Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are the first four books of the New Testament, aka the four accounts of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of you have heard of the gospel, or at least have heard the word “gospel” tossed around a few times in conversation. But how many of you truly know the beauty and simplicity of the gospel?
Over the years as humanity has developed and traditions have been implemented, many have sadly distorted the gospel message. Throughout your life you may have been told that your salvation hinders on whether you participate in certain traditions or ceremonies. Or maybe you’ve known someone who performs countless good deeds and heard someone praising them by saying things like, “He has a one-way ticket to heaven.” or “She’s not making any stops at the gates!”
Well, I’m here to tell you that you cannot earn your way into heaven. Some of you may find some discomfort in that thought. It’s in our human nature to be given a list of things to accomplish so we can check our performance. However, the grace that God shows us through Jesus Christ is way better than any good work you or I could ever do.
What is The Gospel?
The word “gospel” in Greek translates to “good news.” So, what is the good news that God is exclaiming to us through His word?
To set the foundation, we need to go all the way back to the beginning: creation. Most of you have hear the story of Adam and Eve.
God created Adam in His likeness as the first human being on earth. God tells Adam that he can eat all the fruit he wants in the garden, except for the fruit from one specific tree, or else he would die. Simple enough, right? Adam can take from the vast majority of fruit spread out across the garden and is only forbidden to take from a very tiny portion.
God realized Adam needed a companion, so God took Adam’s rib while he was sleeping and formed the first woman, named Eve. God loved his human creations so much that he gave Adam and Eve the free will to either accept or reject His sovereignty. (FYI – He still gives us that freedom today!)
Here’s where the enemy (Satan) comes in. Satan disguises himself as a serpent and tempts Eve to eat an apple from the forbidden tree. Satan uses these words; “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” -Genesis 3:1. Then Eve responds, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” -Genesis 3:2. The serpent then comes back with “You will not certainly die,”…“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” -Genesis 3:4-5.
When you read the words of Satan in this passage, do they not sound eerily similar to the words of temptation we face in society today? When trying to live a Godly life we may face comments like “So, you really believe God wants you to just blindly follow that rule? He won’t smite you down. You’re not harming anyone!” These lies told to us today were told to Eve thousands of years ago.
So, Eve eats the apple and gives some to Adam. Without any questioning whatsoever, he takes a bite as well. Adam and Eve are then filled with shame, and humanity is deemed evil because they (we) broke God’s moral law.
It’s important to remember that God is perfect, and God cannot be in the presence of anything imperfect. So, after the Fall of Man, there was a separation between God and man.
But I say again, God loves us so much. So much that He wants us to dwell with Him in His kingdom. That’s why He didn’t immediately destroy Adam and Eve right there and then.
Now here is where we arrive at a crossroad. God is rich in mercy and wants to be with humanity again. However, God is perfectly just and needs to punish us for our sinful nature. We’ve all fallen short of God’s law (the Ten Commandments). We’ve all told a lie, no matter how small it was. We’ve all stolen something, even if it was just some loose change on our parents’ dresser when we were eleven years old. We’ve all fallen short and continue to fall short of God’s perfect standard.
So, if God is a perfect and righteous judge, how can He allow us back into His presence if we deserve the death penalty for our crimes? That’s where Jesus comes in.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God walked this earth and bore every temptation that we face throughout our lives. The only difference is Jesus never caved. Jesus was the only sinless human being to ever walk the earth. He spent his time on earth performing miracles, healing the sick, showing kindness to the broken, and being the perfect example of what love truly is.
The religious elite at the time were so intimidated by Jesus that they had Him killed. Not only was He killed, but He had to carry the cross they were going to hang Him on up the hill at Calvary. As he walked up that hill, the crowd mocked and jeered at Him. They spat on Him, hit Him, gave Him vinegar to drink, and shoved a crown of thorns into His skull.
It was a slow, painful, and agonizing death. Jesus did absolutely nothing wrong. And because humans are evil, humans killed Him. We killed the Son of the God that created us. Let that sink in for a minute.
The Old Testament teaches that the wage of sin was death. Like I stated earlier, we deserved the death penalty for our sins. But if we put Jesus’s flesh to death, and He never sinned, then how come He died?
Well, that is why He rose on the third day. Jesus defeated death because of His perfect nature. And through our faith in Jesus, we can now be made clean and have eternal life in heaven. That is the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What Makes the Gospel Simple?
