus Christ is your God and Saviour, and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and save you, it’s literally that simple. That you would confess with your mouth the belief of your heart that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and forgiveness of sins.

Romans 10:9-10) “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

After believing and repenting you are sealed/saved, then because of your love for Christ you want to follow Him. It’s not because you have to but because you want to. The Will of the Father is that all would come to Christ in belief (John 6:40), not follow laws and commandments and good works to earn salvation, maintain to keep salvation, or for self atonement for sins.

Identity of Jesus Christ

Isaiah 7:14 – The Messiah Christ will be born of a virgin

Micah 5:2 – the Messiah Christ will be born in Bethlehem

Isaiah 9:6 – the Messiah Christ is called the Mighty God Everlasting Father

Isaiah 53 – The Messiah Christ will be put to death for our sins and His days will be prolonged (resurrected).

1 Timothy 4:10 – The only living God which is the Saviour of all men

1 John 5:20 – Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life

1 Tim 3:16 – God was manifest in the flesh

Colossians 2:9 – in Jesus dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily

Acts 20:28 – God purchased the church with His own blood

John 1:1&14 – the Word which is God became flesh and dwelt among us

Jesus is the Christ the Mighty God in the flesh.

Jesus, in the Gospels, said in His name to cast out devils. In the temptation in the wilderness Jesus rebuked Satan, and again when Satan tried to rebuke Christ through Peter Jesus said “Get thee behind me Satan” and then in the temptation in the wilderness He said in Matthew 4 “is it not written, tempt not the Lord your God”, thus claiming to be Lord God.

Furthermore, we also see Jesus forgiving sins of people (the cripple man and the woman caught in adultery, and Mary who washed His feet), Jesus accepting worship of individuals He healed (the wise men at His birth, the blind man, lepers, the disciples, and Thomas), and in John 10:18 Jesus says He has power to lay down His life and raise Himself from the dead (personal power over life and death)

and in John 10:27-28 Jesus says that He personally gives eternal life, and in John 4:26 Jesus claims to be the Messiah as prophesied of (Isaiah 9:6 called the Mighty God, Everlasting Father)

In John 8 stating that He is the “I Am” multiple times (I Am in Greek is “ego eimi” meaning the Always Existing One) and the Pharisees tried to stone Him for blasphemy. An angel, prophet, or holy man couldn’t do that.

How to be Born Again Saved

The Gospel is the salvation of God who is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the teachings of Christ and how He, as the Lamb of God, was sacrificed for the sin of all mankind. And how accepting Him as your Saviour will save you from your sin.

The three “R’s” of salvation. “Recognize” we are sinners, “Repent” of your sins, and “Receive” Christ as your Saviour.

We are saved by Faith, not by works, and by faith we find salvation in Jesus Christ alone.

1 Peter 1:18-21) “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.”

Philippians 2:8) “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

We are all Sinners

He died on the cross for your sins because sin demands the penalty of death:

Romans 3:10-12) “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

Romans 3:23) “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

The Penalty of Sin

Romans 6:23) “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

But this death penalty was paid for by Jesus in His work on the Cross, and all that is left is your turning to Him and accepting Him as Saviour.

Repent of your sins

Acts 3:19) “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;”
Repentance is acknowledgement that you’re a sinner, turning from your sin, and seeking redemption from your sin. This is only found in the blood of Christ which saves you from your sin, which washes you clean by your faith and belief on Christ as your redeemer

Mark 1:15) “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

Act 3:19-20) “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:”
That which is false is the belief that you must “keep repenting” for your salvation. Mark 1:15 Repent and Believe the Gospel – a repentant heart sees their state of sin and seeks salvation from their sin. This is a repentance which leads to salvation, seeing the sin, acknowledging the sin, and believing the Gospel – turning from sin to salvation in Christ.

Jesus Himself said –

Luke 13:3) “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

Scripture also says –

1 John 1:5-10) “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. **If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness**. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

Not by Our Own Works

Nothing of ourselves is needed, necessary, or capable of attaining salvation. Our works, our deeds, our abilities are not worthy enough or good enough.

