There are many false religions in the world today. You can quickly tell the counterfeits from the one true Gospel and there is only one true Gospel. All world religions focus on man working his way to Heaven or man trying to become God. Everyone following a cult is busy trying to earn their way to Heaven, which is impossible (Ephesians 2:8-9) or they are trying to become God or they have put themselves in the place of God – such as atheists. By saying there is no God, atheists are foolishly deeming themselves in the place of almighty God.
But there are still others who claim God and Jesus, but they don’t follow the God of the Bible. They are following a false gospel. Some people promote or follow the false prosperity gospel. This is nothing new. The apostle Paul spoke against false gospels when he wrote the letter to the Galatians (Galatians 1:8-9). Paul also warned about people straying from the Gospel in his letter to the Corinthians. The believers in Corinth were causing division in the church there because they were more worried about which man they were following instead of focusing on Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 3:1-5).
The word Gospel literally means good news. The Gospel is the Good News. It is great news. Fantastic news. But if there is good news, then that means on the reverse side there is bad news. It makes sense to talk about the bad news too. I’m the kind of person that if you have good news and bad news, I’d rather hear the bad news first and then the good news.
The bad news is that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23). Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden and every human being after that has been a sinner. Every person who will be born on this earth will also be a sinner. How can I state that? Because David said he was born in iniquity (Psalm 51:5). In other words, all of our parents were sinners so we really were born that way – we were born in iniquity. Just about as soon as we can crawl or talk we start sinning. If you tell a 10 to 12 month old baby “no, don’t do that” they typically will look at you and grin and do the very thing you told them not to do.
We all have a sin problem. We’ve all lied, most of us have stolen something, we’ve all lusted after someone at one time or another and we’ve all and coveted something. We all have been angry with someone and hated someone at one time or another. None of us have always loved God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. We are all sinners and our sin separates us from God. That is the bad news. Your sin separates you from our Holy God who gives you every breath that you take. Your sin, no matter who it is against, is direct rebellion against the living God.
The really, really bad news is that if you die in your sins as an unrepentant sinner, then your separation from God will continue for all of eternity. Not only will it last forever, you will go to a place of extreme torture and torment. You will go to Hell. Jesus described Hell as a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28). The Bible describes Hell as a place of torment. It is total physical and mental anguish.
That was the bad news. Now the Good News! The Good News is that God loves us so much, that He sent His Son to take the punishment that we deserve. A little over 2,000 years ago, Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit. He was born in a manager and died an excruciating death on the cross. In between His birth and His death, He never sinned. Jesus perfectly kept the 10 Commandments. Jesus didn’t break a single commandment and in fact, He held them to a higher standard – to the spirit of the law. Jesus said if you look with lust, you have already committed adultery in your heart.
Jesus was falsely accused at His illegal trial. He was beat with a reed and spit upon. He had a crown of thorns pressed into His forehead and the Roman soldiers hit Him. After that, they beat Jesus with 39 lashes across His back. Then they forced Him to carry the cross to Golgatha, where they nailed His hands and feet to the cross and violently thrust the cross into the ground. Jesus hung on that horrible cross for six long hours suffering immense pain. While He hung there, He suffered the wrath of God. The same wrath that you and I deserve.
The Messiah died on the cross, was buried and rose from the grave on the third day. God offers eternal, everlasting life to all those who repent from their sins and who place their trust in Jesus (Acts 20:21). Jesus defeated sin, death and Hell when He rose from the grave. You can be victorious too, if you will turn away from your sins and put your faith in Him. Don’t trust your own good works. Don’t trust your emotions. Don’t trust what everyone else is doing.
Put your trust in the perfect, sinless Son of God. Repent and believe the Gospel (Mark 1:15). This is the Good News. We are all sinners and we deserve to be sent to Hell after we die, because of our sins, our rebellion against our Holy God. But in His great mercy and His great love, He willingly sacrificed Jesus on the cross to carry our sins for us. He made the one who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf. But there isn’t universal salvation. Everyone isn’t automatically saved because Jesus bore our sins.
You are only saved, you are only born again if you turn away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus. You cry out to God to save you. When God convicts you through the Holy Spirit, you recognize that you a sinner and that you can’t save yourself. You then cry out for God to save you. You surrender your life to Jesus Christ. From this day forward you do His will and not your own. This is great news. We are all guilty sinners, but Jesus paid our sin debt for us. But you have to repent and believe the Gospel.
When you are truly saved, you now love the God you once hated (John 15:18). God takes away your heart of stone and He gives you a heart of flesh. Jesus said you will know my disciples by their fruit (or works). Your works don’t save you, but you have works after God saves you.
What’s holding you back right now from receiving this amazing, free gift from God? What sin do you have in your life that you don’t want to relinquish? What sin are you willing to die in and spend eternity in Hell over? Sin is pleasurable for a season, but is it worth being damned for eternity for this fleeting pleasure? Submit your life to Jesus right here – right now. That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved (Romans 10:9). For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). Don’t put this off. Repent and put your faith in Jesus. Do this today.