As I explained in the introduction of this article, human beings have been trying to distort the message of the gospel for thousands of years. Jesus himself predicted this would happen. “’For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.’” -Matthew 24:24.
It’s really a simple message: Jesus bore our sins, died on the cross, and through faith in Him we are saved. But simple doesn’t always sit well with our human nature, hence why we have false gospels floating around that have no biblical roots.
I know many of you may still be thinking: “well if I’m a good person, doesn’t God know my heart?” and the answer to that is a resounding “yes.” God does know your heart, but there isn’t anything we can do to bribe God and earn our way into heaven.
Imagine you’re standing before a judge in a court room here on earth deserving capital punishment for committing the worst of all crimes. The judge will give you justice. Explaining to the judge something along the lines of “I know I did the most heinous crime, but I also helped an old woman cross the street last week” isn’t going to change the verdict. You are guilty.
If that’s how the judge will rule in our imperfect judicial system here on earth, certainly the most perfect judge of the universe will not accept a bribe. That’s why this message is so powerful and important. Jesus paid the price in full on that cross. That is why He said “it is finished” just before He died. The job is done – no further action is needed.
“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” -Galatians 2:21
Ephesians 2:8-9 puts it perfectly when Paul writes, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” We are saved by the grace of God as a gift because that’s what grace is, a gift. There are no conditions to grace. Paul made this very clear to the Roman church when he wrote, “And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” -Romans 11:6
By putting our trust in Jesus, we can know that He will show up in that court room on judgement day and pay our fine so we can be made clean and set free. I want you to realize how great that is! It takes the pressure off us knowing we don’t have to cross off a slew of items on a checklist to maybe earn our salvation. It has been earned. That’s why Jesus said, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:30. He wanted us to rest assured knowing that from this point forward, we will no longer have to carry a heavy, religious burden.
This message should not be missed: Jesus is the only way to salvation. No human being or traditional practice can act on our behalf to snag us a pass into the kingdom. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” -1 Timothy 2:5
How Can Your Heart be Changed?
After hearing how simple the gospel message really is, I think it’s common for people to question how there isn’t more required of us. A question I hear often is “Well if you’re saved by faith in Jesus, then you can sin freely the rest of your life as long as you have faith, right?” I believe this is the sole reason why the gospel has been distorted over the years. In fact, this question is so engrained in our nature that Paul was asked this in chapter 6 of the Book of Romans:
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” – Romans 6:1-4
In other words, when we comprehend the gruesome sacrifice our Father made for us, we won’t want to sin anymore.
Humans want control. Having full trust that God will change our hearts through faith takes the control completely out of our hands and places it into God’s. This doesn’t sit right with our prideful nature. So, naturally over the years, humans have instituted rules and regulations to ensure people “behave.”
When you fully accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and possess a complete grasp of the gospel, the Holy Spirit will change your heart. I know that can be hard to believe until it’s actually happened to you, but take my word for it, it works!
I once desired all the pleasures and temptations of this world; drunkenness, impurity, foul language, you name it. Once the gospel message made sense to me and the lightbulb went off, God removed the foul language from my mouth, the lustful thoughts from my mind, and the desire for any sort of temporary, worldly satisfaction.
This sort of change is reminiscent of the apostles Jesus used to spread the good news. These guys were great sinners and were given new hearts and desires once they knew and accepted Jesus as Lord. Matthew was a tax collector who got rich by cheating people out of their savings. Paul murdered Christians in the name of God. But God was able to use these men just like he’s able to use you and I. God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” -Ezekiel 36:26
I’m writing this post as encouragement. If you have been stuck in the mindset that following Jesus is a heavy burden that will take all the fun and joy out of your life, I’m here to tell you it will do the exact opposite. Jesus can provide everlasting joy, purpose, fulfilment, identity, and so much more! He even said it himself: “I am the way and the truth and the life.” -John 14:6
If you have any questions about Jesus or what it’s like to follow Him, I encourage you to email me at [email protected] , or follow me on Instagram at @danroos1. I’d be more than thrilled to act as a guide for anyone looking to explore his or her faith.
About Dan Roos
Dan Roos is a freelance writer for small businesses. He creates blogs, web copy, and social media posts specializing in areas of fitness & health, lifestyle, sports, and faith. If you’re a small business or solopreneur looking for a content writer, check out his website or contact him on his social platforms.