Ephesians 2:8-9) “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Isaiah 64:6) “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Our righteousness and works are as filthy rags in comparison to Christ’s. We must repent and turn from everything of ourselves and completely accept the Lord Jesus, and He WILL forgive us and cleanse us and save us. This is a promise of Christ; all sin will be forgiven and eternal life and salvation will be given.

Believe in and Receive Christ

John 3:15-18) “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Scripture promises salvation to all those that believe in Jesus Christ, and salvation cannot be lost or taken away.

1 John 5:10-13) “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

John 10:28) “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

All that is left is for you to choose. All you must do is tell the Lord Jesus Christ that you accept Him as your God and Saviour, ask Him to forgive you of your sins and save you, and you will be Born Again Saved. That’s it!

John 3:3) “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Salvation is a Covenant by God, not a contract with man.
Jesus says that the new Testament is in His blood, it is a covenant vow made by the blood of God (Acts 20:28). (Testament literally means “Covenant” in the original Greek – The Old and New Covenant/Testament)
Luke 22:20) Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
1Corinthians 11:25) After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
Hebrews 12:24) And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
John 1:12-13) “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” – not by our blood, but the blood of God. Not by our will or power, but only of God. As Jesus said “no man can pluck you out of my hand” that means you cannot pluck yourself out either – not by your will. You cannot walk away/give up the faith (become unsaved again).
Salvation is not about what we do or keep or abstain from, it is solely based on what you have believed. 1John 5:13) “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
As it says “THAT YE MAY KNOW” absolute assurance of your salvation, and this is because you have believed.
John 1:13) “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
It has nothing to do with our abilities of anything, salvation is only by the power of God which comes upon us when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
James 2 is not talking about works to keep your salvation, but rather it’s talking to Christians already saved, and it’s talking about charity and Christian behavior for promotion of the faith, not maintenance of salvation. If James is talking about maintaining salvation then Apostle Paul is a liar.
Matthew 24 is speaking about the end of days and the trials and tribulations that will occur. “endure to the end” is in reference to the Great Tribulation, as it is a limited time and will soon be over and those under persecution will be saved from the oppression. It is not a salvationary passage, Christ is not talking about salvation but rather persecution. It’s the same context as the other passage that says how a woman will be saved in child bearing – talking about the pains and troubles.
Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26 is speaking about the unsaved falling away (rejecting) enlightenment, the knowledge of , the taste of salvation – they had not yet taken hold. This does not relate to the saved giving up or losing salvation as many think. Losing Salvation, or it being taken away, given up – denotes a working to keep it. But it’s not by works or righteous works, deeds of the law, or by sight. It’s by Grace alone through Faith alone.
Matthew 7:21-23) “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Nowhere do they say “have we not believed on thy name?”. They were trusting in their works, righteous works, and law keeping. They were depending on religiosity and Christian behavior to earn their salvation like all the cults do.
Salvation is purely by grace through faith by belief alone – Eph 2:8-9 / Titus 3:5 / Gal 2:16 / Romans 10:9-10 / Acts 16:30-31 / Eph 1:7&13 / 1 John 5:13 / John 3:16 / John 3:3 / Mark 1:15
Furthermore, what is “the will of my Father”? As we see in John 6 –
John 6:28-29) “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
John 6:39-40) “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Doing the will of the Father is not doing works, keeping commandments, or law keeping, but is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for Salvation.
We are not called to the will of works, but are called to believing faith. Now true believing faith will produce fruit of works but it’s not the works that inherit salvation. The reason that Christ says “I never knew you” is because the people were focusing on the religion and not the faith. They thought the religion was the faith, but true believing faith will produce “pure religion undefiled”.
Misconstruing religiosity with faith by grace leads to damnation, and this is the ultimate work of Satan to cause a misfocus within the Churches – preaching from the pulpit to create multitudes of religious damned who think themselves to be the very children of God.

~ God bless all those that hear and heed His Holy Word, Amen.