For I am not ashamed of the Gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation… (Romans 1:16)
The meaning of the word gospel is good news. The good news about Jesus Christ, which in its basic form is the story of Christ’s birth, death, burial, and resurrection; for the purpose of saving men. In its complete form the gospel would be everything the Bible says about Jesus Christ. In the Bible we are instructed to preach the gospel in season and out of season, or in other words when people want to hear and when they don’t want to hear it. The reason for this imperative command is that people cannot enter into Heaven except through the hearing and receiving of the gospel.
The Bible says that God is not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9) That is exactly what the Gospel is designed to do, bring us to the place of repentance for our sins. The story of Christ’s willingness to die for our sins in our place is designed to bring us to the place of repentance; God does the rest. God is the one who saves us and changes us and sends the Holy Spirit of God to bear witness with our spirit so that we know we are now Christians.
When we come to the place of repentance towards sin in our life, God then comes into our life. The bible describes this experience in more than one way.
· Jesus describes it as being born again (John 3)
· Paul describes it as regeneration(Titus 3:5)
· In many other places the Bible talks about repentance and salvation without giving a name to it. (example: Romans 10:9-10)
All through the Bible we see salvation takes place whenever a person hears and receives the Gospel of Truth. Salvation (right standing with God) comes through faith in the Gospel. That’s God’s plan! God warns many times in the Bible that we cannot become right with Him by doing good works. That is one of the main themes of the book Romans. Important verses on that subject in Romans are:
· Because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20) (Not the forgiveness of sin.)
· For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:28)
· For if Abraham was justified by works he has something to boast about; but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “And Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:2-3)
My reason for this webpage is because I have seen that many people and many political leaders believe that by doing good works they can please God. God says no. Many people mistakenly believe that by living according to the Sermon on the Mount they can please God and go to Heaven. The Sermon on the Mount does not present the way of salvation, it presents the way of righteous living for those who are God’s people. We do the things Jesus said on the mount, because we are already in right standing with God through the Gospel and therefore we want to do these things so we might be pleasing to God. We do these things not to become Gods children, but because we are God’s children. If we can become Christians by good works then there are two gospels, one of works and one of faith. But the Bible says through the Apostle Paul, “But even though we, or an angel from Heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8) And in another verse he debunks the gospel of works, “Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law; since by works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Galatians 2:16) and "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." (Galatians 2:21)
As we see, the Bible teaches there is only one gospel; the gospel of salvation through faith in the redemptive power of God through the blood sacrifice of Christ. “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)
This webpage is for all people, but especially to those in government and even more so to those of you who live in the D.C. Beltway. It is evident that many of you are trusting your own righteousness (Public Service) rather than the righteousness that God offers through Christ. This gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to change a person’s life and establishes the basis for fellowship between God and the one who receives the Gospel. On the other hand, the social gospel does not move God and therefore the individual is left alone and unchanged. Jesus asked the question? “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36) So be careful; search diligently until you know that you know that you have eternal life.
“And may be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection of the dead.” (Philippians 3 9-11)