The Simple Gospel
When it comes to understanding the gospel message of Jesus, Romans 10:13 is a great place to begin:
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Romans 10:13 NIV
The gospel of Jesus is the message that Jesus lived a perfect life and died for our sins on the cross so that through His death and resurrection we can experience true and everlasting life. We can choose to believe in Jesus, and through faith experience Jesus’s undeserved gift of forgiveness and love.
The simplicity of the gospel is also what can make it controversial: We don’t have to work for or earn our salvation. It is given to us freely as a gift of God through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9).
If you choose to believe in Jesus and put your faith in Him, that's it. You are saved.
If you’ve ever questioned whether or not you’re saved, then this promise can encourage you. The way to Jesus is simple. If you trust in Jesus then you are truly saved and don’t need to question it. All that is left is to continue to believe in and follow Jesus every day.
Day 23 of the reading of the gospel of Luke
Luke 23
“And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar, saying that he himself is Christ a King. And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilæan. And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time. And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle ...
Good News for Everyone
Picture, for a moment, a normal day of your life. Everything is pretty typical; nothing out of the ordinary. Then, imagine that out of nowhere, light shines down all around you. It’s so bright and warm, you can’t see anything except … an angel? An angel is talking to you!
That’s precisely what happened to a group of shepherds near Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. And here’s what the angel said:
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)
It’s no surprise the angel opens with, “Don’t be afraid.” The shepherds whom the angel appeared to must have been terrified! How startling to be in the middle of a normal day taking care of your flock and have something so unexpected happen! And not only unexpected—something that absolutely changed the course of history.
The angel also knew what the shepherds did not: “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” The Messiah ...