Gospel of Jesus Christ
1. God created us in His image.
-
Genesis 1:27
“So
God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and
female he created them.”
2. Everyone has sinned and rebelled
against God.
-
Romans 3:23
“For
all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
- Isaiah 53:6a
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each
of us has turned to his own way.”
3. The penalty for sin is death.
-
Romans
6:23a
“For
the wages of sin is death”
-
Ephesians
2:1
“As
for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.”
-
Isaiah
59:2
“But
your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his
face from you, so that he will not hear.”
-
2
Thess. 1:8-9
“He
will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord
Jesus. They will be punished with
everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the
majesty of his power.”
4. There is no way we can earn God’s
favor or earn heaven.
“I am not
that bad…”
-
James
2:10
“For
whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of
breaking all of it.”
“I do work for God and the church, I
was born in a good home…”
-
Matt
7:23
“Then
I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
“I’m a basically a good person…”
-
Ephesians
2:8-9
“For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.”
“I’m intelligent…”
-
1 Cor.
1:20
“Where
is the wise man? Where is the
scholar? Where is the philosopher
of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”
5. Christ took the penalty we deserve upon Himself, and died in
our place.
-
Romans
5:8
“But
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.”
-
Romans
6:23b (remember a?? what do we earn or deserve?)
“But
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
-
Isaiah
53:5
“But
he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and that by his wounds we are
healed.”
6. We can be saved from death, and assured
of eternity in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ alone. We must believe.
We are made
righteous before God because of Jesus.
-
Romans
3:22
“This
righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”
-
Romans
10:9
“That
if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
-
John
3:15-16
“Everyone
who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
-
Titus
3:5
“He
saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his
mercy. He saved us through the
washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
7. Eternal life is based on fact, not
feeling. Blessed Assurance.
-
John
5:24
“I tell you the truth,
whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will
not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
8. Ask Him to wash you clean, believe in
Jesus and He will change your heart.
-
Psalm
51:1-2
“Have
mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great
compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”
-
2 Cor.
5:17
“Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come!!!”
Here is my personal life story:
I grew up
going to church, and hearing about Jesus.
I thought that as long as I went
to church, did some service work for
the poor, took Communion, and basically didn’t
murder anyone, I could go to
heaven when I died. I thought I
was a Christian, as
much as I was a white female, that it was automatic. While I was in college, I did
what
seemed right in my own eyes, and what friends and society said was
acceptable.
I woke up
one morning knowing I was dead inside. Walking around campus, I knew I
was a
walking dead person. This freaked
me out. I didn’t know what to do,
but to
return home, as I was able in August 2008.
In August
2009, I went to my first Women’s Bible Study. These women joyfully
demonstrated God’s holiness and purity in their
lives and in their personal
relationships. Showing
me a different way to live. They took what the Bible said at face
value, as true. They
obviously
loved God. They prayed and
presented the Gospel to me.
The Holy
Spirit taught me through His Word that there was a reason why I was
feeling
dead. That even though I was dead
in my sins, I could be alive in Christ.
I
learned that only through my faith in what Jesus had done on the
cross, and trust in
His resurrection, could I go to heaven. It was like puzzle pieces all coming
together in
my life, and I could see clearly for the first time. I believed,
confessed my sins, and
prayed to have Jesus as Lord of my life in March 2010. Once
I trusted in Christ alone-
windows and doors of light began to open up in my
heart breaking the darkness that
was there. Now I walk around knowing
I am alive, only because of Christ.
I have
peace and joy walking with my heavenly Father. Any good works I do now, praise
God,
because just like Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, I am God’s workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus to do good works which he prepared in advance for me to do!
In August
2010, I married my husband, a man after God’s own heart.
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