There are 29M slaves today in the world. I am going to start praying for them as a people group.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
I’ve heard the word Gospel thrown around a lot this week by two famous people that I don’t even believe are saved. I don’t know for a fact about their spiritual condition, but you know them by their fruit.
“Gospel” stems from Old English godspel, translating the Greek euangelion to mean “good news,” referring primarily to the Christian message of salvation. Jesus paid it all! Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow! You go to heaven ONLY by depending completely on the finished work of Jesus on the Cross, and nothing else. That requires faith!
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Knowing the Gospel also means an obligation to go share the good news that Jesus died for all of our sins, yours and mine. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. My friend Phil Yancey said ‘there is nothing you can do to make God love you, more or less.’ Please pray for Phillip right now btw, he’s going through a tough patch.
It isn’t enough to affirm that Jesus died, that doesn’t save you.
Neither the Pope nor Trump seem to understand that. If you ask a priest, or the vast majority of protestant ministers how to go to heaven, you’ll see that they just don’t understand. The Holy Spirit hasn’t shown them yet. If they don’t understand it, how can they be saved? How can they minister the true Gospel, if they don’t even know what it is? And Trump doesn’t act like he understands the Gospel either. I think God’s leading him for the sake of our country, but he doesn’t seem like he understands how to be saved.
The Gospel (Good News) of Jesus is that you go to heaven if you count on Him only, and Him alone to be saved. That it’s only Jesus’ self sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary and His resurrection that takes away ALL of your sin, past, present and future.
We are called to go and to preach the Gospel. Not to build buildings, not to do great works. When you really believe in Jesus on a personal level, you can count on Him to be saved. Only after you really believe can you truly repent. The message of the Bible is believe on Jesus and repent of your sins (turn away from them). Then you are born again! Your life will never be the same.
You go to heaven, not because you keep the ten commandments or quit smoking. You go because you really believed on Jesus, you counted on Him and Him only to save your soul. As a consequence, you stop sinning. Neither the Pope nor Trump shows that they understand that, imho.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
The Bible is clear, we are saved by faith, not works. If you try to earn your salvation by being good, going to church, etc you don’t get it and aren’t saved. If you trust only in Him, you are. Nothing more. The Bible is clear.
Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Being good, trying to stop all sin in your life, being kinder and happier is just a result of being saved. If you don’t change after you have this revelation of God, you probably didn’t fully believe. It’s faith that saves, remember. It’s faith that heals and prospers as well. Good news, plural! You’re not saved without faith. Without faith, it’s impossible to please God. When you really get saved you will feel bad when you sin and will try to live a life more pleasing to God every day. Works, like quitting smoking, don’t save you, but they come afterwards.
James 2:14 Faith without works is dead.
At Million Friends, we try to teach faith in Jesus, to have faith, to be saved, and to have the works afterwards.
James 2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.