It is hard to find good news anymore. Whether you read the local newspaper in the morning or listen to the local news at night, there is not much to be positive about. The headlines are often depressing and reveal an increasingly hopeless world around us. There is a piece of news that while it is never on the front page of the New York Times, the opening story of Nightly News with Lester Holt, or the top story on your Google or Twitter feed has been good news for centuries and has brought hope to millions upon millions of people. That news is the good news of Jesus Christ or what we have come to call the Gospel.
Now admittedly, the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not start like any regular good news piece. In fact at its beginning, the news is pretty depressing. The book of Romans in the New Testament states our condition as human beings in relation to God.
Romans 3:10, 23 NET – “Just as it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one’…For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
No one is up to God’s standard. The start of the Gospel is pretty dim. God’s standard is Himself though, and we all have fallen short or missed the mark of His perfect holiness. Picture someone shooting an arrow at a target. Romans tells us that we didn’t even make it on the target. We weren’t even close. The reason—our sin. Because of our sin, we fall short.
What is sin though? The word is thrown around, but what is it actually? By definition, sin is a transgression of the law of God, failure to conform to His standard, rebellion against God, and wrongful acts toward God and man. Many people have heard of the Ten Commandments in Scripture. Three of them are: you shall not murder, steal, or give false testimony. These seem clear but sin involves more than just outward actions. Jesus said that sin also happens on an inward level. In Matthew 5, Jesus equated hatred with murder and lust with adultery. God’s standard is so much higher than ours. Even what we may consider as an acceptable sin (like a white lie, revenge, gossip, or even breaking the occasional law for personal reasons and gain) is still considered sin in God’s sight. No matter how we try to color or repackage sin, it is still the same before God. And we are told that as we earn wages for working, our sin has also earned us a wage.
Romans 6:23a NKJV – “For the wages of sin is death.”
The death mentioned here is not referencing physical death though. The death here in Romans 6 is spiritual death—our sin has separated us from God. It has caused a great chasm where we are on one side and God is on the other. God in His perfect holiness could not allow sin (which is completely contrary to His character) to go unjudged and unpunished. To do so would make Him an unholy and unjust God. So His punishment or sentence given to mankind for their sin was death—separation from Him (spiritual death). So how do we restore our relationship with God? How do we breach the chasm between us and Him? For centuries some have thought and some churches sadly have taught that people could get back into God’s good graces by doing enough good works and living a “good life”. There are several flaws with that thought. First, remember Romans 3—no one is righteous. If we are not righteous, how can we hope to live a “good life”? And what hope we might have had in good works is quickly eradicated by what we find written in the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah 64:6 NLT – “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”
Even our good deeds are not enough. They are still considered as unclean in the sight of God. So where in the world is the good news? All this has just been more hopeless news. Well, once we realize how lost we are because of our sin, how irreversible our condition is, then we are ready for the good news—for our hope.
In order for our relationship to be put right with God, God demanded that our sin debt be paid in full. His justice required that. Since we couldn’t do that on our own, He did it for us. He took the initiative. He sent His Son—Jesus Christ to be that payment. In the last half of Romans 6:23, we read:
Romans 6:23b NET – “But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Jesus came in human form as a baby (Matthew 1:18-2:12). From the beginning of His life and while He grew, He was much different than you or me. He lived a perfect life. He never sinned. He never did anything that would be considered unrighteous according to God’s standard of holiness. He was perfect. In fact, we read about this in 2 Corinthians where we also find an amazing truth.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NET – “God made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God.”
Christ was perfect. But the additional amazing truth is that through Christ we are made righteous. He took our sin on Himself and died in our place. He made payment in full for our sin debt through His death. He was able to do this because He was both God and man and as such, He was our Kinsman-Redeemer. We see the concept in the Old Testament. A person burdened with debt who was unable to pay it off could sell himself to the lender. He could be redeemed again but only by one of his brethren (Leviticus 25:48). The redemption must be accomplished by a relative—the next of kin, which is where the Kinsman-Redeemer concept comes from. Not only must the Kinsman-Redeemer be related to the person in debt, but he also must be able to pay off the debt. We see this concept unfold beautifully in the book of Ruth as Boaz becomes her Kinsman-Redeemer (Ruth 3:6-4:12). It unfolds again hundreds of years later in the person of Jesus Christ but in an even more marvelous manner. Jesus as a man was related to us, and as God He was able to pay off the debt for all mankind for all time in full. These following verses take on even greater meaning as we keep the Kinsman-Redeemer concept in mind.
Romans 5:6-10 NLT – “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son.”
1 John 2:2 NET – “And He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.”
That is great news! So does that mean that God took care of everything and that we do not need to do anything now? Well yes and no. YES in the fact that Jesus has made forgiveness possible for us. But NO in the sense that you do not just automatically receive that forgiveness. God calls us to place our faith in Jesus Christ and His work upon the cross completely. We must trust in nothing and no one else but Him in order to receive that forgiveness. Faith is the means through which we receive this forgiveness and are made right with God again. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace. Jesus Christ made this possible through His atoning sacrifice. Faith in Jesus Christ alone is the means by which we receive that salvation.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NET – “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast.”
There is more good news. Not only do we have forgiveness of our sins through faith in Jesus Christ, but we are also justified. It is a legal term used in the courts. It means that we are declared righteous—the accounts are settled, and we are no longer considered guilty before God. Because of what we did? NO! It is all because of what Christ has done.
Romans 5:1-2 NET – “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory.”
Romans 8:1 NET – “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ.”
If you place your faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, then you can experience this great hope—freedom from the condemnation of sin, freedom from the power of sin, freedom to spend an eternity with God in heaven. What amazing truths! What great news! What hope! And you know what is even more amazing? God did not just save us and then leave us. He gave us His Spirit to dwell within us and work in us to mold and shape us further in this life into the image of Christ—to produce His character in us. God is indeed wonderful!
A word of caution though. Beware of any gospel being preached that is contrary to this. Salvation is only through Jesus Christ. In fact, He said Himself:
John 14:6 NET – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus is the only way despite what other men may proclaim. In fact, we are warned that others would come preaching a different gospel. Many times, these other gospels or ways to heaven are preached to make salvation more palatable to people. These other gospels give a false sense of security and hope though. They are not roads to salvation. Jesus Christ is the only way. The Apostle Paul very explicitly stated:
Galatians 1:6-8 NET – “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel–not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell!”
Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, the only way to a restored relationship with God. Would you consider placing your faith in Him today for salvation if you have not already? If you have any questions about salvation and about what it means, please contact us. We would be more than happy to talk with you and share with you the joy we have experienced because of our new life in Christ Jesus.