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.
There is More
There are plenty of things we can see: trees, stars, mountains, oceans, people, penguins, our best friend's smile, elephants, skyscrapers, coffee beans, sunsets, and tulips, to name a few.
God created all those things. He made the natural world, as well as the laws that govern it.
But there are also things we cannot see: behind the breath of the wind, beyond the depths of the universe, beneath the foundations of love. Through Christ, all things were created—in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16).
And while our mortal eyes might not be able to see the wind or infrared light or the Spirit of God, we still experience their effects. Because there’s more than what meets the eye. There’s more beyond this life.
Paul’s friends, the Corinthians, were experiencing great hardship. They were being hunted and persecuted because of what they believed about Jesus—that He was the long-awaited Messiah. Some were even facing death. But Paul encouraged them to ...